Those fortunate enough to have their hands on Valve’s new VR headset and controller (the Valve Index) are reporting noticeably greater finger tracking as a result of a new firmware upgrade released yesterday.
The Index Controllers were codenamed “Knuckles” through the development phase. The major differentiator is the ability to use the controller hands-free; allowing for natural handling of VR items.
An early prototype was exhibited in back in 2016. Over the next 3 years, Valve has continuously enhanced the prototypes. Back in June, the organization reduced the touchpad into a little strip and added a thumbstick for better movement controls.
Valve is launching its own PC VR headset alongside these controls. But since the controls use the SteamVR “Lighthouse” monitoring system, they’ll also natively work with the present HTC Vive and Vive Guru. If you have one of these, you too can preorder the new controllers. Valve says they will ship in June.