Surreal Touch, a motion controller funded through Kickstarter, is now making waves as it finds its way into the hands of eager Vision Pro users. These third-party controllers began shipping in December, sticking closely to schedule, and initial feedback is now trickling in.
One of the early recipients of the Surreal Touch controllers is Nima Zeighami, a seasoned XR industry professional and the creator of the Vision Pro Owners Club on Twitter. As backer number 130 of the Kickstarter campaign, which successfully raised $127,000, Zeighami shared his firsthand experiences with us after receiving his set.
The Surreal Touch controllers for Vision Pro streamline gesture tracking through onboard cameras, akin to Meta’s Touch Pro controllers, and send this data back to the headset. An SDK is in the works, aiming to allow developers to integrate VisionOS apps with the controllers. In the meantime, the controllers come with Windows software that enables seamless streaming of PC VR content to the Vision Pro, thus allowing users to enjoy SteamVR games with compatible controller support.
Zeighami highlighted the ease of PC VR streaming, praising the Surreal Link app on Vision Pro in conjunction with the Surreal Streamer app on the PC. “I was up and running SteamVR games with the Surreal Touch controllers in just 10 minutes,” Zeighami notes. He commends the effortless nature of Surreal Link, describing it as possibly the best and smoothest wireless VR experience he’s ever encountered. Following the initial setup, he could jump back into SteamVR games with the controllers in about a minute, proving the software to be a major win.
Despite his praise for the software, Zeighami pointed out that the quality of the controller tracking leaves room for improvement. While latency was satisfactory, positional accuracy was less reliable. “[Surreal] claims less than 10mm positional and less than 1° rotational accuracy,” he explains. He encountered frequent issues where the actual position strayed much farther than expected, especially in challenging environments or when the controller’s view was obstructed.
In terms of tracking, Zeighami likened it to the original Magic Leap’s magnetically-tracked controller, stating, “Surreal Touch occasionally reminds me of Magic Leap 1. It functions well in most scenarios, but tends to jitter and drift by a few centimeters, which is manageable in many apps and games but problematic in competitive or professional settings.”
For games with slower hand movements, like low-key interactions, the controllers perform admirably. However, fast-paced games like Beat Saber suffer due to the controller’s tendency to lose position and accuracy.
While the controllers boast solid build quality and responsive buttons, there are some design flaws, like the occasional misalignment of plastic parts or a creaking trigger. Moreover, features like capacitive sensing are absent, which could enhance the gaming experience by recognizing which buttons or sticks are being touched.
Zeighami also discussed using these controllers directly with VisionOS. Since Vision Pro wasn’t designed for controllers, utilizing the Surreal Touch with VisionOS isn’t straightforward. A cursor mode is available, allowing interaction by aiming a cursor, though it behaves more like a traditional mouse than a laser pointer, which might be familiar to VR enthusiasts. Additionally, you can’t execute the ‘Home’ function using these controllers, which requires reaching the headset directly.
With no native VisionOS apps currently supporting these controllers, and given the niche demographic of Vision Pro owners using Surreal Touch, Zeighami doesn’t foresee widespread developer support for the Surreal SDK. Essentially, SteamVR is the main attraction here, so don’t expect broad compatibility with Vision Pro games right out of the box.
However, Surreal Touch’s potential as an ‘open’ motion controller for various VR headsets lights a hopeful path forward, since their design avoids relying on specific proprietary tracking. Still, a public native SDK remains vital for this dream to materialize.
Surreal Touch has managed to deliver on schedule, a notable achievement in the world of Kickstarter projects, where delays are far too common. Zeighami added his musings on whether the Surreal Touch controllers justify their $300 price tag for Vision Pro users keen to explore SteamVR.
“For $300, are they worth it simply for playing SteamVR on Apple Vision Pro? Absolutely. Thanks to the Vision Pro capabilities, even older SteamVR games look excellent compared to top-tier Quest games.” Zeighami believes if you’re someone who invested in Vision Pro for its superior visuals or own multiple headsets, and plan to dedicate hours to PC VR titles like VRChat, Half-Life: Alyx, or Skyrim VR, then Surreal Touch is a valuable addition. Despite some tracking quirks and needing some polish in its offerings, Zeighami feels it’s a crucial purchase for those wishing to explore the SteamVR universe with their Apple Vision Pro.
