Any Surface Becomes a Keyboard with Meta’s Virtual Reality Headset

2023-08-31 15:28:15

Mark Zuckerberg just released a video of a highly anticipated feature that lets you use any surface, like a desk or table, as a keyboard in VR. Finger tracking with the Meta Quest 2 is said to be accurate enough to reach 120 words per minute.

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How do you write in the metaverse? When it comes to only a few characters, it is possible to use a virtual keyboard by pointing at the letters with its controllers or its hands. For a longer text, it is possible to connect a physical keyboard to enter text as with your computer. However, Meta is working on a new feature that completely bypasses the physical keyboard by using any surface as a keyboard.

In a video posted on his personal Instagram account, Mark ZuckerbergMark Zuckerberg wears a Meta Quest 2 headset and writes directly on a desk, without a physical keyboard. In his helmet, he sees a virtual copy of his hands as well as the desk on which is placed a completely virtual keyboard.

“    View this post on Instagram           A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)”

Up to 120 words per minute!

Thanks to the hand-tracking cameras integrated into the headset, the system can follow the movements of his fingers and know what key he presses. Mark Zuckerberg says he managed to reach 100 words per minute, while Andrew Bosworth, technical director at Meta, reached almost 120 words per minute. For comparison, the average typing speed is around 40 words per minute. Meta has been working on this kind of technology for years, and researchers had already demonstrated a similar feature in 2020, but back then you had to wear gloves with markers.

Unable to know at this time when this feature might be available. The upcoming Meta Quest 3 will have higher quality cameras, so tracking should be more accurate and more suited to this feature. However, the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is testing it on the Meta Quest 2 gives hope that it won’t be limited only to the new helmet.

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