How do the controllers feel?

[Mr. Self Destruct]

I pre-ordered the Vive a few days ago. The one thing that I'm worried about is the controllers. They look bulky as hell, especially compared to the Oculus touch controllers coming out later.

Has anyone recieved theirs yet, or had the opportunity to demo it can tell me how they feel?

[Nordomus]

IMO they feel awesome, actually I think that they are better than Vive itself :) Sure touch will be much lighter but I don't have any problems with Vive controllers. They are incredibly accurate and I think that trackpad is much better solution than analog sticks in the end. I always liked sticks more but this trackpad is great and has multiple uses. So no, no problems with bulkiness.

[dead bard]

Touch seems to be better for "natural hand grip" while the Vive is more of a "holding something grip"

[Mr. Self Destruct]

I partially bought the Vive because I thought my young niece and nephew would like it. I'm hoping the controllers aren't too big for them to use. From what I've seen after doing more research, it seems people say they feel better than they look, so hopefully my worries are unfounded.

I contemplated going Oculus, but I don't want to support their exclusive games garbage, and sitting down in VR seems like a waste of VR, plus not having the front camera is a negative for me.

I'll probably buy those Manus VR gloves when they become available, anyways.

[GameMaker]

The controllers are more than I had hoped for, the haptic feedback is used in such a way that it makes the exeprience sooooo much better. For example in THE LAB. you can feel the bow string as you pull it back, in SPACE PIRATE TRAINER. you feel the laster blast excel from the pistol, you feel the shield take a hit, and each weapon type feels different when it fires. In THE GALLERY : STARSEED. you can feel items when you touch them, at one point your hand gets trapped and you feel it being hurt. In short yes the controllers are fantastic.

[HH_Gold]

I felt the same way coming into this, although I looked at the pics and avoided all coverage. After A day and a half with my Vive, I can say I was pretty impressed with the controllers. As mentioned above, Gallery really gives you a great idea about how immersive they can be. I also though Audiosurf or whatever it was called was pretty fantastic.

[WarMachine]

Originally posted by lateraliss:

I partially bought the Vive because I thought my young niece and nephew would like it. I'm hoping the controllers aren't too big for them to use. From what I've seen after doing more research, it seems people say they feel better than they look, so hopefully my worries are unfounded.

Just a heads up, don't know their ages but seeing as your worried about hand size, you should be warned. Children 12 and younger should not be using VR, there are multiple reasons. If they are older, just ignore me.

[dAnimal]

they are amazing

[Nordomus]

Originally posted by WarMachine:

Originally posted by lateraliss:

I partially bought the Vive because I thought my young niece and nephew would like it. I'm hoping the controllers aren't too big for them to use. From what I've seen after doing more research, it seems people say they feel better than they look, so hopefully my worries are unfounded.

Just a heads up, don't know their ages but seeing as your worried about hand size, you should be warned. Children 12 and younger should not be using VR, there are multiple reasons. If they are older, just ignore me.

What are those reasons?? I have googled a bit but found nothing solid, actually I found nothing at all, just warnings on headsets themself. I want to know what could be wrong so if you know something please share info and links if you have.

[Coffee]

Once in the immersion, they feel more natural, the haptic feedback plus the shape of them allow your brain to be tricked into gripping an object.

Rift's touch control nearly feel like you grip your gamepad, it has the natural feeling of gripping a controller, not gripping what you see in game.

Your fingers also curl in a more natural relaxed shape with the HTC Vive wands. It's let you feel the Haptic on your entire palm too so it's really help to the immersion.

[MickMan]

They are very plain... nothing special. HTC could have spent a little more in designing the ergonomics. Oculus has the better design. having said this, once inside the VIVe you tend to forget it... it would be nice to be able to let your fingers go and still have the controllers attached to your palms (as the Oculus Touch allows for)
HTC controllers are a fairly primitive design but functional.

[MickMan]

Sure hope it will be possible to mount controllers to fixed props eg. create a rifle, joystick mech controls etc... third party caddy or docking stations would work well... Perhaps someone will create 3D printed versions on Thingiverse.

[PsychoPsyops]

Some type of glove would be ideal I think, but these controllers feel good. They're easy to get used to, I'm completely familiar with them after just 3 play sessions. They did a great job with them.

[Coffee]

Originally posted by MickMan:

They are very plain... nothing special. HTC could have spent a little more in designing the ergonomics. Oculus has the better design. having said this, once inside the VIVe you tend to forget it... it would be nice to be able to let your fingers go and still have the controllers attached to your palms (as the Oculus Touch allows for)
HTC controllers are a fairly primitive design but functional.

But, the Rift touch controller use joysticks. So it's really killing a lot of the immersion.

The VIVE Wand touchpad with the haptic feedback make you feel much more attached to them!

[WarMachine]

Originally posted by Nordomus:

Originally posted by WarMachine:

Just a heads up, don't know their ages but seeing as your worried about hand size, you should be warned. Children 12 and younger should not be using VR, there are multiple reasons. If they are older, just ignore me.

What are those reasons?? I have googled a bit but found nothing solid, actually I found nothing at all, just warnings on headsets themself. I want to know what could be wrong so if you know something please share info and links if you have.

Sorry for the late reply. Alot of it is psychological guess work in my opinion. We would need studies, but if what they say is to be believed, it would be unethical to do said studies.

They belive it possible that a child will have a hard time determining virtual from real reality. But regardless this a very important time for brain development and the effects of virtual immersion have yet been studied.

Second, and the reason I warn, their heads are not fully shaped and getting a proper fit will be hard. Improper use can lead to VR sickness, eye strain, and even damage to the equipment.