At Apple’s WWDC conference this week, the company announced that the Vive Pro will be fully supported on the newest version of MacOS, ‘Mojave’, soon to launch in public beta and available widely later this year.
Speaking during a session at WWDC 2018 this week, Karol Gasiński, part of Apple’s GPU Software Architecture Team, announced that the Vive Pro is getting “plug and play support” on MacOS 10.4 (Mojave). “We’ve been working very closely with both Valve and HTC to make sure Vive Pro is supported in SteamVR runtime on MacOS,” he said.
Karol Gasiński speaks on stage at WWDC 2018 | Image courtesy Apple
In Mojave, the Vive Pro will be fully supported, including its pass-through cameras, Gasiński said at WWDC. It hasn’t been confirmed whether or not this will include support for the Vive SRWorks SDK, which was announced back in April and brings additional functionality to the headset’s cameras to help developers build passthrough AR applications. We’ve reached out to HTC about their plans for the SRWorks SDK on MacOS.
A preview of MacOS 10.4 Mojave is available to members of the Apple Developer Program today, with a public beta beginning in late June. Mojave will launch publicly in the Fall as a free update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, as well as 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics cards.
While Valve, HTC, and Apple are steadily maturing their support for VR on Mac, Oculus remains non-commital to the platform, telling us recently that the company doesn’t have any news to share on MacOS support; while development versions of the Rift had supported MacOS years ago, the company “paused” its development for MacOS back in 2015, and the consumer Rift launched only with support for Windows.
Die kostenlose Open Source Game Engine Godot bringt in der jetzt als Full Release verfügbaren Version 3.0 die Unterstützung für VR mit. Einerseits lassen sich Spiele für Google Cardboard und ähnliche Lösungen direkt entwickeln, auf der anderen Seite gibt es via dem neuen Framework GDNative die Unterstützung von OpenVR und damit PC-Brillen wie die HTC Vive und Oculus Rift. Erste Versuche, Titel via SteamVR fit für Windows Mixed Reality Headsets zu machen, verliefen erfolgreich.
Neue Version von Godot unterstützt die virtuelle Realität
Die Platzhirsche für die Entwicklung von VR-Titeln sind sicherlich die kommerziellen Lösungen Unity und Unreal, jedoch werden bei bestimmten Umsätzen mit verkauften Spielen teilweise hohe Lizenzzahlungen fällig. Anders sieht das bei Godot aus, denn die Open Source Software lässt sich jederzeit kostenlos nutzen. Ganze 18 Monate arbeitete das Team an der Version 3.0, die etliche Änderungen und Verbesserungen mit sich bringt. Auf dem Zettel stehen beispielsweise eine neue Render-Engine sowie das Framework GDNative, mit dem sich nativer Code als Plug-in in Godot verwenden lässt. GDNative ist dann auch dafür verantwortlich, dass man in der neuen Version von GodotOpenVR verwenden kann und somit Titel fit für PC-Brillen machen kann.
Außerdem können Anwender der Entwickler-Software auf ein experimentelles GDNative-Modul zurückgreifen, das OpenHMD in die Umgebung bringt. OpenHMD ist ebenfalls kostenlos sowie Open Source und ermöglicht den Support weiterer Headsets wie PlayStation VR (PSVR). Die Unterstützung der Samsung Gear VR und Daydream sind laut Road to VR geplant. Ein Video zeigt die Verwendung von OpenVR in der Entwicklung-Umgebung.Godot ist für Windows, macOS, SteamOS und Linux erhältlich. Den kostenlosen Download findet man auf der Herstellerseite sowie bei Steam.
Oculus Rift owners using the SteamVR beta will be happy to know that Valve’s developers are continuing to work towards making the Rift user experience on the SteamVR beta better than ever. SteamVR has become a central hub of virtual reality (VR) content on PC, and PC VR head-mounted display (HMD) owners will be pleased to know their HMDs will continue to work better than ever with Steam, thanks to some new updates.
