Ans: Yes, you have to charge the controllers separately, but not in the same way as the headset. The controllers use AA batteries that can either be replaced or recharged. There are different ways to charge the controllers, such as using a USB cable, a wall adapter, a power bank, or a charging dock.

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The city’s contract expired February 16 and by the end of September the use of the technology in the city will end, a news release last week from Mayor Johnson’s office stated.

If the controller batteries are low or dead, the controller may not work properly or at all. To replace the controller batteries, slide off the battery cover on the back of the controller and remove the old batteries. Then, insert new AA batteries into the controller and make sure they are aligned correctly. Slide the battery cover back on and check if the controller works.

There are many possible reasons behind the Oculus controller not working properly in your case. Starting from basic connectivity issues, the main reason behind the improper functioning of your device could lead to hardware problems or even firmware issues. In most cases, the Oculus VR Runtime service stops running or crashes which causes the problem. This service is responsible for managing the communication between the headset and the controllers. If it is not running, the controllers may not be detected or function correctly. Also, The controller batteries could be running low which can result in connectivity problems for the controller. The controllers use AA batteries to power themselves and communicate with the headset. If the batteries are low or dead, the controllers may not work properly or at all.

But some major cities, including Chicago, Atlanta and Portland, Oregon, have decided against using the system, with city officials and others describing it as expensive, racially biased and ineffective.

If one of your controllers is glitching, it can affect your VR experience and cause a lot of frustration. There are some possible causes and solutions for this problem, such as:*A low battery can cause the controller to lose connection, tracking, or responsiveness. To fix this, you can try replacing the battery with a new one.*If the controller is not paired or connected to the headset, it can glitch. To fix this, you can try unpairing and repairing the controller via the Oculus app on your phone.*Dirty or damaged controllers can also cause them to malfunction or behave erratically. To fix this, you should clean the controller with a dry cloth or compressed air, or inspect it for any visible signs of wear and tear.

SoundThinking claims ShotSpotter is “highly accurate at detecting outdoor gunshots,” with a 97% aggregate accuracy rate across all customers, including a very small false positive rate of less than 0.5% of all reported gunfire incidents from 2019-2021, its website says.

“Moving forward, the City of Chicago will deploy its resources on the most effective strategies and tactics proven to accelerate the current downward trend in violent crime,” Johnson said in the release.

If your controller firmware is outdated or incompatible with your headset software, it may cause some issues with your controller. To check for firmware updates, open the Oculus app on your phone and go to Settings. Then, tap your headset and select More Settings. Tap Controllers and check if there is an Update button next to your controller name. If there is, tap it and follow the instructions to update your controller firmware.

ShotSpotter places 15 to 20 sensors per square mile that contain a microphone, a GPS system, memory processing and cell capability to transmit data from the location, the company’s CEO Ralph Clark told the ACLU in 2015.

“This technology is very intentionally being deployed in these hotspots and if you just scratch beneath the surface, it just usually translates to where poor Black and Latino people are, where violence is concentrated,” Clayton said.

The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center felt so strongly about that claim its lawyers asked the US Department of Justice to investigate in September 2023.

In Houston, a city that has an active ShotSpotter contract that expires in 2027, less than 5% of nearly 4,395 alerts between December 2020 and September 2022 resulted in an arrest, according to an analysis by CNN affiliate KTRK.

Sometimes, a simple restart can solve many issues with the Oculus Controller. To restart the device, press and hold the power button on the headset until you see a menu. Then, select Restart and wait for the device to reboot.

The DOJ has received the letter but – to the non-profit’s knowledge – has not acted on it, the group’s senior counsel Ben Winters told CNN.

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“In its last trial in 2018, APD found ShotSpotter duplicated gunshot reports and wasn’t worth the cost of about $280,000 a year,” WXIA reported.

Chicago’s mayor outlined his plans to end the city’s ShotSpotter contract throughout his 2023 campaign “Plan for a Safer Chicago,” emphasizing his desire to strengthen police accountability.

If all else fails, you can try performing a factory reset on your device. This will erase all your data and settings and restore your device to its original state. However, this may also fix some software or hardware issues that affect your controller. To perform a factory reset, open the Oculus app on your phone and go to Settings. Then, tap your headset and select More Settings. Tap Factory Reset and confirm your choice. Wait for your device to reset and set it up again.

