Valve has announced an improved version of their Knuckles EV2 controllers known as the Knuckles EV3.
(YES, Valve finally learned how to count to 3; RIP Portal 3, Half Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3, Dota 3)
I know the main priority is the headset right now, but it’s been quite a long time since we’ve gotten an update on the Pimax controllers.
Since the last Pimax update on controllers (which were quite similar to the previous and outdated Knuckle design) Valve announced and shipped their EV2 controllers to developers, have had them tested in depth, improved upon them with a new revision named the EV3 and are starting to ship the EV3 to developers.
Will Pimax alter the design of their controllers to include some of the new features of redesigned Knuckle Controllers ?
The EV2 and EV3 controllers have some amazing features which will make VR much more immersive such as both a thumbstick and trackpad on each controller and pressure sensitive grips (similar to Apple’s ForceTouch technology) so not only can you grip something in VR, you can also squeeze it gently or very tightly and the application will be able to tell the difference between a weak or strong grip.
These controller features would be an amazing match for the Pimax Controllers and would pair amazingly well with the Pimax 8K and 5K+ headsets. Pimax would only need to manufacture and design one type of controller, instead of two models if they added the features listed above.
I think it’s about time for a controller update now that we’ve gotten our 5K+ and 8K information.
The only thing that seems uncomfortable to me is the placement of the thumbstick but devs who have been using them for months say it’s totally fine and they have no strains on their thumbs.
Isnt that trackpad designed to be interchangeably used with the thumbstick but restricted to up and down for menus that scroll? It is now ideally placed for that usage scenario. Rotating your thumb all the way to the right like that would not work for most people.
It’s kind of a weird thing in the first place that pimax would have even agreed to try to create knuckles controllers at all , considering that valve hasn’t even finished working on them and are introducing radical changes to the spec and no doubt the sdk.
At this pace all they can do is play catch up, which cannot be financially a good idea.
But yes they definitely need to go back to the drawing board.
I imagine that games will use both trackpad and joystick simultaneously, eg. Track pad for menu and stick for movement. How are we going to do that if we dont have both?
Pimax are, there is no useless trackpad on their controllers, face buttons are beside the thumbstick, it is like the touch and every other controlller for a console.
There is always a risk that Valve is overengineering the knuckles, while others, like Pimax, may take simple and straightforward approach. It seems to me that Valve is trying to change the way of using them, not like some split in half gamepad, but a tool to interact with the VR, putting more emphasis on natural motions (i.e. finger movement) than on pushing buttons or wiggling the thumbsticks. (Something like they already tried with the Steam controller.) This may eventually win (remember Minority Report?), but for the games and right now, I like the simple and straightforward approach more.
are you joking, trackpads are useless, the touch controllers don’t even have them, even if trackpads had a use the buttons are more important, its like the touch now and the trackpads are where the thumbrests were on the touch.
I’m not trying to start a Thumbstick Vs. Trackpad war here.
My reasoning is that from the looks of it, the Valve Knuckle controllers will become the new mainstream SteamVR controllers. This means many developers will be encouraged to include features like the pressure sensitive grip and the use of both trackpad and thumbstick in one game.
The Pimax controllers could be incompatible with many future titles if they lack these new features.
And that is what Pimax is all about they are about; being compatible with as many VR experiences as possible and providing the best consumer VR experience to date.
Yes I would like Pimax to innovate a bit with their controllers I dont want them to be a straight knockoff of the Valve Knuckles, but I would expect them to have at least all new features the Valve Knuckles have.
My Value controller has trackpads (as well as joysticks) and I use the trackpads a lot. They work well for “mouse oriented” actions, like scrolling and selecting things from a menu. I’ll probably get some Knuckles eventually.
In my opinion pimax should just completely SCRATCH (or not prioritize) their OWN controllers and just resell Valve’s knuckles. What’s the point of making a cloned and inferior controllers when you can buy the knuckles from valve directly…? Literally no one will even buy from pimax if valve’s directly selling it themselves like the steam controller.