This time, Valve have added some specific improvements for the Oculus Dash 2.0 while using Steam VR. The exact patch notes are;
Support for Dash 2.0. The Rift Dashboard will now render on top of the scene (where supported) rather than swap to a white room. Depth can be passed from applications for proper compositing, but will require individual applications to update to use the latest OpenVR SDK.
Not only that, but gameplay itself should get a bit smoother thanks to some other updates and improvements regarding controllers;
Hooked up new OVR status for hiding controllers, lowering rendering requirements and pausing.
Needless to say it’s good news for VR HMD owners of all kinds; not only does this ensure Oculus owners are getting a better experience, but it reinforces Steam’s commitment to bringing a good user experience to a range of devices.
The Oculus Dash was added with Rift Core 2.0 back in December, which brought with it a variety of enhancements for users. It’s good to see it didn’t take Valve long to implement the new firmware into SteamVR in some capacity.
See below for a full list of updates and improvements in the latest SteamVR update;
General:
Rewrite of the Vive’s Link Box Bluetooth subsystems to provide for wireless Base Station firmware updates and Power Management. Added SteamVR->Settings->Bluetooth.
Fix for hotplugging displays in direct mode for both Nvidia and AMD.
Added a dismissible warning when an application attempts to render using the wrong video card (requiring user to plug headset into different port).
Lighthouse:
Added system for recovering from permanently tilted world. Level should improve immediately, but in the most severe cases the first play session may take a few minutes to show improvement. Corrections are saved on the PC, so moving the HMD to another computer may briefly show the problem again.
SteamVR Dashboard:
Fixed issue with laser mouse clicks on web pages.
Compositor:
Fix for reusing old frames when newer ones are available during interleaved reprojection in async mode in cases where applications took too long to call Submit.
SteamVR Home:
MOAR crash fixes
Make sure to take a look at the announcement page for the full list, and a download link for the latest OpenVR SDK. For all of the latest news on VR and Steam, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.
Die Veröffentlichung von Doom VFR und Fallout 4 VR hat gezeigt, wie sinnvoll es sein kann, selbst Hand an das Layout der Controller-Knöpfe zu legen. Zwar hatte die VR-Community schnell Wege gefunden, um die Belegung auf den VR-Controllern anzupassen und damit ein besseres Spielerlebnis zu ermöglichen. Das sollte in Zukunft aber einfacher werden, denn Valve bringt nun den OpenVR Input Emulator kurzfristig als Beta in SteamVR.
Valve veröffentlicht Beta mit OpenVR Input Emulator
Im Prinzip läuft jede Software auf SteamVR mit den PC-Headsets Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und Windows Mixed Reality. Allerdings hatte beispielsweise Bethesda seine Spiele nur für die Controller der HTC Vive optimiert, auf der Oculus Rift war Fallout 4 VR mit der Standardbelegung nicht spielbar. Um dieses Problem zu umgehen, kann man auf den OpenVR Input Emulator zurückgreifen, der auf Github derzeit in der Version 1.2 bereitsteht.
Valve macht nun einen Schritt auf den unabhängigen Entwickler zu und stellt den Emulator über SteamVR bis zum 22. Januar 2018 als Beta-Version bereit. Um ihn zu benutzen, muss man allgemein den Zugriff auf Beta-Versionen bei den SteamVR-Eigenschaften freischalten. Laut Valve will man dem Entwickler des OpenVR Input Emulators somit die Zeit geben, alle notwendigen Anpassungen an der Software vorzunehmen. Nach der Beta-Phase werden SteamVR-Nutzer aus dem Beta-Programm herausgenommen und es wird wieder die offiziell freigegebene Version eingespielt.
On stage at Vive Developer Conference in Beijing, HTC today unveiled their upcoming standalone VR headset, Vive Focus. While HTC is only releasing the headset in China, and not in the West as previously announced, the company is using Vive Focus as the impetus for its own mobile VR platform that aims to resolve what HTC calls a “highly fragmented” mobile VR market in China, and become a common platform and storefront across disparate hardware vendors.
