At this stage, some of the issues with the PoC have been addressed, such as the size of the device, which has been reduced significantly, furthermore, the housing is made from a more flexible material, thus fitting better on users’ thumb. And we investigated some use cases for the thumb controller.
As a creative tool
Pressure sensitivity is another impressive feature of SxV. In comparison to a hand-tracking drawing tool that utilized virtual reality glasses, the SxV's controller generated thick/thin lines based on the pressure sensitive level. You have perfect control over the thickness of your strokes, which is an important aspect of line art and penmanship. Furthermore, with 2 touch zones separated, getting muscle memory down is much easier. This feature brings a wide range of applications, ranging from drawing and design to VR games and simulated surgery. An intuitive, precise product like SxV can become a powerful tool for XR designers. It's akin to having an Apple Pencil on your fingertip.
A shooting game demo
Normally, with hand tracking alone you will need to pinch your index finger to the thumb in order to shoot a gun, but it is not always accurate and the response can be slower than normal controller, that's where SoundxVision gonna shine. As showed in the demo below, you can use the thumb-mounted device to control the gun, switch between different shooting modes ( semi-automatic or automatic in the video) or even different kinds of weapon easily within fraction of a second!
The bullet/cannon is shot by pressing hard then loose from thumb to index finger(semi-automatic mode) or hard pressing and holding for automatic mode.
It's gone wireless
A new small step in the journey: the product is now integrated with a battery and greatly cut down on the use of wires. The usage time during the test using the SxV's controller with virtual reality glasses and computer can range from 3.5 to 4 hours. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the product's battery life, which can last up to two days with an external charging band.
User testing
Several user testings was conducted at Helsinki XR center regarding the features, ergonomic and design of the thumb controller. During those session we observe the users when they are using the device, discuss about the fitness, material,sustainability and use cases. Overall, the feedback has been positive, yet there were issues with the device such as fitness and discoverability in VR that need to be addressed.
What's next?
The Oculus Quest implementation is a milestone of this phase, the prototype has showed some potential use cases of the thumb mounted device in XR space. There are still issues that need to be addressed for the next version such as ergonomic where the device fitness could be improved and the hand interfaces could be implemented as ideated. And another important thing is to polish the appearance of the device.