Oculus Touch includes 'Rock Band VR' accessory, works with existing guitars

By Danny Cowan Published October 1, 2016

Rock Band series developer Harmonix showcased a new version of its in-development virtual reality experience Rock Band VR this week, revealing that the finished product will be compatible with legacy guitar peripherals when it ships later this year.

Harmonix notes that a Rock Band VR-specific accessory will be bundled with Oculus Touch controllers, allowing players to upgrade their existing guitar peripherals with motion-sensing functionality.

Recommended Videos

Announced last year, Rock Band VR is a first-person rhythm game for Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. The game simulates a live musical performance, with players taking control of a lead guitarist showboating in front of an adoring crowd.

Rock Band VR‘s gameplay evolved dramatically in the months since it was initially unveiled, and Harmonix recently swapped out its series-standard beat-matching mechanics in favor of a new system that rewards player improvisation. The current version of Rock Band VR only requires players to strum a handful of chords at specific moments, and additional points are awarded for activating effects pedals, setting off pyrotechnics, and interacting with VR bandmates throughout each song.

Rock Band VR also removes much of the difficulty associated with past Rock Band games, according to a recent Verge report. Songs can’t be failed, even if players perform badly, and — snowflake alert — simulated crowds will no longer boo players for missing cues.

In order to accurately reflect guitar positioning during gameplay, Rock Band VR relies on the Oculus Touch controller, a motion-sensing accessory that works in conjunction with the Oculus Rift headset. Players can attach the Oculus Touch to legacy guitar peripherals using a bolt-on mount that will be included as part of the Oculus Touch retail package.

Once players secure the Oculus Touch to a guitar peripheral’s headstock, Rock Band VR reads the device’s gyroscopic positioning in order to simulate guitar movement throughout each song. The resulting simulation allows players to perform in-game stunts using their guitar controllers in order to win over crowds.

Rock Band VR is due to launch for Oculus Rift headsets by the end of 2016.

Former Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Topics

Wearables

Siri is about to hear everything you say, but Apple’s privacy approach has me cautiously on board

Apple's new Audio Intelligence features want to hear almost everything you say. A privacy document released alongside them explains why I am mostly okay with that.

Apple Watch Audio Intelligence features

Apple used its September 2026 launch event to enter a feature category it has mostly avoided until now: ambient listening. Siri Recap, Live Rewind, Music Recognition with Shazam, and Sound Recognition all landed on the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. All four depend on the watch microphone picking up sound around you far more often than any previous Apple product has.

Siri Recap listens for conversations throughout your day and turns them into short AI summaries you can check later. Live Rewind is smaller in scope but arguably more useful day-to-day. It transcribes the last 15 seconds of whatever was just said with a double-press of the crown. This is perfect for catching a name, a book title, or directions you missed the first time. Music Recognition uses Shazam to identify songs playing nearby without you lifting a finger, much like Now Playing on Google's Pixel devices. Sound Recognition is a useful accessibility feature that listens for sirens, doorbells, and alarms to alert users who have a hearing impairment.

Computing

Can You Turn a Mini PC Into a Local AI Agent?

Furniture, Table, Computer

This post is brought to you in paid partnership with MSI

Not every AI task needs the scale of the cloud. An employee searching company documents, a retail kiosk answering product questions, or a digital sign reacting to customer behavior all need fast responses, but they don't necessarily need to send every prompt to a remote data center. Running those workloads locally reduces latency, keeps sensitive information closer to where it's generated, and can lower the ongoing cost of AI deployments. As a result, many organizations are moving toward hybrid AI architectures that handle routine requests on-device while reserving cloud models for tasks that genuinely need more processing power.

Computing

Everything Apple announced at its September event: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, new Apple Watches, and AirPods 5

Apple packed its biggest September event in years with a foldable iPhone, new watches, and smarter AirPods.

Computer, Electronics, Tablet Computer

The "Surprise and Shine" September launch event was one of Apple's crispest, most elaborate, and most loaded launch events in a while. Instead of leaving the minute details in the spec sheet or fine print, Apple actually included them in its keynote presentation, not just for its big reveal but for all the devices it unveiled on September 9, 2026.

While the 'Surprise' bit was covered by the new iPhone Duo, 'Shine' probably refers to the new colors in the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. Beyond these, Apple also announced two new Apple Watches and a refresh for the regular AirPods (not the Pro ones). Given that there's a lot of ground to cover, here's everything Apple announced at its September 2026 event.