Vive Wave essentially does for mobile VR what Valve’s OpenVR does for desktop; it allows a large range of third-party devices onto what HTC describes as an “open” platform and serves up Viveport VR content all under one roof. It’s a pretty bold step by the company to do for China what Google is trying to do for the West with Daydream, and it seems the scale is much larger in scope given the number of partners already on board and the types of headsets capable of entry.
HTC has already signed up twelve hardware partners in China that will support Vive Wave and integrate Viveport content into their future products, including 360QIKU, Baofengmojing, Coocaa, EmdoorVR, Idealens, iQIYI, Juhaokan, Nubia, Pico, Pimax, Quanta and Thundercomm.
Image courtesy HTC
Vive Wave is said to be an open platform and toolset that will make mobile VR content development easy and also allow high-performance device optimization for third-party partners. HTC says the Vive Wave VR SDK offers an open interface enabling interoperability between numerous mobile VR headsets and accessories. These accessories could include Leap Motion, VR input gloves, 6DoF controllers and even eye-tracking solutions if manufacturers are so willing, Engadgetreports.
According to the report, China-based developers were told they can port their HTC Vive content to Vive Wave with the choice of either adopting 3DoF controller input or by supporting 6DoF input with “additional accessories.” HTC Vive’s Associate Vice President Raymond Pao said that existing Daydream and Samsung Gear VR content could even take less than a week to port to Vive Wave, a process that the company says will be easier for developers using Unity thanks to the new one-click process to publish to Viveport.
The basic list of compatible mobile headset types is fairly wide, encompassing smartphones that slot-in to a separate headset, smartphones tethered to the headset via cable with single or dual panels, or a standalone headset with single or dual panels. The company boasts support for multiple CPU architectures, although it’s admittedly optimized for Qualcomm Snapdragon. The stipulation for entry is Android 7.1 and higher.
Hardware manufacturers haven’t been so cavalier in the West with mobile VR headsets, so a ‘OpenVR for mobile’ isn’t as plainly necessary here as it is in China. While Western crowds won’t likely ever see Vive Wave, it’s certainly an interesting experiment to follow along with.
Khronos Group, the consortium behind the OpenXR project which aims to standardize the way applications communicate with AR and VR headsets, just added Microsoft to its ranks. Among its count of members, the OpenXR working group consisted of nearly every major player in the industry except Microsoft until now.
By the virtue of its Windows operating system, the basis of which nearly every PC VR headset uses to function, Microsoft joining the OpenXR initiative represents a win for the others involved, which include industry players like Google, Oculus, HTC, AMD, NVIDIA, Epic Games, Unity, Intel, Qualcomm, Sony, Samsung and Valve.
image courtesy Khronos Group
Although guessing at a company’s motives is a bit like reading tea leaves sometimes, Microsoft taking part in building OpenXR makes a strong case for its ultimate interest in growing the open, royalty-free standard, and not trying to create its own internally developed “DirectXR” that would essentially dictate how headsets will talk to their OS. Up until now, it wasn’t clear which way Microsoft was headed.
Khronos says work on the actual OpenXR project has already begun and that it stands to eliminate market fragmentation by forcing VR applications and engines to be ported and customized to run on multiple VR runtimes, and requiring VR sensors and displays to be integrated with multiple driver interfaces.
There are however two reluctant holdouts left; Apple and Magic Leap, but it remains to be seen what either are bringing to the table.
As rumored, SteamVR support for the new Windows 10 VR headsets will not be available in time for launch two weeks from now, but customers should get a taste of it later this year.
At its event in San Francisco today Microsoft revealed that a developer preview for the SteamVR support on its new devices, made in partnership with companies like Acer and Dell, is now available. This will allow developers to try out their own content within SteamVR. Microsoft expects to make this preview build available to everyone later this holiday season. Valve released the following statement to us about how the integration will work:
“Microsoft is providing an OpenVR driver that allows SteamVR to automatically identify Windows MR hardware. From a consumer’s experience, this should allow SteamVR titles to ‘just work’ on these devices. On the dev side it is also possible for developers to tune their application for specific aspects of the headsets and/or for the Windows MR controllers.”