“This entire process takes less than 60 seconds from the time of the shooting to the digital alert popping onto a screen of a computer in the 911 call center or on a patrol officer’s smartphone or mobile laptop,” according to SoundThinking.

If your controller drivers are outdated or corrupted, they may cause some errors or glitches with your controller. To update controller drivers, connect your headset to your PC via a USB cable and open Device Manager on your computer. Then, expand Universal Serial Bus devices and right-click on Rift S Touch Controller (Left) or Rift S Touch Controller (Right). Select Update driver and choose Search automatically for updated driver software. Wait for Windows to find and install the latest driver for your controller.

In this guide, we talked about Oculus Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets as well as the controllers that are shipped with the headsets. Since VRs are designed to be the most interactive experience for the users, these controllers are provided so that you can experience a high level of immersion, whether you are playing a game or using an intuitive VR app. You can also find how to troubleshoot various issues with the Oculus Controller, such as pairing, charging, tracking, glitching, and resetting in this guide which is much simpler than it sounds. If you need any more information, you can reach us via the comment section below.

Many critics see the technology as “public safety theater,” said Abené Clayton, a CNN contributor and lead reporter on The Guardian newspaper’s ‘Guns and Lies’ project.

If the controller is not paired or connected to the headset, you may need to re-pair it via the Oculus app. To re-pair the controller:

If there is any dirt or corrosion on the battery slots or connectors, it may affect the power supply and communication of the controller. To clean the battery slots and connectors, use a dry cloth or cotton swab to wipe off any dust or debris gently. You can also use a small amount of rubbing alcohol to clean the metal contacts, but make sure to let them dry completely before inserting new batteries.

“If 80-90% of gunfire goes unreported, why wouldn’t you want to close that gap?” Clark, the company president, wrote on X recently. “Especially, if it had the potential to save 100-plus lives in addition to other ancillary benefits. Still have not heard any reasonable argument against that proposition.”

Company President Ralph Clark did address some broader concerns in a recent public meeting, saying, “ShotSpotter is not a perfect technology; I don’t know that any technology is perfect,” CNN affiliate WLS reported.

Chicago started using the technology in 2018, spending $49 million for the service, averaging about $11 million per year, according to figures in an internal report from the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, CNN affiliate WBBM reported.

ShotSpotter was founded in 1996 and developed technology that was adopted by about 20 cities, the company says. Between 2010 and 2019, it says, it improved the technology and reached the 100-customer milestone.

If your Oculus controller is still not functioning properly, you may need to contact Meta support for further assistance. You can visit their website and submit a support ticket with the details of your issue and the steps you have tried. You can also chat with a live agent or call their phone number for more help.

Despite its growth, the service is costly, “unreliable and overly susceptible to human error,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote on his 2023 campaign website.

They have built-in cameras that track the user’s head and hand movements, as well as wireless controllers that allow the user to interact with the VR environment. The Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 offer high-quality graphics, audio, and performance, as well as access to hundreds of VR games, apps, and experiences.

The acoustic gunshot detection system promises to alert police officers to “virtually all gunfire within a city’s ShotSpotter coverage area,” enabling a fast and precise response, improved evidence collection and stronger police-community relations, according to SoundThinking, the company that owns ShotSpotter.

When the sensors detect a potential gunshot, experts at the company’s Incident Review Center “ensure and confirm that the events are indeed gunfire,” then update the alert “with other critical intelligence such as whether a fully automatic weapon was fired or whether there are multiple shooters,” according to the company website.

ShotSpotter technology is “a probable cause narrator,” Ed Vogel, a member of both the Chicago and national Stop ShotSpotter coalition – a volunteer organization for those dedicated to stopping surveillance in neighborhoods across the country, told CNN.

The Oculus Controller is one of the accessories included with the Quest or Quest 2 that allows you to interact with the virtual reality environment created by the Oculus Quest headset. It is basically a wireless controller that fits in your hand and has buttons, triggers, joysticks, and sensors that track your hand movements and gestures. You can use these controllers to play games, explore apps, and control menus in VR. You can also use it to create and share your own VR content with Meta Avatars in the Metaverse.

