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Deskope - Do Anything in Windows with the Rift
Deskope is an application which allows you to work in Windows with the Rift. The only requirement is that the Rift be in extended desktop mode. It works on any Windows from XP to 8.
The control panel has changed a bit since I made this video but it should get you going.
Most settings are written to the registry automatically but some can be changed manually at: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Deskope
I look forward to your feedback.
If you used Deskope before v1.1 (it had an MFC icon instead of the one of the Rift), please delete the entire Deskope registry key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Deskope) to make sure v1.1 runs correctly.
Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/deskope
Known Issues:
- On Vista/7 you may see 1 1/2 mouse cursors (twice in one eye, once in the other). You can mostly avoid this by using extended displays instead of cloned.
The control panel has changed a bit since I made this video but it should get you going.
Most settings are written to the registry automatically but some can be changed manually at: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Deskope
I look forward to your feedback.
If you used Deskope before v1.1 (it had an MFC icon instead of the one of the Rift), please delete the entire Deskope registry key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Deskope) to make sure v1.1 runs correctly.
Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/deskope
Known Issues:
- On Vista/7 you may see 1 1/2 mouse cursors (twice in one eye, once in the other). You can mostly avoid this by using extended displays instead of cloned.
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Comments
Although I think it needs tweaking in my application as I haven't seen the performance improvement I was expecting.
The speedup for PTZ Tweening is greatly dependent on the capture rate for reading from your video card (the "rendering" part of your app, as referred to in my in my PTZ Tweening thread). You may have a card that is fast enough for this to not make a big difference. It should make a very significant difference for some older or value-priced video cards, and especially for CPU-intensive and/or memory intensive rendering. As mentioned in a recent post in my thread, I recently discovered that this method has been used by others for quite some time, masquerading under other names and using other terminology.
Redefined terminology is another reason why patents should never apply to software.
setting the zoom to .8 and i can almost use this as a monitor replacement! restricting the mouse cursor is brilliant as well.
i'm curious why the roll isn't supported? the windows/view rolls with my head instead of keeping the screen "fixed."
Wowowowow.
Nice work!
Feedback:
a) incorporate head tilt and roll to keep image stabilized horizontal.
b) when viewing sbs footage, find a way to remove the two ghost playbacks to the left and right of the 3d-content.. a bit jarring to see left eye or right eye only content on screen.
c) allow for more zooming-in on sbs content.
bad ass program.
AG
The source code is available, if you with to inspect how and why it does what it does.
That said, when used to view 3D movie content, head roll would be a nice (optional) feature, but may also require additional processing power (CPU and/or GPU).
Yeah, I definitely caught the drift that you'd be playing with fire in terms of straight static frame legibility if a rotation transform was introduced..
But frankly after spending a week with this early low-res rift, it seems perceived resolution is really based on how much you move your head while staying focused on your point of interest.. The detail perceived ends up being related to the rough sum average of pixels switched on/off over time to represent the area of interest. Especially with so few dedicated pixels per eye..
So by that token, even if the individual frames take a fidelity hit- your ability to comfortably pixel collect improves with a stable horizon.. So I couldn't say for certain which would ultimately look better or be more usable.
AG
I'll make the roll tracking/rotation thing a priority. geekmaster knows this program well, his explanation about that is dead on.
b) I agree completely. I just haven't thought of a clever solution yet.
c) You can change the ranges of the sliders in the registry. The key you'd want to change is called "Zoom Maximum".
Yeah the roll-tracking addition would be out of this world..
Thanks for the registry heads-up! Can't wait to try when I get back to the studio.
best,
AG
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-use-the-onscreen-keyboard-in-windows-7.html
@Geekmaster - good tip about the on-screen keyboard. I hadn't even thought of that (I've never had the need to use it before).
Just made some quick fixes for hotkeys in 8 and it should work in XP now. Newest version is in the OP.
Suggestion: come up with a version numbering scheme, and put it in each new Deskope .zip filename, so when there is a new version, it is more obvious to users.
Unfortunately, no. But you might be able to use this by setting up virtual displays with something like zonescreen. http://zoneos.com/zonescreen.htm
I recommend trying it with Arma III because you can use Opentrack, which creates flawless headtracking in the game. I also found the ingame text to be perfectly readable.
Great program, by the way! So early on and already so perfect.
This actually isn't as new as it might seem. I originally made a very rough version of this years ago to use with my Vuzix HMD.
I've been meaning to put in the separation in mm too but just never got around to it. As it is I was hoping people could just adjust it until it felt comfortable.
Yeah, that worked fine for me for now
One feature I thought of I'd like - a mode where it still lets you adjust the zoom but doesn't track anything (mouse or head tracker in oculus) so that it jsut centers on a full screen app, regardless of mouseor rift tracker input. I could use this for one game in particular.
Looking forward to updates ^_^!! Thanks again for sharing!
If I use 8.5 to calculate the IPD adjustment I can barely focus on it, but the number from TF2 gives comfortable results. So for your IPD I'd set the separation to 217 px (640 - 57 * 7.42).
I didn't think people could even play games with Deskope, so this type of thing didn't occur to me. The frame rate is going to be much better in the next version, so I'm thinking about implementing something like this.
I think I can work it into a standard game control scheme, but this definitely gives me a lot of promise!
Looking forward to a virtual desktop integrated into the next OS for PCs, combined with LeapMotion, this will be nuts.
This is freaking awesome.
one thing, can you please add drift correction in the next update seems when i move things get drifted off center after a while. thank you!
Actually IPD of 57 is quite rare, according to wiki (wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpupillary_distance) you're in the 1th-5th % of the population. In TF2 you will get your IPD in both mm and pixels ...
Most people will feel comfortable with almost anything... while they can't see the difference themselves, wrong IPD settings might contribute to an increased eye strain after a while.
As for the application, I guess I waited for something like that right from the start only didn't know it
How does it behave with other Rift games?
Can you start Deskope to use Windows normally and launch Rift games from it without any problems?
Anyway, I'm pretty excited about the next version. The frame rate is so good that it makes Deskope much more multi-purpose. The attached images show the Deskope frame rate staying at a steady 60fps while a rift game runs at 122fps and a youtube video runs at 35fps (I believe youtube usually plays at 30fps).
There's a handful of other improvements too. Stay tuned, I just need to fine tune some things and make myself stop adding features.
My favorite kind of developer!
I had a chance to try this out finally, with an extended desktop setup. It's great!
Sounds great! Looking forward to it!