This support means Microsoft’s new headsets should get access to hundreds of VR games on Steam. The platform already supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and OSVR, meaning anyone with one of those headsets can jump into any VR product on the store, though specific optimization is required to fine-tune control schemes for each platform.
Feature-wise, Microsoft’s headsets offer a very similar experience to Rift and Vive. The headsets themselves offers six degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking, as do their motion controllers. The main difference is that this tracking is delivered through an inside-out system, meaning all the movement sensors are located on the hardware itself and not placed around the room like with Rift and Vive. Whether the tracking system can keep up with the these tried and true headsets remains to be seen.
It sounds like gamers will have to hang tight on SteamVR support for a little bit, then. Fortunately, Microsoft will also have VR games on the Windows Store, many of which appear on Steam too. We recently went hands-on with Superhot’s Windows Store version, for example, and we’re looking forward to exclusive content like the new Halo experience too.
CrossVR’s Revive, the software that allows HTC Vive users to play games from the Oculus platform, today announced it’s joining one of the leading initiatives in creating an open standard for VR and AR apps and devices, otherwise known as OpenXR.
Lead by the Khronos Group, OpenXR aims to eliminate industry fragmentation by creating a standard, royalty-free API that enables applications to target a wide variety of AR and VR headsets. Those already involved in the initiative include the likes of Oculus, HTC, Samsung, Valve, Epic Games, Unity, AMD and NVIDIA to name a few. Khronos has already helped create several open standards including WebGL, Vulcan, and OpenGL.
image courtesy Khronos Group
Jules Blok, the creator and driving force behind Revive, announced on his Patreon early this morning that CrossVR would be officially joining as an Associate Member, something he says will “represent your interests to help ensure that the next generation of VR headsets will have a truly open standard.”
Blok initially stated that, upon reaching the $2,000 per month donation mark, he would invest the $3,500 it took to join as an Associate Member, a non-voting position in the group that allows for full participation in OpenXR’s development.
Having recently reached his goal, in large part due to the help of a $2,000 monthly recurring donation by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, Blok contacted the the Khronos Group to confirm he had the $3,500 membership fee and was ready to join. To his surprise, Khronos waved the fee, giving him free entrance into the working group.
Blok says the money originally earmarked for the membership fee will be spent on the Revive project instead. Learn more about Revive (and how to install it) on CrossVR’s GitHub.
Apple’s broad embrace of VR this week shows that the company has had virtual reality support on its roadmap for quite some time. During a session at WWDC, Apple and Valve confirmed they’ve been working together for nearly a year to bring SteamVR and OpenVR to MacOS.
Though you might think that porting SteamVR and OpenVR to MacOS would be relatively straightforward—given that Steam for regular desktop gaming has been on the OS since 2010. But it seems there was quite a bit of development work to be done in order to make it happen, including a few missing capabilities which Apple built into the Metal 2 rendering API, at Valve’s request, in order to make it possible to render high performance VR on MacOS.
Collaborating for VR on MacOS
To that end, the companies have been working together on the project for nearly a year, said Rav Dhiraj, a member of the GPU Software Team at Apple, who detailed Metal 2’s new VR rendering features in a session at the WWDC conference this week.
“We’ve been working really closely with Valve over the last year to align our releases and both SteamVR and OpenVR are available to download in beta form this week,” he announced on stage.
Valve’s Nat Brown joined Dhiraj on stage to talk more about what it took to get SteamVR and OpenVR running in high performance on MacOS.
“Valve and Apple, we started working together more closely about a year ago. Our port to Metal from OpenGL didn’t cost us very much—Metal is a really cool API and it was critical for us to get VR up and performant,” Brown said.
