Google Daydream is the long-awaited successor of Google Glass (we all know how that went). Unlike the Google Glass, DaydFor ream is pretty good and is one of the better products available in the VR market. The best part is its seamless integration with the Unity game engine which opens up endless possibilities for game developers. Until now, Daydream supported only a single controller, which is essentially a Wiimote with a few bits and bobs on top of it. However, that is set to change as XDA Developers spotted several mentions of multiple controller support in the latest Daydream SDK.
Support for more than one controller doesn’t imply that multiplayer gaming will be possible on the handset. It merely paves the way for additional controllers to be added to the mix, allowing for more complex inputs. For example, you can have a controller in each hand that do different things. It’ll definitely make for a better, more immersive gameplay experience as your other hand won’t be idle in a game.
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According to the release notes, one controller will play the role of the ‘dominant’ controller that will always be present on single and multiple controller systems. Based on your preference, you can set the left hand or the right-hand controller as the dominant. The headset will also be able to distinguish between devices that support only one controller and ones that support multiple controllers and prompt the user accordingly.
Things get a little tricky on the hardware side of things. There is no indication of how exactly will the two controllers work in tandem with each other. One possibility is that could do it via a standalone headset. It could even use any Bluetooth 5.0 compatible device to establish two connections at the same time. It’ll be a while before we see it in action, though. Currently, there are a very few games that support Daydream as it is. Developing a game that needs to register two inputs simultaneously will be a challenge in itself. Mobile VR handsets still only cater to a niche audience and it’ll take some time before they gain mainstream acceptance.
