razerhydra
Latest
VRClay marries the Oculus Rift and motion control for easy 3D sculpting
In case you needed yet another reminder that we live in the future, take a look at what happens when someone mashes up the Oculus Rift and Razer's handheld Hydra motion controllers with some nifty homebrew sculpting software. The end result is VRClay, an awfully nifty way to virtually manipulate and craft three-dimensional objects right in front of your face. Watching one of the developers making a faux-clay spider out of nothing is undeniably cool (check out the video after the break), and despite all the additional hardware that makes it possible, the process of actually creating the thing still seems just a little more natural than rotating and poking with a keyboard and mouse. Alas, VRClay doesn't seem to be ready for primetime yet: it's not clear how precise and meticulous you can get with your designs, and the developers are keeping mum over on the official site. Still, this is the latest in a long line of technical achievements meant to make creating easier. British game developer Media Molecule showed off something very similar for the PS4 in early 2013, and Microsoft's Project Spark aims to get us sculpting landscapes and the like -- the latter will finally debut in a few short weeks.
Two crazy Valve hardware prototypes: a portable Steam device and a 'Frankenstein' motion controller
A small table in a side office at Valve's headquarters is littered with Steam Controller prototypes. Designer Greg Coomer is walking me through the thought process behind Valve's first hardware release, and he begins his story on an unexpected topic: the Nintendo Wii. "We were watching other platforms like the Wii innovate in input, and the PC was stagnant. The mouse and keyboard was basically decades worth of static; lack of innovation there," he said. It's with that in mind that the hardware experiments began. First, with a motion controller. They sourced the guts (at least in part) from a Razer Hydra controller, though the changes Valve's engineers made are substantial. "It's a break apart motion controller where there were gyroscopes or magnetic sensors in either path, to sense orientation and position," Coomer explained. "There were also buttons under all your fingers here. A sort of hi-hat thumbstick. So it was really a Frankenstein." The idea behind this controller -- the first of many prototypes that eventually spawned the Steam Controller -- was to find out what works, what doesn't, and what PC gamers want from a new input method.
Hydra evolved: Sixense Stem launches on Kickstarter, we go hands-on with a prototype (video)
Sixense might not be a household name, but its electromagnetic motion sensing technology crops up in the darndest places. The 1:1 tracking technology is used in medical rehabilitation and Japanese arcade games, but it's most widely known as the wizardry behind the Razer Hydra motion controller. Now the company is gearing up to release a spiritual successor to the Hydra, the Sixense Stem System. Like the Hydra, Stem offers six degrees of motion-tracking freedom, albeit without the wires or Razer branding. It isn't necessarily more accurate, but it is more comprehensive -- it's a modular system that offers up to five trackable modules, or "Stems," that attach to game controllers, VR headsets, accessories or even appendages. We caught up with Sixense president and CEO Amir Rubin to learn more about the Stem's Kickstarter launch and the company's first foray into the consumer product space.
Oculus Rift's Tuscany demo scores unofficial support for Razer Hydra (video)
Oculus Rift's Tuscany demo was built with a good ol' fashioned keyboard and mouse setup in mind, but now it's unofficially scored support for motion controls. Sixense, the outfit behind Razer's Hydra, has cooked up a custom version of the Italian-themed sample for use with their controller, and it gives gamers a pair of floating hands to pick up and manipulate objects. Originally shown at GDC, the tweaked experience is now up for grabs, and can even be played by those who don't have a Rift -- albeit with just the controller's perks. Booting up the retooled package offers users a new 3D menu, giving them options for arm length, crouching, head bobbing and a crosshair. It's not the first project to combine Rift with Hydra, but it certainly helps illustrate the potential of such a setup. Sixense says it plans to release updates and the source code, and it recommends folks sign up for their project-specific email list and keep an eye on their forums for word on availability. Hit the source links below for the download, or head past the break to catch Road to VR's hands-on with the Hydra-friendly Tuscan villa.
