Optical handtracking for Rift S
Please make sure that - alongside Quest - Rift S will also get optical hand tracking. Parity between the headsets should be a high priority. Currently there's no clear commitment either way and Rift S users shouldn't be left out if there's not a serious, technical reason.

218 comments
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Mason commented
It's very annoying to see the Rift S get ignored and neglected like this. Yes, I understand the Rift S is discontinued, but that doesn't mean they should just drop it off the face of the earth. When asked about it, Facebook said it would "Look At Tackling The Technical Challenges’ Of Rift S Finger Tracking, and shortly after announced that the Rift S is being discontinued. This is the most upvoted idea on the entire Rift S and Rift ideas section, and according to Steam's Hardware survey, the Rift S is still the most common headset used, taking up 23% of all VR headsets. If you're gonna completely ignore the Rift S, at least make all the people who purchased one somewhat happy and give us optical hand tracking before you shun the Rift S into obscurity.
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stop it commented
WOW great optics to ignore the customers that sell your products.... so dumb
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aoeu commented
This would be great for fighter jet flight simulators (DCS World).
Currently people (including the US military actually) are spending $200 for PointCTRL which is a set of 3 buttons and IR LED on your index finger tracked using a separate tracker placed on the VR headset. It’s tracked in 2D (because it just emulates a mouse) you have to keep your head still when pressing a button in the virtual cockpit with it because it only tracks the position of the IR LED relative to the tracker on the headset, the tracker itself isn’t tracked in 3D space. Hands tracked in 3D space could be a huge improvement over that.
Right now using the Touch controllers in flight sims is very cumbersome because your hands are on the joystick and throttle and to pick up a controller you have to find it by feeling around for it or looking through the nose hole, flip it over and hold the grab button to enable the pointer, point at the button and pull trigger to press (or use the joystick if it’s a more complicated switch that on/off), then set it back down. It takes a really long time, completely un-ergonomic. You end up having to memorize (in some cases set up your own key bindings which takes times and creativity) keyboard shortcuts for all the buttons in the cockpit. If I could just reach out to a button and pinch it, that would make flight sims much more accessible.
I don’t think that hand tracking for Rift is a strict necessity for having hand tracking over Oculus Link but it would probably simplify development and increase the incentive (because more users) for flight sim game developers to make use of the hand tracking.
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Fri13 commented
So, this seems to be gone as trashbin because in "Oculus Event 7" the Quest 2 was announced, as well that Rift S will be discontinued.
Thank you Facebook from failing to monetize one of the greatest features you had over others. Think about it for a while.
Quest received a Hand tracking first. It was implied that RIft S would receive it after it comes out of Beta in Quest. Well, it came out of Beta in Quest but nothing was announced for Rift S.
Now you have Quest users and Rift CV1 and Rift S users out there. But only Quest users has the hand tracking, Rift S users has the capability to have hand tracking, and CV1 users can't have it.
Then you go to release a Quest 2 with pre-order and shipping in less than a month now, that has the hand tracking. And this all with the facebook account enforced.Who you think will consider Quest 2 over all other PC VR sets? You could have made very great bonus for Quest 2 by activating hand tracking in Rift S and get PC games add the support for it. Get the Rift S users custom to have a hand tracking capability!
And now when the Rift S gets broken, upgrade is wanted to be done etc, the Rift S users would seriously consider Quest 2 (or Quest 3 at this release periods) as it supports as well the hand tracking and same games.
Just think it for a while.
You would have Rift S players thinking "I really love that hand tracking thing....". Where would they go? Well, they would opt to your new device over others that do not support hand tracking (yet!)!
So well played Facebook, to turn your existing customers away!
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Anonymous commented
Please let us have optical handtracking for the Rift S
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Dave R commented
I'm surprised that the higher-end Rift S would not have hand tracking like the Quest.
In particular, I'd like to at LEAST use gestures to accomplish what the controllers do. This should work for all games and apps, just as the Touch controllers would.
