Oculus Quest hand-tracking has become available on the VR headset earlier than expected, with Oculus announcing it has now released the functionality as part of a free update. Hand-tracking will allow Oculus Quest owners to use the headset without the Oculus Touch controllers, with it instead mapping players’ hands to let them experience the feeling of “true presence in a virtual space.”
Oculus has revealed that hand-tracking is a consumer feature on the Oculus Quest starting this week, with it releasing as an SDK for developers next week. This means that it will take some time for hand-tracking to be used in games, though it is available in Quest’s Home interfaces and in select first-party apps.
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The statement from Oculus reads:
“Just in time for the holidays, we’re releasing hand tracking as an early consumer feature on Quest starting this week, and as an SDK for developers next week. Simply update your Quest software to v12 when it rolls out to you, then turn on hand tracking in the Experimental Features menu to be among the first to try it. In this initial release, you can use your hands to navigate and interact within Quest’s Home interfaces like Library and Store, plus in select first-party apps like the Oculus Browser and Oculus TV. You can even set your floor height for a stationary Guardian boundary using your hands—no controller necessary. To switch between your hands and Touch controllers, just use the new toggle switch in your Oculus Home menu. And this is just the beginning. We’ll continue to add new features and functionality to improve the experience of hand tracking on Quest in 2020.”
Watch Oculus Quest’s hand-tracking working in Oculus TV in the video below:
