Microsoft Flaunts New Controller in Latest VR Arms Race Move

Microsoft introduced the latest toy on the tech scene at its Build developer conference in Seattle earlier today, showing a demo of its new controller for “mixed reality” — the combination of both virtual and augmented reality features.

The controller is unique in that its tracking devices are located inside the headset, rather than external sensors surrounding the user. This gives users an added measure of freedom; instead of designating entire rooms to experience VR, this capability allows them to utilize their headsets on the move. It also takes away the concern of having a tracking camera catch one of your nifty moves.

The new hardware — equipped with a joystick, track pad, and buttons — will be available this holiday season and is now available for pre-order.

Also Read: Microsoft Unveils 'Game of Thrones'-Inspired Xbox One

Microsoft also announced the controller will come in a bundle package with its recently announced HP and Acer headsets. The controller-headset combo will cost $399.

The announcement is a crucial step for Microsoft in the competitive VR market, giving its platform an added boost in its fight against Facebook’s Oculus, Samsung’s Gear, and HTC’s Vive hardware. An important next step for Microsoft to grab market share will be to fill its VR app store with intriguing games for users to gravitate towards.

These Virtual-Reality Films at Tribeca Hint How Far VR Can Go (Photos)

Short film "Sens" is the first project to adapt a graphic novel into a virtual reality.
Joan E. Solsman
"Sens" leads viewers on a black-and-white journey, in which the point of view alternates between exploring a strange landscape through the main character's eyes and floating above the character, watching him do things like grip an edge of a cliff.
Sens
"Deep VR" combines a underwater fantasy world with a specialized belt the viewer wears around the waist, which monitors deep breathing. You control your movement in the experience by breathing in and out deeply, causing an initial rush of oxygen to the brain followed by a Zen-like meditative calm as you continue to play.
Joan E. Solsman
"Deep VR" is set in an underwater seascape, and is meant to explore the ways in which VR can change our relationship with both body and mind.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a virtual-reality tale that takes viewers on a journey with a fantasy beast. At the Tribeca Film Fest's main hub, the creators bring viewers into hut before immersing them in the experience.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a fully computer-generated movie, but the creators combined the viewing of it with a rumble pack that viewers wear to feel percussions that match the action.
BBC R&D / VRTOV
"Notes on Blindness" is a VR film that images the internal visions of John Hull, who -- after losing his sight in 1983 -- began recording an audio-diary documenting his discovery of “a world beyond sight.” His original recordings form the basis of this interactive experience, which uses real time 3D, virtual reality, and binaural sound to explore the interior world of blindness.
"Notes on Blindness"
"6X9: An Immersive Experience of Solitary Confinement" attempts to explain the effects solitary confinement of prisons, people who spend 22-24 hours a day in their cells, with little to no human contact.
Joan E. Solsman
"6x9" put virtual-reality viewers inside a cell, to hint at how the sensory deprivation prisoners live with can cause psychological damage.
Guardian