“The cities canceling it (ShotSpotter) really reflects the myriad (of) problems with the technology, and we’re hopeful the DOJ can act to make these contract cancellations more sweeping, at least insofar as they were purchased with federal funds,” he said.

“Say you’re home sleeping, some time around 3 a.m. you wake up to the sound of gunshots nearby,” he wrote on X. “Do you want the police to know immediately? Or would you rather they don’t know at all? 80% of gunfire incidents in Chicago are not reported to 911.”

Community-based violence intervention programs like Portland’s effort are proven to work, but the area lacks research and requires an investment of time to get those results, Clayton said.

If you are using a PC-connected headset such as Oculus Rift S or Oculus Link, you may need to disable the Selective USB Suspend option on your computer. This option allows Windows to turn off power to some USB devices when they are not in use, to save battery life. However, this may also cause some issues with the Oculus controllers, such as losing connection or tracking. To disable the Selective USB Suspend option:

“You may not know about a 12-year-old who was reached by a violence interventionist and never went on to pick up a gun, never went on to shoot somebody but could have been on that path, and I feel like that sort of stuff is rarely acknowledged or is seen as a fluke,” she said.

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Even though fixing the controllers of a complicated device such as an Oculus Quest may sound a bit difficult, it is fairly straightforward. You can consider these tips or quick fixes an instant solution for your Oculus Controller if there is no severe problem in your case that is causing your controller to not work properly. These solutions have worked out for a lot of users in the past and one of these solutions might work out in your case as well. But for that, we suggest you go through each of the solutions mentioned on this list so that you won’t miss out on any possibility.

Today, Meta is one of the leading companies in the VR industry. Meta made it possible for everyone to experience VR with the affordable Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2. These are standalone VR headsets that do not require a PC or a console to run, but can also be paired with a gaming PC to experience VR games.

“The transparency isn’t necessarily there,” Clayton said. “It’s hard to give this program a lot of credit when we see so many circumstances remain the same.”

SoundThinking said the company has reached an agreement for a contract extension with the City of Chicago that allows ShotSpotter services to continue through September with an additional two-month transition period to follow, a spokesperson for SoundThinking told CNN in a statement.

ShotSpotter – a system intended to detect gunfire and cut police response times – has run into sharp criticism from officials and community groups, with some major cities opting not to deploy the technology.

The costly price tag is what fueled the Atlanta Police Department’s rejection of ShotSpotter in 2022, marking the second time the program has been rejected by the department, CNN affiliate WXIA reported.

To hard reset the Oculus, you need to perform a factory reset that will erase all your data and settings and restore the device to its original state. There are two ways to do this: using the Oculus app on your phone or using the buttons on the headset. Here are the steps for each method:Using the Oculus app on your phone:*Open the Oculus app and tap Devices.*Tap your Oculus headset and then tap Advanced Settings.*Tap Factory Reset and then tap RESET.*Wait for your headset to reset and set it up again.Using the buttons on the headset:*Turn off your Oculus headset and put it on.*Hold the power and volume buttons on your headset down simultaneously until the boot screen loads on your headset.*Use the volume buttons to highlight Factory Reset and press the power button.*Use the volume buttons to highlight Yes and press the power button again to initiate the reset.*Wait for your headset to reset and set it up again.

CNN reached out to ShotSpotter about questions raised by Johnson over the technology’s cost and effectiveness, but a company spokesperson said they were unable to comment beyond Chicago’s contract and extension negotiations.

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If one of your controllers is not getting tracked, it means that the headset cannot detect or recognize the position and orientation of the controller. To fix that, you can try out the solutions mentioned for the previous query as the same problems can cause the controllers to not get tracked as well. If those solutions do not work out, check if the controller is out of view or occluded from the headset cameras. The headset uses cameras to track the infrared LEDs on the controller’s face. If the controller is out of view or occluded by your body, clothing, or other objects, the headset may not be able to track it.The headset cameras need a balanced amount of light to track the controller LEDs. If the play area is too bright or too dark, the headset may have difficulty tracking the controller. The headset cameras may be disturbed by other sources of infrared light or reflections in your play area, such as sunlight, Christmas lights, mirrors, or TVs. This interference can affect the tracking of the controller LEDs and with that the controller itself.

