Hello all,

Hope you are all well and beating this COVID-19 wherever in the world you may be.

I am,and have been for a long while, been interested in VR, but I do seek a little further information before indulging my dream purchase.  I own a fairly full suite of Saitek controllers (yoke, pedals, trim wheel and two throttle quadrants) which I would like to retain and use with any future VR purchase.  (Muscle memory??)

I am looking at an Occulus Rift S or the Quest and combining that with hand tracking.  I have seen These VR headsets advertised as being compatible with hand tracking, but I can't find where I could purchase the hand tracking device, now how much I could reasonably expect to pay. 

My next question is whether or not I can reasonably expect to be able to use the combination of Occulus, Hand tracking, Saitek controllers and a Flight sim platform, without having to use the hand controllers that come with the  Headset. I just think that the use of the hand controllers may well detract from the immersion gained from just using hands to adjust switches and knobs as opposed to using the hand controllers.

I am an aged pensioner and as such, VR is probably still a long way ahead for me based on financial considerations but, as usual, I want to start my research early, whilst recognising that the VR hardware world may well change in the near future.

Please feel free to PM me if you feel your reply may be sensitive, long winded or whatever. 

Looking forward to any advice or opinion from any experienced user or novices out there.

 

Regards and please stay safe

Tony

If you're talking about VR gloves that will allow you to flip switches and pull levers like in real life, it doesn't exist. At least not in a stable, reasonably priced, commercially available product. The best we have are the controllers that come with the headsets, like Oculus Touch. 

Also, keep in mind that the software has to support the controllers too. P3D, for instance only supports mouse operation for klicking switches and knobs, but you can use your Saitek controllers for the main flight controls. Xplane supports VR controllers but I've never tried it. 

 

 

Andreh,

I do not believe I am talking about gloves. What I have seen is just plain hands which are duplicated on the screen. The hand trackers actually mimic hand movements as far as I can see. I have not seen this applied to any flight sim videos yet though so I do not rally know if it is fully, or even remotely, relevant to Flight simming.

I think Magic Leap developed the concept but I cannot find where it is sold or how much.  Occulus are also talking about it being included or used with their product, but again, I cannot find out if it is Flight Sim relevant, nor the price or where to buy it as an extra option.

I see it as the way forward, particularly, if I am interpreting it all correctly, and particularly, if one can throw away the controllers. The use of eye and hand tracking is, as I see it, the be all and end all for VR. However, as previously stated, I cannot find out much about it.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, or if anyone has it and has evaluated it as worthwhile, I would really appreciate any information.

Regards with gratitude for your response.

Tony

Leap motion is what you are thinking of. I used it for a bit on P3D and it work well. You put the sensor on your headset and it will detect your hand positions. I used the real yoke and controllers and did not use the "virtual primary controller". It worked okay with flipping switches and turning knobs. You need to use P3D with Fly Inside to get the Leap Motion functionality. It takes a bit to get used too, but honestly, I am back to native P3D VR and the mouse. 

Ah, yes, Leap Motion. Forgot about that. From what I understood, it was messy to get to work right and it's not supported by native VR in the sims themselves, which means FlyInside. It also required some do-it-yourself messing about with the hardware to get the sensor attached to the HMD etc. Not exactly plug-and-play. Also newer HMDs ets are probably not supported. I recall someone writing on the forums that it wasn't possible to attach the sensor to the Rift S due the design of the HMD. 

https://developer.leapmotion.com/vr-setup

 

Edited April 30, 20206 yr by andreh

Hello to you all,

OK. A couple of discoveries (which are really no help to me at this time)

1. A leap motion hand tracker is available(?) at roughly USD23.00

2. This apparently must be used in conjunction with a Leap Motion Controller at a cost of a further USD270.00 approximately.

I therefore conclude that in order to get hand tracking I am looking at 

a. Occulus Rift S or Quest .... I do not know which is the better of the two at a cost of approximately USD400.00

b. Leap Motion controller at USD270.00 and

Leap Motion hand tracker at USD23.00 

This brings the total outlay to roughly USD700.00 for a system that may or may not negate the need for controllers, and the performance of which is suspect (I am not talking about the Occulus), plus the cost of the Flyinside app (price unknown)

Is there a viable alternative to Leap Motion in either cost or performance, and can, anybody vouch for hand tracking in light Sim VR 

I really feel that negating the use of hand controllers (supplied with the Rift) is worthwhile if I can stay hands on with the Saitek Controllers.  but it appears that it comes with a substantial cost.

Any further information appreciated, and again, thank you for the replies.

Regards

Tony

1 hour ago, himmelhorse said:

Hello to you all,

OK. A couple of discoveries (which are really no help to me at this time)

1. A leap motion hand tracker is available(?) at roughly USD23.00

2. This apparently must be used in conjunction with a Leap Motion Controller at a cost of a further USD270.00 approximately.

I therefore conclude that in order to get hand tracking I am looking at 

a. Occulus Rift S or Quest .... I do not know which is the better of the two at a cost of approximately USD400.00

b. Leap Motion controller at USD270.00 and

Leap Motion hand tracker at USD23.00 

This brings the total outlay to roughly USD700.00 for a system that may or may not negate the need for controllers, and the performance of which is suspect (I am not talking about the Occulus), plus the cost of the Flyinside app (price unknown)

Is there a viable alternative to Leap Motion in either cost or performance, and can, anybody vouch for hand tracking in light Sim VR 

I really feel that negating the use of hand controllers (supplied with the Rift) is worthwhile if I can stay hands on with the Saitek Controllers.  but it appears that it comes with a substantial cost.

Any further information appreciated, and again, thank you for the replies.

Regards

Tony

Leap Motion user here, no idea where you are getting this $270 leap motion controller thing at?

This is all you need and its $90.

https://www.robotshop.com/en/leap-motion-controller.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlO_Y6diR6QIVy5yzCh0IBgAWEAQYASABEgLvEvD_BwE

So that's $490 for the leap motion and the Rift S.

 

 

Edited May 1, 20206 yr by blueshark747

I cant answer about the leap motion, but as far as your yoke, pedals, trim and throttle they will all work as normal in VR. Don't need any hand tracking etc for them. Now as far as switches and knobs WITHOUT hand tracking...it will depend on your sim. P3D, you will need to use the mouse, keyboard (good luck with that while in VR lol) or something like Voice Attack. Xplane will allow you use whichever hand controllers to manipulate things, but it is a bit awkward imo. Hard to point it at things, at least for me, as well as a little weird turning knobs. GREAT for grabbing pop out windows like your GTN and setting them where you want kinda like you would with an old school kneeboard.

I just bought a leap motion off ebay for £50. I’m flying in aerofly fs2 and when it arrives i’m hoping to see my hands but not expecting fs2 to detect interactions with the cockpit. That is not actually my priority. For the main GA controls – yoke, flaps, trim wheel, quadrant and gear I am using physical controllers and I’d like to use the ‘ghost’ hands to help me locate them. They are custom controls on an adjustable rig that I have designed and built so they are kind of in the right place and feel like the right thing. I have given up on the mainstream devices made by Saitek and co as I no longer think they are fit for purpose in the VR world. Unless they are part of a complete cockpit build, which I think is a bit over the top for most people and restrictive when you want to switch to a different aircraft. For the other cockpit interactions I will use the mouse for now. I am also looking at pointCTRL and hope it will not be too long before nextgen hand tracking allows me to use my hands. Perhaps in a year or two we will have proper haptic gloves.