Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PSVR2, the PS5’s virtual reality headset, no longer requires its Sense controllers in order to perform hand tracking.
During the Siggraph Asia 2024 computer graphics conference in Tokyo, Sony Interactive Entertainment showed off new technology for the PSVR2, which allows the headset to perform hand tracking without the need for its Sense controllers. Footage of a demo showcasing the technology at the event show floor has emerged on Twitter/X.
As per the description stated at the demo booth, the PSVR2 is now capable of tracking the position and posture of the user’s hands. The technology has been made available to developers with the latest PS5 SDK. It does not require any additional hardware devices in order to function. The PSVR2 recognizes and tracks hand movement at 60 fps with low latency and displays the tracked motion smoothly on-screen. Information provided to the application in order for hand tracking to work includes position, posture, velocity, bounding box for each joint, hand scale and hand mesh, and 12 types of gesture detection.
The PSVR2 hand tracking show floor demo involved the player using both of their hands to point at toon cans and bottles, was them with a splash of water to get them all bubbly. From the looks of it, the on-screen movement accurately replicated the player’s movement. Latency didn’t appear to be a problem either.
Controller-free hand tracking opens the way for unique and immersive gameplay experiences, and we look forward to seeing how developers take advantage of the technology in future and even existing titles.
Previously, the official Twitter/X account for Flat2VR Studios was asked how long it would take for it to release a title for Sony’s virtual reality headset. In response, the developer had hinted that it is working on PlayStation VR2 ports of some “cool” games.
