Dec 6, 2016 5:04 PM

Gallery: Inside Oculus' Quest to Design an Invisible VR Controller

Jonathan Sprague
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This prototype embodies a trifecta of roads not traveled: it's worn rather than held; it employs a centered thumbstick and no buttons; and rather than a conventional trigger button, it opts for a rotary scroll wheel.
Jonathan Sprague
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While engineers wanted to give sensors as broad a tracking ring as possible, the design team knew that smaller would be better (though, as in this case, there was such a thing as too small).

Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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The face of this prototype has some elements that persisted, namely the off-center thumbstick, but its hook-style wearability fell by the wayside.
Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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This is what it looks like when you make tracking as easy as possible for the sensors—without considering actual usage patterns.

Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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Should a controller be held, or should it be worn? While Oculus ultimately opted for the former, there was plenty of investigation of what the latter might look like.
Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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How to integrate occlusion-proof trackability led to a series of mockups that affixed tracking rings in various ways—like this one, in which the ring hovered just in front of the hand.

Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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While the finished product sticks with rigid plastic, the design team briefly explored the idea of a pressure-sensitive squeezable grip—all the better to experience haptic feedback.
Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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What if people were using the controllers while seated? Shouldn't there be a flat bottom so they can be rested on your thighs?

Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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A wearable prototype that disregarded features to explore optimal face angle.
Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
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While Oculus had settled on a general shape, there were still unanswered questions regarding how responsive thumbsticks and buttons needed to be, leading to prototypes that explored whether to go make triggers saddle-style or spring-loaded.

Jonathan Sprague for WIRED
11
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The Half Moon prototype, which Oculus brought to E3 in 2015 in order to introduce its input devices to the world.

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