Oculus has announced its acquisition of Pebbles Interfaces, an Israel-based company specialising in motion tracking. The Pebbles workforce will join the "hardware engineering and computer vision teams" at Oculus, where they'll specialise in technology implementing "custom optics, sensor systems and algorithms to detect and track hand movement".
"Over time, technology breakthroughs in sensors will unlock new human interaction methods in VR and revolutionize the way people communicate in virtual worlds," an Oculus spokesperson wrote on the company blog.
Interacting with virtual reality is one of the medium's biggest challenges. The Oculus Touch consists of two wireless controllers intended to simulate "hand presence" in VR. Meanwhile, the headset will ship with a wireless Xbox One controller. Both have their pros and cons, but the Pebbles footage embedded below suggests the company's sensor technology will replace physical controllers, offering what looks like a more precise iteration of Microsoft's Kinect.
Oculus Rift is expected to launch in early 2016. A full Rift experience will set you back $1,500, though that figure assumes you don't already own a capable PC.
