Owlchemy Labs, a noted champion for accessibility in VR games, has added a pinch-based artificial turning system for hand tracking to Dimensional Double Shift.

Until now, if you wanted to turn in Dimensional Double Shift, the only way to do it was to actually turn your body. That all changes with DDS’s 1.9 update, available now, that adds a pinch-to-turn feature to the game.

Owlchemy Labs On Solving The ‘Hard Problems’ Of Hand Tracking In VR

When Owlchemy Labs revealed its next game back at Gamescom in August, there wasn’t a whole lot to talk about. The announcement was fairly non-descript, with a teaser trailer (embedded below) that revealed next to nothing and failed to show any gameplay. Instead, Owlchemy focused on two key facts:

Double Shift’s menu input system is built around the common thumb and forefinger ‘pinch’ gesture. The new turning method is no different. When bringing up the hand menu, as shown in the image below, left and right arrows now appear at the bottom. Pinching either arrow turns the player in that direction, eliminating the need to physically turn in real life and allowing seated players to comfortably turn in game. Along with the new feature, players can also configure the spacing, height, depth, and distance under HUD controls.

The snap turn feature in Dimensional Double Shift

Owlchemy Labs has been one of the biggest supporters for accessibility in VR gaming and has been outspoken on the importance of hand tracking for the mass consumer adoption of XR. Hand tracking has also been added to their previous titles along with multiple other accessibility features.

I had the chance to test this new feature prior to its release and found it natural and responsive to use.

Dimensional Double Shift is currently available free to play on Meta Quest. Since release, two DLCs, Joysey and Hexas have been released for $4.99 each.