Meta is constantly working to improve the usability of the Quest headsets. One of the ways it is doing that with both theQuest 2and theMeta Quest Prois through the introduction of “Direct Touch” which allows for a more natural use of menus within the headset.
Both headsets havehand-tracking capabilitiesthat allow you to navigate your way through the menus and interact with some apps. That hand tracking has previously been done through pinch and swipe gestures, which isn’t always the most intuitive.
Now though, hand tracking is getting an upgrade. Withv50 of the Meta Quest software, Meta is rolling out an Experimental Setting called Direct Touch which should make hand tracking more natural and intuitive.
You need to enable it, but when you do you’ll then be able to tap buttons with your fingertip and touch and swipe through virtual menus like you’re used to doing onyour smartphone.
This essentially means you can reach out and press virtual buttons with ease.
Direct Touch will also be used in other ways. You can ditch your controllers and use gesture-based controls in some VR games.
Meta says theFirst Hand demois a good example of this worth trying out.
How to turn on Direct Touch on your Quest headset
Hand tracking isn’t turned on by default, do you need to use your headset to access those settings:
These are the steps for turning on basic hand tracking. You’ll also find there are also options to turn on auto-switching so the headset will swap between the controllers and hand tracking when you put the controllers down.
To use Direct Touch you’ll first need to ensure your headset is updated to the latest version. In order to do that:
If you have the right version of the software then you should be able to turn the Direct Touch settings on from the experimental menu.
