For the most part, Mark Zuckerberg has no problem waiting to release big announcements. One of the best qualities of the largest tech companies across the world is that they wait for launch day to hint at anything, and have minimal leaks coming from the company itself. Last night, Zuckerberg broke his incredible streak and shared something with us that was vital to see before todays huge keynote event.
You can check out the keynote event on the Oculus Website or Facebook’s own Facebook page.
Mr. Zuckerberg posted a video of two virtual looking hands that made the letter O, followed by the letter C, and then the number 6. OC6. Oculus Connect 6 is today and this video was posted late last night. After the hand motions, Mark was quick to say that he was “Putting the final touches on my talk for Oculus Connect tomorrow. I’m excited to share our latest work in augmented and virtual reality. Tune in here at PT to watch the keynote live.”
As Mark said, he will be in the very first keynote of the weekend, something that has been tradition for years now. He usually gives us our first look at the biggest software announcements, hardware announcements, and even a look at what the company has been working on. Just like Apple’s keynotes, this is going to kick off a weekend full of excitement and much-anticipated news.
This is all coming on the heels of Facebook acquiring a US-based company called CTRL Labs. They are responsible for making a wearable wristband that can track your fingers by sensing the electrical signals your hand is passing through your arms. Its pretty advanced tech and much further along than the Valve controllers that track where your fingers aren’t on the controller.
Right after Zuckerberg’s keynote, a group of developers will be taking the stage to talk about something that is “game changing” and something they have been working on for the last little bit. All signs are pointing to this being the next benchmark in social interactions inside of VR, but it could mean a lot more than that. If Mark decides to release a new and improved finger tracking, and the other group releasing something in the market of face or eye tracking, social interactions inside of VR could become more real and fun than ever.
As of right now, social apps are only as fun as the interactions you can have inside of the game. That means that you can occasionally a place where you can hear others talk, and even see their floating arms move, but it isn’t anything that makes you and your friends put headsets on instead of seeing each other in real life. It takes a real VR enthusiast to choose to hangout in virtual reality instead of real life right now, but that all could be changing this afternoon.
On the flip side of hand tracking, this could be a whole new chapter in virtual gaming as well. If finger and hand tracking is available to the masses, playing games inside of virtual reality is going to get a lot more fun and immersive. When showing people how to operate inside of VR for the first time, it is not rare to hear them say that the controller feels funky or clunky. Our hands are trying to be represented inside of a virtual space, but the best thing to represent our hands, is our own hands. Hopefully we see these features released, or at least a hint at them at the keynote. For more VR and OC6 news, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
