Samsung is very serious about competing in the mobile virtual reality space. The Gear VR has given it a good footing and the company is now expanding its influence in this space by working hard to bring new and exciting virtual reality content. It’s also working on new VR-focused devices.
The company has been granted a patent for magnetic VR hand controllers. The description provided in the patent suggests that the peripherals will be used for more accurate hand-tracking with the Gear VR headset.
The method explained in the patent is “based on a magnetic field generated by a source, obtaining a coordinate of a user’s hand; and reflecting the obtained coordinate of the user’s hand in a virtual reality environment based on a change of a location of the source due to a movement of the user.”
The actual design itself appears to be similar to the existing Gear VR controller but with a new strap that secures the controller to the back of the hand. This will allow users to move their hands freely without having to worry about holding the controller.
Even though the implementation makes perfect sense, it’s just another patent, and Samsung has a lot of them. Whether or not it’s ever going to bring this product to life is a different matter altogether.