Oculus attempts to allay copycat claims with Research Labs tour

Facebook’s Oculus division just lost a case where they were accused of stealing trade secrets and copyright infringement.

As a result the company is keen to prove that they do in fact do some original research.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has posted a tour of the Oculus labs showing off some nascent technology, including a finger tracker above.

Zuckerberg notes that in their Oculus Research lab “some of the best scientists and engineers in the world are pushing the boundaries of virtual and augmented reality” and were focusing on “advanced optics, eye tracking, mixed reality and new ways to map the human body.”

He said their goal was “to make VR and AR what we all want it to be: glasses small enough to take anywhere, software that lets you experience anything, and technology that lets you interact with the virtual world just like you do with the physical one.”

One of the features he showed off was a motion-tracking set-up for hands. He writes:

“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.”

Engadget however notes that the technology above uses a $3500 OptiTrack Prime 17W camera-based motion tracking setup which is hardly suitable for home use, unlike Microsoft’s Kinect, which is already in millions of living rooms.

With the HTC Vive appearing to be the leading VR developer platform at present some have said the device may already have lost the battle, particularly with a slew of cheap Windows Holographic headsets coming. I suspect it will take a bit more than a lab tour to restore the momentum to the platform again.

See Zuckerberg’s post below:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10103490859466441&set=pcb.10103490859636101&type=3