Mark Zuckerberg reveals Oculus’ glove-like VR controller prototypes

On a trip to Oculus’ research lab in Redmond, Washington, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried out the company’s prototypes for glove-like controllers that are designed to be used in VR and AR experiences with the Rift headset, and shared a photo of them which you can see above.

Zuck described the controllers’ functionality in the photo’s caption:

We’re working on new ways to bring your hands in virtual and augmented reality. Wearing these gloves, you can draw, type on a virtual keyboard, and even shoot webs like Spider Man. That’s what I’m doing here.

The picture shows Zuckerberg surrounded by sensors that are likely tasked with detecting the gloves’ position in space; it also looks like he’s using a wireless version of the Oculus Rift headset.

It’ll be interesting to see if Oculus goes ahead with its glove concept. The company previously released handheld Touch controllers to accompany the Rift, but those clearly can’t offer the flexibility and dexterity that gloves might – especially if you’re talking about typing and web-slinging.

Of course, Oculus is hardly the only one working on controllers for VR experiences. The HTC Vive already works with a pair that are kind of like the handles on ski poles, and gaming giant Valve revealed last October that it was working on its own take on the concept.

It’s also worth noting that back in 2014, Oculus acquired Nimble VR, a firm that specialized in hand tracking tech. That could give the company an advantage in the race to build real-life Minority Report-style controllers.