Project Holodeck gets help from Razer, swaps Kinect for Move tracking
The group of folks bent on crafting a real-life version of Star Trek's "Holodeck" -- a virtual playground, essentially -- are getting official support from gaming hardware company Razer. That support means not only access to Razer's hardware but also the company's staff of trained professionals. The Project Holodeck team have already implemented Razer's "Hydra" -- a PC-based motion controller that originally shipped with Portal 2 -- into their work on Holodeck showcase game, "Wild Skies." But that's not the only big news for Project Holodeck, as the team recently swapped Microsoft's Kinect motion tech for Sony's PlayStation Move motion tech. Project lead James Iliff told RoadtoVR.com, "The Kinect hardware is extremely lacking in fidelity. Every point the Kinect tracks is filled with unmanageable jitter, rendering the data useless for anything other than the most simple of interactions. We tried very hard to get around this with several software algorithms we wrote, to get multiple Kinects to communicate with each other, however this did not really make anything more accurate unfortunately." In place of Kinect, the team strapped a PlayStation Move setup to a Pro-Tec skateboard helmet, and combined that tracking with the Hydra's motion control and Oculus Rift's head-mounted display. The result is ... well, it's a person standing in a room with a whole bunch of electronics attached to their person. But also, it allows players to interact in a 3D environment -- from perception to engagement. The team's still got plenty of work ahead of them, as evidenced by their latest video (below), but it sounds like things are coming together more cohesively than before.
One day, Portal 2 in motion DLC will come to PS3, it's such a shame the same will never happen to Xbox
Remember Razer's Hydra controller that came with a motion-controlled version of Portal 2? PS3 owners will be receiving those same levels as a DLC later this year with added support for the PlayStation Move. Players will be able to manipulate objects in order to solve puzzles with more flailing limbs than you can shake a stick at when it arrives later this year.
Razer Hydra motion controller gets summer release, Portal 2 bundle
Remember the Razer Hydra controller that let you materialize portals with a real electromagnetic orb? Those motion sensing sticks will be available for pre-order in May and will go on sale in June, two months after this week's release of Portal 2, the game it was first demoed with. However, Razer'll still charge you for a copy of the murderous robot game if you want the fancy gizmo, as it's pricing the bundle at $140 -- understandably more expensive that the "below $100" price that it was targeting for the controller alone. Two months is a pretty long time to wait to play the already-available title, and Razer isn't offering any info on a standalone version of the Sixense-based magnetic peripheral. On the upside, though, Joystiq got its hands on a list of compatible titles, which includes 122 games on top of the aforementioned sequel. That list and the official press release after the break.
Razer Hydra Sixense motion controller eyes-on
The technology behind the Hydra Sixense motion controller has been in development for a while now, but Razer was actually showing it off at CES this year. Unfortunately, it was strictly a hands-off situation at the booth -- we could only look on with jealousy as the Razer rep played through some gorgeous Portal 2 level. What we could see is that the magnetics-based controllers are very responsive, spatial, and multi-dimensional; these aren't your parent's simplistic Wii-style flick controls. There's still no word on price or a release date, but we're hearing "under $100" and "early" this year. It's hard to get totally excited about a PC hardware peripheral, given the smaller quantity of games (particularly hardware-specific titles) over in desktop land, but with Valve support and what appears to be the perfect control scheme (dual analog sticks, dual fully 3D-sensing motion controllers), we'd say the Hydra has a better shot at winning us over than anything else of its ilk. Check out a video after the break for a bit of Hydra action. %Gallery-113921%
Best of CES 2011
Maybe, just maybe, you've noticed that Engadget relocated this past week to the City of Sin for CES 2011. Oh yes, we set up camp in a double-wide trailer, liveblogged our hearts out, combed the show floor, and worked our rear ends off to bring you more gadget news than you ever thought possible. It's true, we've written over 720 posts (40 or so about tablets alone!), shot more than 180 videos, and brought you over 350 photo galleries in the last seven days. That's a ton of technology news and products, but naturally, only certain ones have been able to rise above the rest and stick out in our scary collective hive-mind. With that said, we've complied our annual best of list for you, so hit the break and feast your eyes on what are bound to be some of the best products of the new year.
