For owners of the Samsung Gear VR head-mounted display (HMD), the best way to get the most out of the system is to purchase a separate Bluetooth controller. While a lot of the videogames and apps do utilise the headsets touchpad, not all the software does, meaning without a gamepad users won’t be able to fully access all the content on the store. There’s quite a few third-party controllers out on the market some good, some not so which VRFocus did a brief round-up of last year. Samsung also has its own version, but now the company seems to be developing a new iteration in partnership with Oculus VR.
Samsung and Oculus VR partnered up to create the Gear VR HMD, so its not too much of a stretch to imagine that the pair would eventually decide to create a custom gamepad. On Samsungmania.cz new images have surfaced on a possible new controller design (but they are just rendered images), bearing the Gear VR and Oculus VR logos.
The front layout is very sleek and minimal, featuring a black rubber analogue stick on the left, central home button and the four X,Y,A,B buttons on the right. The rear image reveals two shoulder buttons with a top mounted Bluetooth sync button. Everything appears to be coated in a black resin, with texture added to the shoulder buttons and rear back panel for grip. The site does list a weight of 300 grams but there’s no indication on price or when/if the controller maybe launched.
With Google’s recent announcement at its I/O conference of the Daydream HMD, which will feature its own dedicated controller, Samsung will soon be facing much stiffer competition. Features on the Google Daydream controller revealed so far include three degrees-of-freedom (DoF) so that users can point and wave the device in-game, a clickable touch-pad, an app button and a home button.
As further details surface on Samsung and Oculus VR’s mobile virtual reality (VR) plans VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.
