Otherwise, finger tracking will be "very poor" in an uncalibrated state, Valve says. However, this is a temporary measure for dev kits; the finalized hardware shouldn't need any calibrating.

The Oculus Rift has its Touch controllers, and the HTC Vive has the Wand. Now, Valve is looking towards the next logical progression when it comes to VR controllers, which it calls “Knuckles”.

The Rift isn't tracking those fingers with its external sensors (we aren't quite at the level of true "finger presence" yet), but Oculus cleverly put capacitive touch sensors on the controllers ...

Knuckles EV2 also features various capacitive touch sensors to measure a user's grip on the controller and buttons - similar to the Oculus Rift controller's capacitive controls.

The Oculus Rift now offers a great combination of controls and apps for next-level VR and some room tracking, but it offers a less expansive experience than the Vive.

You’ll see your hands and fingers, or whatever the corresponding virtual objects that the Touch controllers morph into when you put on the Rift headgear.

Finger-tracking goodness But before we get to the Index itself, we have to talk about the controllers.

It sounds like the kind of controller the Oculus Rift needs—something to compete with the amazing Lighthouse wands Valve showed off at GDC—but it’s also problematic.