On stage at WWDC 2017, Valve’s Nat Brown overviews the inner workings of SteamVR rendering on MacOS | Photo courtesy Apple
He also confirmed that the companies have been working together on the project for nearly a year, with one of the most significant initial asks from Valve to Apple being the implementation of direct-to-headset rendering capabilities into Metal 2.
“Our biggest request to Apple a year ago was for this direct-to-display feature because it’s critical to ensure that the VR Compositor has the fastest time-predictable path to the headset display panels,” said Brown. “We also really needed super accurate low variance VBL (vertical blank events) so that we could set the cadence of the VR presentation frame timing and predict those poses accurately.”
Apple As An Active Participant
Brown seemed to paint Apple as not only supportive of Valve’s work, but an active participant in the process of getting SteamVR and OpenVR running well on MacOS.
“We hit some speed bumps [during development] around inter-process and inter-thread synchronization. Once everything else was working really well—Metal was blazing fast, we had really tight VBL—but we still were having some synchronization problems, but Apple helped us find better ways to signal and synchronize with low scheduling variance between all the processes and threads involved.”
After digging into the technical challenges of rendering a frame onto a VR headset with low latency, and explaining how developers can install SteamVR on MacOS to begin experimenting, Brown wrapped up his segmented saying, “Thanks to everybody at Apple for making VR shine on MacOS.”
On stage at WWDC 2017, Apple’s Rav Dhiraj explains VR rendering concepts | Photo courtesy Apple
SteamVR and OpenVR for MacOS rely on Metal 2 which is only supported in the forthcoming release of Apple’s new ‘High Sierra’ version of the operating system. Developers can download a beta version of High Sierra today through Apple’s developer portal, and then install SteamVR through the MacOS Steam client and opt into the latest beta version. MacOS High Sierra will be available as a free upgrade on any Mac which supports the current Sierra release, however only the new, top-end iMacs and MacBooks with external GPUs that meet the VR Ready spec will be able to run VR experiences.
Watch This Space
A year’s worth of collaboration on VR between Apple and Valve calls into question Oculus’ involvement with Apple and their intentions (or lack thereof) to support MacOS. It’s possible that the groundwork laid down by Apple and Valve’s work, especially relating to the VR-specific features of Metal 2, could make Oculus’ job of porting their platform to MacOS easier. But it isn’t clear whether or not that effort has begun, nor how long it might take if and when it does start.
For now, outwardly at least, it seems Valve and Apple are forming a strong relationship while Oculus has been not shown up to the veritable table. How this relationship pans out in the long run—especially with rumors of Apple developing its own VR headset—could have far reaching consequences on the future of the VR industry and its key players.
As VRFocus have previously reported, SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) have been working with eye-tracking technology for some time now. Their eye-tracking product has even been incorporated into the latest version of the HTC Vive headset, which is currently undergoing testing by research customers.
Now SMI and Valve have announced they they will be introducing this eye-tracking into the OpenVR platform. SMI’s eye-tracking provides a range of benefits to virtual reality (VR) users, including the ability to better ‘meet the gaze’ of NPCs they encounter within the virtual world and foveated rendering – which reduces the demand on the hardware.
“Eye tracking opens up several interesting possibilities to both VR developers and customers.” said Yasser Malaika of Valve. “Our collaboration with SMI on R&D, as well as on SMI’s efforts to make eye-tracking enabled Vive units available to the larger VR community, have been critical to our growing understanding of how HMDs with integrated eye tracking will positively impact the future of VR.”
SMI Director OEM Business Christian Villwock added; “Over the past year SMI has established itself as the clear leader in VR and AR integrated eye tracking and its value driven use. Today we are thrilled to see our eye tracking on show as part of the Valve platform. This demo is the result of the experience and the valuable learnings we have accumulated during our relationship with Valve, a company that had the foresight to see the value of eye tracking at an early stage.”
Valve will be hosting SMI at it’s GDC booth, where it will be demonstrating the modified version of the HTC Vive with eye-tracking enabled.
For further information about Valve, SMI and GDC, keep your eyes on VRFocus.
