Sixense Stem System

                                      This may be the best way to control virtual reality

WHILE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS are going
through a renaissance period, VR controllers
are still stuck in the Wild West.
Many companies are trying to find the best
ways to interact in these virtual worlds, but
unfortunately, there’s no clear method to
do it quite yet. To be fair, coming up with a
solution that allows people to reach out into
virtual worlds to pick up things with their
hands is no easy task, but if anyone’s got a
chance at solving the puzzle, it’s Sixense.

If the company’s name sounds familiar,
it’s because Sixense teamed up with Razer
back in 2011 to develop the Wii remote-like
Razer Hydra motion controller. While the
device failed to make a big splash at first,
once the Oculus Rift development kit units
started rolling out, the Razer Hydras quickly
flew off shelves. They are now no longer in
stock and go for a pretty penny on eBay.



The main issue currently holding back
the Hydra is its wires. This isn’t the case
with the company’s new STEM controllers,
however. Not only is the device wireless, but
Stem aims to offer a 1:1 movement experience
with just 4.2 milliseconds of latency.
And, while the Oculus Rift is intended to be
used while sitting, the Sixense Stem is aiming
to extend VR to standing experiences. It
does this by foregoing DK2’s camera and
instead opting for what the company refers
to as its Stem pack. The Stem pack
looks like a laptop battery that’s anchored
on to the backside of the Rift’s
head-strap. By doing this, it provides a
much greater range of movement and
users don’t have to deal with camera
line-of-sight issues, which is currently
a problem with the DK2.

We had a chance to try the Stem at
the company’s Los Gatos home and got to
play a variety of demos, the first of which
was the awesome light-saber demo. The
Stem System has a docking station for the
controllers, and when you pick one up, you
also pick up a virtual light-saber within the
demo. Flicking the virtual blade to turn it
on felt incredibly immersive. Simply put,
waving it about just felt right. Toward
the end of the demo, we got to deflect
lasers from a droid and felt like Luke
Skywalker on Tatooine.



The controller is similar to a Wii-mote, but wraps around your knuckles.

The second demo we tried took us to a
shooting range. Firing felt accurate, and you
could even use the in-game sights on top of
the pistol to aim. It reminded us of Wii bowling,
albeit in a more violent fashion.



The last demo was one in which we
walked around a virtual office using one of
the Stem controller’s thumb sticks. Playing
it standing up, we experienced some locomotion
issues, in that our eyes were telling
our brain that we were walking forward, but
our body was not. It was definitely dizzying
and goes back to the issue that properly
nailing down VR controls is a tough problem
to solve. Sea-leg issues aside, it felt great
swiping books off of book shelves.



Beyond VR, Sixense also believes the
controllers can be used to shape 3D printed
objects. The company is creating what it’s
billing as a “gamified two-point of control
CAD-engine” called Make VR. You’ll be able
to use it without the Oculus Rift, the idea being
that it will be an easy interface allowing
you to create and edit 3D-printable objects.
 Time will tell if it ends up becoming
the VR controller of choice.