Productivity and virtual reality still don’t go hand-in-hand right now. In fact, there is a glaring lack of support for traditional keyboards and mice. Logitech is planning to change all of that, as their new keyboard works as well in the real world as it does in virtual reality. A major development that will hopefully bring more peripherals to VR moving forward.
Logitech’s Keyboard for VR is a Major Deal
It is always interesting to see how manufacturers try to make an impact in the virtual reality industry. Doing so in a significant manner is a lot harder than most people give it credit for these days. Now that Logitech has created a dedicated keyboard for virtual reality – although it works in the real world as well – things will certainly change quite a bit. After all, typing on a keyboard while wearing a VR headset is very cumbersome, to say the very least.
The new Logitech keyboard works with the HTC VIve right now, but it is unclear if other headsets will be supported. The company equipped one of their G gaming keyboards with a Vive tracker. Said tracker connects to the top-left of the keyboard through a cradle accessory. Moreover, there is the Logitech Bridge developers kit to ensure everything works as expected. Combining this hardware results in a 3D model of your keyboard which is visible in VR.
Although it remains to be seen if this new venture will be successful, it introduces some new opportunities. People have been looking for more productivity solutions in virtual reality. If using a keyboard is more cumbersome than it should be, that remains a very steep challenge. So far, the initial response to this new keyboard seems rather positive. Using a VR desktop is pretty common these days, as virtual reality is about much more than gaming or content consumption. The immersive aspect of VR creates a tranquil environment for most people.
The pricing of this new keyboard will depend from region to region a bit. It seems Logitech eyes the $150 price point, although it is not available to consumers at the time of writing. With the testing phase in effect right now, it remains to be seen how the testers respond to this new product. It is good to see companies explore these options at this point in time, though. There is a dire need for more hardware tools like these.
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