However, Chicago reported that police responses to ShotSpotter alerts “rarely produced evidence of a gun-related crime, rarely gave rise to investigatory stops, and even less frequently lead to the recovery of gun crime-related evidence during a stop,” according to a 2021 report from the Chicago Office of Inspector General.

Instead, the mayor poured funding into a collaboration with community groups to run street-level violence intervention programs, including a gun violence reduction effort called “Portland Ceasefire,” CNN affiliate KOIN reported last summer.

“SoundThinking will continue to provide the Chicago Police Department and the citizens of Chicago with the highest-quality gunshot detection services that the city has relied upon for the last seven years,” the statement said.

“There’s research that shows that the best way to address police violence is to decrease the number of times that there’s interactions between police and residents. But ShotSpotter encourages those interactions,” Vogel said.

If your controller is not connecting or communicating with your headset properly, there may be some connectivity problems that affect the performance of your controller. To check for connectivity problems, make sure that your headset and controller are within range of each other and that there are no obstructions or interference sources between them, such as walls, furniture, or other wireless devices. You can also try changing the Wi-Fi channel or frequency band on your router if you are using a wireless connection.

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If none of the above steps work, there may be some hardware issues with your controller, such as damage or malfunction. To check for hardware issues, inspect your controller for any visible signs of wear and tear, such as cracks, dents, or loose parts. You can also try shaking your controller gently and listen for any rattling sounds that may indicate broken components inside.

The group alleged in a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland that ShotSpotter targets majority-minority neighborhoods in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination by any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

If your controller is still not working after replacing or cleaning the batteries, you can try using a small piece of aluminium foil to improve the contact between the batteries and the connectors. For that, cut a small piece of foil and fold it into a thin strip. Then, place it on top of the positive end of each battery before inserting it into the controller. This may help boost the signal and power of the controller.

ShotSpotter did not respond to questions about possible racial bias, but its website denies claims that “coverage areas are biased, lead to over-policing or potentially dangerous police deployments in Black and Latinx communities,” saying it works with local law enforcement and cities to narrow down coverage areas based on gun violence data.

To reconnect the controllers after charging, you can follow these steps:*Make sure that your headset and controllers are turned on and have enough battery power.*Put on your headset and look at your controllers in VR. You should see a message that says “Reconnect controller”.*Press and hold the Oculus button on the top of your controller for at least 3 seconds. The controller LED should blink and then stay lit.*Repeat the same process for the other controller if needed.*If the controllers are still not connected, you can try unpairing and repairing them via the Oculus app on your phone.

Supporters of the system, like Chicago City Councilmember Alderman Brian Hopkins, say the technology helps police better respond to shootings that oftentimes don’t even get reported via 911.

Gaming has become so much more than just a simple couch or PC entertainment with new and innovative gaming gadgets, especially with VR devices such as Oculus. VR stands for virtual reality, a technology that creates an immersive and interactive simulation of a 3D environment. VR can transport users to different worlds to experience various sensations, emotions, and adventures. VR can also be used for education, training, socializing, and entertainment purposes.

If you have enabled hand tracking on your device, you can try using your hands instead of the controllers to interact with the VR environment. Hand tracking uses the built-in cameras on the headset to track your hand movements and gestures. To enable hand tracking:

Despite those numbers, SoundThinking maintains that gun crimes are underreported, with fewer than 1 in 5 shooting incidents reported to 911. When they are reported, officers spend valuable time trying to figure out where to respond, the company says on its website.

The debate over the technology comes as the US grapples with a deadly national epidemic of gun violence. A record number of people are dying from gunshots, and guns have become the leading cause of death for children and teens – after surpassing car accidents in 2020.

“State and local police departments around the country have used federal financial assistance to facilitate the purchase of a slew of surveillance and automated decision-making technologies, including ShotSpotter,” the letter states. “Based on publicly available information, the (Department of Justice) has awarded over $57 million in grants to local police departments through Smart Policing Programs.”

The technology made New Jersey’s Camden County Police Department a smarter public safety agency, its police chief said over the summer, on the heels of a new $8 million technology allocation from the state.