Google is showing indications that its operating system for VR could be evolving toward support of two-handed games. While it remains unlikely you’ll ever be playing Job Simulator or Tilt Brush on a Lenovo Mirage Solo or a Daydream View, the new addition to Google’s Daydream SDK could lay the groundwork for those titles and other great games like Beat Saber and Superhot to eventually run on future headsets powered by Google.
The Lenovo Mirage Solo and other Daydream headsets all use a single hand controller that operates a lot like a laser pointer. The latest update to the Google VR SDK for Unity, though, adds support for two of those types of controllers. Functionality shouldn’t change on devices that only support one controller, but apps could now see that controller as the player’s dominant hand. On certain devices capable of supporting two controllers, there could also be a non-dominant hand shown as well.
Google previously revealed computer vision research showing how it could determine the location of pointer-only controllers, effectively turning them into the point-and-reach controllers that are more compelling and fun to use, but there’s no indication in the documentation of support for point-and-reach hand controllers. That means Beat Saber or Job Simulator running on a standalone headset is still something we’ll have to wait to see. I’ve reached out to Google representatives to see if Mirage Solo or Pixel phones will support two pointer controllers, and I will update this post if they respond.
