Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Microsoft thinks gesture controls could be the best input medium for VR

Jon Martindale
By
If the inclusion of motion controllers with the HTC Vive and the growth of Leap Motion has taught us anything, it’s that humans like using their hands to make alterations to the digital world just as much as the physical. That’s why Microsoft believes motions and gestures could be the best input method for virtual reality, and it’s putting a lot of time and effort into developing that capability.

Up close, short-range and long-range gesture tracking is something Microsoft has been playing around with for some time. We saw the first potential commercial applications of the technology with Microsoft’s Kinect system on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, but the firm believes that the technology can go much further than that.

Recommended Videos

While most people consider gesture controls — particularly in VR — for gaming purposes, Adi Diamant, director at Microsoft’s Advanced Technologies Lab, thinks it can go much further. He sees gestures as helping with everyday activities, including designing, flipping through spreadsheets, writing, browsing the web, and such creative tasks as making music (thanks Winbeta).

Related: Google and LG built a gesture-controlled smartwatch using Project Soli

In the above video showcase of what it has been developing, Microsoft shows how its developments are beginning to overtake those from other institutions around the world. Most notably the firm has improved the efficiency of hand tracking, reducing the amount of information that must be gathered in order to reproduce hands and digits in the virtual world by huge margins. That allows the software to recover from tracking failure much more quickly.

Better yet, it means that low-end hardware can still run hand tracking, which would be the best way to bring a large number of people on board with the input method. Considering how high the bar for entry-level virtual reality has been set, it’s good to see that future technologies may not be quite so taxing.

And yes it’ll be good for gaming too. As Microsoft shows at the end of the video, human interaction in gaming worlds designed to aid non-player characters could be a whole new genre in itself, and could showcase a very intuitive way to teach people about interacting with virtual worlds.

We just want a chance to try out that virtual keyboard.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale
Computing Coordinator
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
You won’t be taking Microsoft’s HoloLens 3 into the metaverse
Microsoft HoloLens 2

As rival Apple is rumored to be eyeing an entrance into the metaverse, Microsoft, an early proponent of mixed and augmented reality applications, is criticized for its blurry vision behind the company's own HoloLens strategy. While HoloLens notched big early wins, including scoring a U.S. Department of Defense contract, subsequent delays, project cancellations, and high-profile executive departures may have resulted in the death of the HoloLens 3. Still, despite a scathing profile by Business Insider, it appears that Microsoft remains, at least publicly, committed to its HoloLens endeavors for now. The company has gone on record to refute the publication's reporting that HoloLens 3 has been killed.

There are a number of factors that may be causing Microsoft to pivot from its early bet on HoloLens, but the Microsoft profile cited internal divisions and the lack of a unified strategy among the top reasons for concern. As a result of the chaos, it appears that the largest collateral damage to Microsoft's infighting is the cancellation of its next-generation HoloLens 3 hardware.

Read more
Microsoft and Samsung could team up on new AR headset
microsoft hololens 2

Samsung and Microsoft might be teaming up on a new augmented reality headset, with a possible release coming in 2024, according to a new rumor.

Digital Trends can not verify the original report behind the rumor, but according to The Elec, Microsoft and Samsung have reportedly started working on this project that's scheduled to last two years. Samsung apparently started its task force for the project in March and Microsoft in the summer. Multiple divisions of Samsung's business are also involved in the product, including Samsung Display, Electro-Mechanics, and SDI.

Read more
Meta believes VR haptic gloves could unlock the future of the metaverse
Meta researcher holding prototype haptic glove.

The metaverse seems to be coming, as is the futuristic hardware that will increase immersion in virtual worlds. Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has shared how its efforts to usher in that new reality are focusing on how people will actually feel sensations in a virtual world.

The engineers at Meta have developed a number of early prototypes that tackle this goal and they include both haptic suits and gloves that could enable real-time sensations.

Read more