Oculus delays launch of Touch controllers until 2016 second half

In a blog post published on Thursday, Facebook’s Oculus VR virtual-reality startup said that the release of its Touch controllers has been delayed until the second half of 2016.

The Touch controllers were originally scheduled for release in the first half of 2016, almost in coincidence with Oculus’ much-awaited Rift virtual-reality headset. The unusual-shaped controllers -- which CNET Reviews' Scott Stein has described as "more like skeletal hand-grips than wands" -- have been designed to give people the ability to make use of hand gestures in all-digital environments.

The delay announced by Oculus in the release of the Touch controllers will disappoint a lot of people who have been eagerly waiting to use the new technology, especially since Oculus has bolstered consumer interest in virtual reality ever since its launch in 2012.

With regard to the delay in the launch of Touch controllers, Oculus said in the blog post that it requires more time to ‘perfect’ the controllers before launching them on the market.

Asserting that the company has made “significant advances in ergonomics” so far as Touch hardware is concerned, Oculus said in the blog post: “We’re implementing many changes that make Touch even more comfortable, reliable and natural. We're also implementing changes that improve hand pose recognition.”