Razer's RealSense camera tracks hands and puts real objects into VR worlds

Intel's depth-sensing tech gets some love from Razer
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Razer isn't closing any doors when it comes to VR. Its Hacker Dev Kit works with the open OSVR ecosystem which includes a few motion tracking options already, including Leap Motion's faceplate accessory.

Now it is showing off demos of a new prototype RealSense camera at Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco. Intel's RealSense has been around for a while, it's built into a few laptops, but this could be the start of a series of VR peripherals using the depth-sensing tech.

#Trending: Next-gen VR controllers

The 3D desktop camera's sensors are able to determine the position of the user's face and automatically add backgrounds behind gamers using streaming services like Twitch or businesspeople on conference calls. But more excitingly, the Kinect-style camera could also be used with VR headsets to track hand movements and gestures and even scan real world objects and insert them into games and experiences.

Details are still pretty scarce. We don't have a name, price or release date for the Razer camera yet plus the image that Intel and Razer are promoting is simply a concept design for the final product.

Still, Razer hints that we will soon see more applications and features for this RealSense camera - perhaps with augmented reality hardware which could benefit from its 3D object scanning abilities. There's no word yet about further Razer accessories for VR gaming but it looks likely.

"This is a great opportunity to make Intel RealSense technology easily accessible to the gaming and VR communities," said Dr. Achin Bhowmik, Intel's general manager of perceptual computing. "We are proud of the beautiful design of Razer's Intel RealSense camera peripheral."

Razer's RealSense camera tracks hands and puts real objects into VR worlds

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Sophie was Wareable's associate editor. She joined the team from Stuff magazine where she was an in-house reviewer. For three and a half years, she tested every smartphone, tablet, and robot vacuum that mattered. 

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