Owlchemy Lab’s Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator series has always defined immersive hands-on interaction in virtual reality (VR), an ideal jumping off point for anyone starting down the VR gaming path. Today, the studio takes that a step further by introducing Oculus Quest hand tracking to its latest holiday-themed videogame.
Currently in experimental form, hand tracking for Vacation Simulator should enable players to interact far more naturally with the colourful environment and mini-games, ideally suited to the titles basic teleportation mechanics.
“We had to make changes to most major systems in order to make everything work with this new input type,” says Devin Reimer, Chief Executive Owl at Owlchemy Labs in a statement. “It was important that we add this experimental hand tracking mode to push the limits of the technology and show the edge of what is currently possible.”
Vacation Simulator now joins a very select group of Oculus Quest titles to add hand tracking, others include Elixir, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, The Line and Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition.
“At its core, Vacation Simulator is about hand interaction,” adds Andrew Eiche, CTOwl and Cable Slinger at Owlchemy Labs. “The large variety of challenges and interactions made Vacation Simulator a good and challenging candidate for hand tracing support.”
Reviewing the PC version of Vacation Simulator VRFocus remarked: “What’s particularly pleasing is the fact that everything just seems to work. Owlchemy Labs needs to be commended on its production values for Vacation Simulator, offering a smooth, faultless experience from start to finish.”
The Oculus Quest platform itself is getting plenty of new features as well. Facebook recently announced the rollout of a native 90Hz mode, Oculus Link leaving beta, fitness app Oculus Move arriving this week and an App Gifting feature.
The experimental hand tracking is available now for free on Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets. For further updates from Owlchemy Labs, keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR