R3 – VR Input Methods

While VR is several decades old, VR for the consumer market is still fairly unproven, undeveloped, and untested. Basically all input methods before the past decade were clunky, large, and very expensive.

With Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard entering the fray, many companies are developing new fledgling devices to create a more “immersive” VR experience. Note that all, except for the standard joystick, are somewhat funky to use and still need quite a bit of improvement.

Google Docs – via Iframely

These devices can be used in a myriad of ways, and there is still a lot of work to be done on the user interface side. Many of these devices capture body and hand motion, albeit using different technology (magnets, gyros, IR, electromyography, et cetera).

Timeline can be coordinated with hand gestures to scroll and pan across a view. Audio interaction is possible with advanced voice recognition technology capable on some of the devices.

Other control schemes are certainly out there, and the range of these devices makes many ideas possible.