I understand the Quest's hand tracking experience requires both hands be visible in front of the headset. There are many times when this can be a problem, so hopefully that is addressed soon. -
TimJuul commented
I can't believe I bought a rift s just to find out the quest is getting way more updates and features. Please let us have optical handtracking for the Rift S. It doesn't make sense to say that there is a headset for everyone on your website to the same price if one gets more updates
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Lawrence Russell commented
I get that Lenovo were partnered with making this headset, but my god that doesn't mean they should abandon it, if they can make an entire headset with Lenovo they can sure as **** update it. Lack of support, improvements, features and updates has seriously let the headset down. Choosing it over a Quest has rapidly become more and more of a mistake.
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Kage Song commented
Seriously, I returned my Quest because it was heavy as **** and Link didn't work well and got a Rift S because I just use PCVR. Now I feel like I'm getting it in the rear for not keeping my Quest. BAD OCULUS, I'm buying Valve next time if you don't fix this ****. Caring about your consumer base is worth an extra 550 Valve tax instead of paying 450 for what amounts to corporate forced **** coitus.
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Will Hertel commented
Please don't leave us dedicated PC users in the dark. I purchased my rift S before the news of hand tracking for the Quest. I and many others have committed to the Rift S only to feel shafted for doing so. Now that there are rumors of a newer quest coming down the pipeline, you will have not only your Rift S crowd ****** at you but also your quest users depending on functionality and upgrades that may make the "old" headsets irrelevant. Pushing product this fast in a small amount of time not only hurts your loyalty to customers but also the VR industry as a whole. Ide rather see Oculus/Facebook as a reliable brand and the upper echelon for VR than to buy your product then feel like I have to sell it on the after market to purchase your new line 3-6 months later because it feels obsolete. Thank you for your time and energy on everything you have done for VR. Just don't ruin it please.
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Leo commented
They can't since they don't own the rift s, they own the tracking but Lenovo owns the actual headset
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Ingo commented
The mobile platform is casting a shadow over pc gaming due to the fact that it has a larger audience. Some of us want to enjoy our games at the best quality possible. I shouldn't have to buy a mobile platform where I actually only want to play pc exclusive vr. Mobile gimmicks are for the general audience. Dedicated gamers shouldn't be left in the dark.
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Anonymous commented
Stop ignoring Rift S!!
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Dan Childs commented
We've reached the point where hand tracking isn't an optional inclusion anymore. This needs to happen.
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Fri13 commented
Now that hand tracking is official feature for Quest, are we going to get it added to Rift S as well? As that is a sign it is mature technology for casual users, so why not support the tech nerds and industry developers first, if not at least secondly?
Flight simulators needs this, like go to play DCS or even VTOL VR. And you will rush the feature to those developers!
I want to get away from colliding Rift S controllers, as every shooter game requires to place rear controller on HMD or at least near it, so just allow grabbing air and pulling trigger. Look at the Gun club VR or hot dogs and grenades.
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jjlumc commented
I really feel cheated by Oculus. Got my Rift S a week before they announced the Quest Link. Please do the right thing and don't shaft Rift S users on updates.
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Gameboy commented
YAY first anniversary, cant wait to cry in my rift s as quest receives nice updates while we're left in the sand.
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Gameboy commented
B r u h p l e a s e i t s b e e n 9 m o n t h s a n d s t i l l n o n e w s .
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Alberto Magno commented
I have a bad impression about that. I hope I was wrong, but the hands tracking must already have been present. It is evident that oculus is only pushing the quest leaving the rift s behind. I'm sorry, but you're making a big mistake. VR needs support on all platforms in order to grow. You should at least try to give us an explanation. Thanks
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Joseph Eapen commented
Well actually from reading all the comments and owning both the headsets. i do feel that rift s is the neglected child of oculus. They dont talk about it and is brushed to the corner. I gave my quest to my brother who barely uses it these days and i use the rift S. but no major updates for the rift S at all. I have a feeling that its because pc users have other sources for games while quest is locked. So its probably why they are going to keep this as their go to model for the future. But there wont be a great future for VR if sources for content are all locked behind a conglomerate of some kind. so i understand why some of the founders left on the acquisition .We miss Carmack :-p