Aperture Hand Lab is a virtual reality (VR) game developed by Canadian[2] studio Cloudhead Games and published by Valve, released for Windows on June 25, 2019.[3] It is a tech demo that showcases the functions of the hand, knuckle, and finger tracking technology used by the Valve Index VR headset. The HTC Vive headset is also supported. The game is set in the Portal universe.
The gameplay consists of several tests conducted by the "personality cores" seen in The Lab. These tests all involve using hand and finger gestures to progress. The player will get different reactions and results depending on what gestures used, such as the middle finger and devil horns.[4]
The player works for Aperture testing out robotic arms for unclear purposes. Various personality cores, including "Friendly Frank", assist in the process by instructing the player to perform various hand gestures. After each set is completed, the cores are dropped into the abyss. When the player is shaking hands with one of the cores, they accidentally rip the core's arm off, causing the whole program to malfunction and drop them both to the bottom of the facility. At the bottom, the player again encounters Frank, who is resentful at having been abandoned. He holds the player at gunpoint and demands they free him, but has a change of heart and discards the gun. The player is presented with the choice to either help Frank escape or destroy him. Regardless of their choice, the announcer declares that the experiment was for the purpose of testing the limits of friendship. He declares the experiment either a success or failure depending on the player's choice, and places the cores in sleep mode as the test concludes. Frank nonetheless remains active and the game ends with him and the player sitting in the bottom of the pit indefinitely.
In late 2014, Cloudhead Games was approached by Valve to join them at their SteamVR reveal summit, and it was at that summit that the staff at Cloudhead Games decided their vision of VR's future was roomscale. Since the summit, Cloudhead has provided tech demos for every major SteamVR innovation, with Aperture Hand Lab being focused around the Valve Index's finger tracking.[1]
