FireFox 49.01a will integrate OSVR to enable a wide range of hardware in WebVR

[Batu69]

Highlights

Key additions to OSVR capabilities since the last developer update:

• Enhanced support for OSVR devices inside SteamVR including direct mode and distortion correction
• Support for the new OSVR HDK 2 as well as new support for HTC-Vive
• Native support for OSVR inside Unreal 4.12
• OSVR support inside WebVR

See below for details

Engines

 

SteamVR-OSVR

The SteamVR-OSVR driver allows gamers to play SteamVR games on any supported OSVR hardware. A number of features and improvements have been added to the driver recently:

• The driver now works with the latest released version of SteamVR (v1.0.2). You should no longer need to use the old beta release.
• Distortion correction is now provided.
• Direct mode is supported in Windows if you have an AMD or NVIDIA (but not NVIDIA Optimus or NVIDIA on a laptop) graphics card with up-to-date drivers. First, run DisableDirectMode.exe put the HDK in extended mode. This allows the SteamVR driver to see the HDK and figure out what its position is in relation to your other monitors. Start up SteamVR and from the menu, select Devices → Direct mode. SteamVR will restart with the HDK in direct mode.
• Along with direct mode, we now detect your monitors and automatically set the HDK’s position properly. This means you should no longer need to edit the osvr_server.json configuration file to set the position.
• Room setup (standing mode) should now complete successfully. Completing the room setup should also fix the head-stuck-on-the-floor problem.
• The tracking camera is now recognized by SteamVR.

 

OSVR-WebVR

The OSVR team has completed first step in integrating OSVR into WebVR. The patch has landed in Mozilla Firefox and is officially scheduled to be released in 49.01a milestone.

The goals of WebVR in remaining device agnostic align perfectly with OSVR philosophy and with OSVR integrated, it brings support to dozens of devices that can be used expanding the use of WebVR.

 

With the current integration, OSVR-WebVR allows users to experience WebVR with any device supported by OSVR. This includes HMDs such as OSVR HDK, Sensics, Vuzix, Oculus and HTC, numerous position and orientation trackers, controllers such as the Razer Hydra, HTC Vive Controller, the Nod Backspin and others. One of the most important goals of WebVR is interoperability, meaning that users can experience content across a wide spectrum of hardware.

 

The following capabilities are supported:

• Device detection
• Positional and orientation tracking
• Display configuration which allows users to demo WebVR in extended mode.

Upcoming improvements: Now that the initial OSVR integration with Firefox is complete, WebVR could potentially use all the available OSVR interfaces such as eye tracking, plugins such as augmented reality target recognition and more. Hundreds of VR devices that were not supported by WebVR are now available by virtue of the OSVR integration. Moreover, as new devices get added to OSVR, they automatically become available to WebVR. The remaining part is for WebVR to connect its API to these additional OSVR interfaces to bring out all the benefits it has to offer.

 

The OSVR team is working to enhance this integration by incorporating the OSVR Render Manager to enable direct mode, asynchronous time warp, distortion correction and more across a range of HMDs and graphics cards, thereby improving latency and fidelity of the experience.

 

Useful links:

Instructions for trying OSVR in WebVR
Nightly build downloads
The WebVR 1.0 API Spec
Bug tracker for WebVR 1.0 implementation

OSVR-Unreal

• OSVR is now natively integrated in Unreal 4.12. Just enable it in the Virtual Reality section of the project plugins window.
• Updated tutorial video on YouTube for Unreal 4.12, using the built-in plugin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co2IiLVS3r8&feature=youtu.be
• Fixed projection matrix calculation to support off-center projections.
• Fixed flickering black mesh issue due to an incorrect render target texture format.
• Updates for Unreal 4.12 compatibility.
• VR headset should now go to black after exiting VR Preview mode in the editor when running in direct mode.

OSVR-Unity

• Added an OSVR editor window accessible through the Unity menu bar. It includes:
  • Links for launching utilities (TrackerView, Reset Yaw, DirectMode Enable/Disable, etc.) located in the OSVR Runtime/SDK directory.
  • Ability to launch any osvr_server.exe and config files from the Unity editor. Useful for faster testing of various server/render configurations.
  • Links to installers and documentation.

 

• Added OSVR Server Autostart feature for Windows Standalone platform. This can be enabled or disabled on the ClientKit prefab for now, until it becomes a server config option.
• Bug fix for crash when switching scenes in direct mode.

Utilities

 

OSVR-Central