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Valve Index Analysis
Valve Index Analysis
The Valve Index is one of the most recent of virtual reality headset that was released commercially to the public. It comes with a number of features and upgrade from its predecessor, the HTC Vive. But is it a straight up improvement over its prequel?
The most notable differences between the Index and the HTC Vive is the different controller model. The HTC Vive model pictured to the upper left utilizes a large circular track pad unlike the smaller one pictured on the index pictured below that. The smaller track pad allows more room to rearrange the buttons, however as well as adding a joystick. In comparison to the Vive's ambidextrous controller, the index requires specific design for left and right handed controllers which allows for the ergonomic to be focus on each hand individually rather than either hands. This makes it feel more comfortable for longer period of use.
The straps on the hand also allows the user to "hold" the controller without needing to maintain a grip as well. From my personal experience with using controllers, my hand can get quite sweaty maintaining a grip, and it's especially noticeable on a glossy controller but at least these controller have a more matte texture.
The joystick is a nifty feature to add but in doing so, they have sacrificed most of the track pads horizontal axis although it can still somewhat scroll sideways. Many people didn't like the track pad on the steam controller too much so it isn't presumptuous to think they would dislike it on the VR controllers as well.
The Index's grip control is also one of the biggest defining feature of the index moving from it's predecessor. The grip allows one to control their fingers individually and allows hand gestures to be use in the virtual reality world. Base on a video from Khor Chin Heong's YouTube channel (linked left), it seems that there isn't much sensitivity if any at all for part way open or closed grip. And if we were to move forward into the future, it seems impossible to add a touch feedback to the user as there wouldn't be any way so far that I can imagine to give them the feeling of their finger grabbing something.
In conclusion, I feel that the Valve Index's controller has great improvement over the previous HTC Vive but it does have potential design obstacles for if they were to implement haptic feedback on the grip in the future. The current design is great for long uses in comparison to the HTC Vive and the ergonomic is definitely a step in a right direction by defining the design for a left and right controller rather than have them share the same design.
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