The Samsung and Oculus engineered Gear VR mobile headset is available in many countries now at retail, but unlike it’s desktop brethren from Oculus and Valve / HTC, it currently relies on basic, standard input for its applications. Samsung look to be changing that in 2016, as they prepare to demo a new motion controller designed for more intuitive control in virtual reality. It’s called Rink, and it’ll be shown at CES next week.

With the first generation of consumer VR headsets flooding into the market in the first half of 2016, the question of input inside virtual spaces will loom large next year. Valve have their Lighthouse tracked SteamVR controllers, due to ship with HTC’s Vive in April 2016 and Oculus aren’t far behind them with their optically tracked Touch controllers in Q2 2016. Up until now though, those looking to interact with Gear VR VR content have had to be content with either traditional, wireless gamepads, gaze control mechanisms using your head’s orientation or the unit’s integrated touchpad.

samsung gear vr gallery (8)

It seems that Samsung are keenly aware of this shortfall in delivering a compelling mobile VR experience as they’re due to demonstrate a prototype motion controller at CES 2016 designed to bridge this gap. It’s called ‘rink’ and we don’t know too much about it at this stage, other that it’s developed by Samsung’s C-Labs R&D division.

What we can ascertain or guess (and as you can see from the image above) is that it looks to be a wireless, single-handed peripheral into which your hand slips, as if holding a very large cup or mug. Samsung’s news release doesn’t offer many details, simply describign the device thus:

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rink is an advanced hand-motion controller for mobile VR devices which offers a more intuitive and nuanced way to interact with the virtual world. The ability to intuitively control the game or content just by using their hands provides consumers with a much deeper level of mobile VR immersion.

The released image calls up other speculation though, as the wearer seems to have an additional box mounted atop the Gear VR headset, which might either be an optical device, used for tracking the peripheral or perhaps a wireless hub used for processing input and passing it onto the phone powering the Gear VR experience. All wild speculation at this point of course, and we’d love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments section.

Either way, we’ll be at CES 2016 next week to try and find as many details as possible and hopefully get our hands on the new device.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • MasterElwood

    HELLLLLOOOOOOO! WANT!!!!

  • HogieGnarBoots

    Ladies and gentlemen, take my money.

  • Karel Hulec

    There are smart people at Samsung. This has been missing.

  • jacobpederson

    Hopefully that box is gearvr positional tracking :)

  • EscaPad

    Thought it would be something like on http://www.escapad.co

  • Anthony Kenneth Steele

    my birthday is feb 17th

  • Disqus_deez

    Come on pre-order

  • Martin Brentnall

    The box is almost certainly the means of tracking the users hand position relative to their head (otherwise the system would have no way of knowing where your hand is)

  • OgreTactics

    Now, only reverse head-tracking (from the headset, without external sensor) is missing, and VR is here for mass consumption.

  • LOL MASTER Awesomeness

    does this come in package
    for gearvr