Leaked Oculus Rift consumer renders show one-handed input device
Oculus founder says they're older images, but surely some of these details are still intact
In less than 48 hours, Oculus VR is expected to stream a look at the final consumer version of the Rift virtual reality headset, which has progressed rapidly in the last couple years. But thanks to a leak from Oculus’ own site, we have a look at what might be coming down the pipeline.
Careful sleuths found a placeholder site for a consumer version of the Rift, complete with images of a more polished headset and some new details on how exactly you’ll interact with the headset. The main new piece of the puzzle is what’s called the Simple Input Device.
It’s a one-handed remote that looks to have a circular touch pad on the top – clickable, most likely – and a few buttons beneath. The Simple Input Device (below), assuming a version of it comes with the final Rift, will be the way most users get around menus, access media, and progress through simple VR experiences.
But it’s not the gaming device: a gaming controller is also mentioned, but not shown, while a small camera on the front of the headset seems to imply built-in hand tracking, as well. However, the camera isn’t seen on the official teasers shown so far, so that might be a feature that was scrapped for the initial consumer model. Meanwhile, the new external tracker device, which works with the headset for spatial tracking, looks a bit like a microphone stand.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey acknowledged the leak on Reddit, but was quick to temper speculation. "This is an old placeholder concept image that we accidentally leaked. Everything in it is ancient, certainly nowhere close to final," he said. "Enjoy checking it out, at this point, but don’t expect everything to carry through to the stream on the 11th."
Indeed, the teased, shadowy images of the final Oculus Rift consumer model do look a little more polished, perhaps losing the textured design of the renders here – but there are strong consistencies between the images.
It’s likely that what we see on Thursday will be a more fully-formed version of what’s here, but at least now we have a better idea of what’s ahead. Stay tuned for more ahead of this week’s proper reveal, as well as the planned release in early 2016.
[Sources: Reddit, Road to VR]
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Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
