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Author Topic: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea  (Read 4433 times)

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NailBuster

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TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« on: January 17, 2022, 03:04:38 pm »
greetings...

I like to tinker with ideas and stuff and develop software... so im trying a proof-of-concept in using VR controllers for lightguns.

I was wanting something wireless and was looking around at some options/ideas out there...  so thought about rolling my own.

progress!!!  Here's currently where im at:




Just bored and trying to see if something like this is feasible.

Ive written VR stuff in unity so i could make it a bit easier to run directly on my mamecab via questlink and make it more custom....(off screen reload and stuff)


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« Last Edit: January 27, 2022, 10:45:06 pm by NailBuster »

Toasty833

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Re: VR controllers as light gun Idea?
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2022, 08:05:37 pm »
Yeah, it's the kind of thing that could be really useful, just nobody has really worked on it as anything more than a proof of concept. The general cost of VR is still prohibitive, after all.

The best bet is either a 3D printed gun sight, or maybe attaching a sensor to an existing gun shell, depending on the tracking system. The quest has some pistol grips you can buy that you might be able to stick some rudimentary sights to and use as a pretty handy wireless gun. In terms of software, something based around OpenVR would be best for the widest compatibility, like with https://github.com/asingh57/openvr_lightgun. That, combined with an on screen calibration tool and the standard "shoot the targets" to dial in the cursor, line of sight offset for sight picture alignment, and as a virtual joystick or mouse driver implementation so you could use it in all the games, would create a pretty good system with low latency and any distance tracking, with accuracy being dependent on the tracking system used.

But it's a lot of work for a fairly niche application.

NailBuster

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Re: VR controllers as light gun Idea?
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2022, 09:04:49 pm »
agreed,  OpenXR is what unity uses for compatibility between HMDs.... I wouldn't expect someone to buy a VR headset for light-guns use only, im betting many probably have a quest 1/2 or similar already and this is just a 'optional' thingy.

I have an old quest1 sitting around that i would probably use for this if it works well enough.

I was also thinking that perhaps making a WebXR page might make it easier to use.  With a websocket connection locally for msg/events to cabinet.  That way the cab doesn't use hardly any resources that way and keeps the logic on the headset.  A few ideas to see which works best...tinkering is fun....

I really wanted something wireless and accurate and since i have the VR extra equipment I'll give it a shot.

This is just a 'hobby' idea, so i may play around with it just for the 'fun' of it.   

2huwman

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Re: VR controllers as light gun Idea?
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2022, 04:12:54 am »
That's a great idea - I've played a lot of lightgun games using a PC based Oculus Rift and Virtual Desktop, and the low latency and accuracy are major strengths. Never thought of using it as you have with a monitor.

I got a Quest 2 at Christmas as there were some really cheap deals, so if you can make an app for use with these lower priced headsets I'm sure plenty of people would be interested.

NailBuster

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Re: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2022, 10:42:23 pm »
some progress....  have an app on quest running connecting to winPC app that works pretty well.  Again its just a WIP but so far it's not too shabby.




NailBuster

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Re: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2022, 09:47:59 pm »
an update.  Ive been working on getting a 'public beta' release of this out soon.  Ive been doing some dev/updates that make it easier to setup and get going.

Ive tested the new setup and its working well with mame/model2/tekno with no issues 'yet'.... it tracks really well.    It emulates a mouse so should be straightforward for other emus...

Im just trying to figure out what method to use as 'default' as there's really 3 ways to make this work right currently. 

1>  an oculus pc app.  It uses openxr so pretty much any controllers that work with openxr should work ok?  I dev with quest2 and it works well.  The pros in this method is that its easy to configure as you don't need to sideload apk onto the quest and you just use normal oculus link to work quest2.  The cons is that it takes up cpu/gpu resources this way as the app runs on the pc.

2>  native apk/quest2 app.  This runs directly on the quest and sends wifi packets to the touchpoint server on the pc(minimal like 1% cpu usage only).   more complex to sideload and wifi may incur slower response if your wifi isn't the best.

3>  offshoot of 2,  native apk/quest2, but uses adb/directusb connection to pc so that no wifi issues as it uses direct usb for networking.  Minimal pc usage again but come complex to setup....

It also now support 4:3 mode and fullscreen mode too.  It will be released freeware.




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Re: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2022, 08:35:23 am »
Hi Nailbuster,

Thanks for continuing work on this project. I think it's a great idea. I tried experimenting myself using unity and I found that using adb was the best for fastest response etc. which is important if you are flicking between targets.

I would probably say that the default option should be the easiest to get going but it would be great to have all three ways available to choose.

Looking forward to the beta release!

Ugo

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Re: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2022, 09:39:13 am »
This looks great. Good job.

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Re: TouchPoint Light-Gun VR-idea
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2022, 11:36:44 am »

Very nice!  So what are the chances this takes off working with Vive controllers and Lighthouses?  If it doesn't require anything oculus specific, I'm getting the sense that one could just open SteamVR, fire up your software and it would work.  But I don't want to get my hopes up  :lol