A novel use of a single Vive Tracker is to stick it to a rotating platform in order to create a virtual potter’s wheel. Patrick Hackett, co-creator of Tilt Brush, tweeted a short clip of the tracker in action as experimented with by an intern.

The Vive Tracker, a small, wireless puck containing similar tracking elements to a Vive motion controller, has been the subject of many experiments involving accessory and body tracking since its debut at CES in January, including another art-orientated test of a VR stylus.

While a virtual potter’s wheel might be more suitable for sculpting clay in Oculus Medium, the Tilt Brush team are clearly having a great time creating spiraling artwork thanks to intern Drew Gottlieb’s idea. However, in the tweet, Hackett says “don’t get too excited, this isn’t going to ship.”

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Dominic Brennan
The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said. Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance. Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.
  • rabs

    The funny thing is that we can already do that in Tilt Brush by spinning the axes (there’s inertia). But the virtual tool could be improved for such task.
    I guess it’s more comfortable to control a real rotating table, anyway.

  • Henry Yoo

    Really looking forward to the tracker… even after having done the SteamVR tracking training. When is it going to ship?

  • chuan_l

    Putting the rotation on the trackpad accomplishes the same thing — and you wouldn’t need to grab an invisible table. Keep seeing videos of trackers used for articulations on a pivot or plane , where a controller mapping might be better. Object tracking would seem to have so much more potential.