Just when it seemed like PC support was Sony’s final word on the PlayStation VR2, the company is showing off hand tracking for the virtual reality headset. As spotted by UploadVR, Sony has been demoing controller-free hand-tracking support on the PSVR2 at SIGGRAPH Asia 2024, an academic conference and tradeshow focused on “computer graphics and interactive techniques.”
Sony hasn’t released any official announcement explaining the new feature, but a published description of what it’s presenting at SIGGRAPH does mention that hand-tracking support is “available with the latest development kit of PlayStation 5.” Mixed noticed that Sony had filed a patent for several different hand-tracking features in May 2023, but this is the first instance of that work running on an actual headset.
Besides feeling more natural than swinging around a controller, hand-tracking allows for more nuanced movements and controls in apps and games. When you press a virtual button in a game with hand tracking, you might not feel the haptic feedback you’d get from gripping a controller, but what you’re doing with your hand is much more like real life. A video of the demo shared on X shows hand-tracking working on a PSVR2 with a similar level of fidelity and latency to hand-tracking on a Quest 3, so it seems like Sony’s feature could work well.
While it’s weird that the company hasn’t turned this into an announcement yet, the fact that hand-tracking support exists is a good sign for headset owners that Sony is still invested. The PSVR 2 was released in 2023 as an impressive, if expensive, piece of VR hardware. Things like headset haptics, eye-tracking and a great first-party game in Horizon VR: Call of the Mountain made it stand out. But since then, the headset hasn’t seen nearly the support it needs to catch on. Major internal studios haven’t developed many VR games, and Sony has laid off developers from studios that have, like the creators of Call of the Mountain, Firesprite. In June, Android Central reported that Sony had also severely cut its budget for future VR development.
The release of the PS VR2 PC adaptor in August 2024 seemed like the final nail in the coffin. If Sony wasn’t going to make more games, then at least you could play through the gigantic library of PC VR games on Steam. Hand-tracking support might not mean Sony’s commitment to the VR headset has changed since then, but it is a sign that the PSVR2 can improve even if it’s never a priority.