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I had an experience with an HTC Vive a couple of years ago, and I'm now considering getting the hardware required to do proper VR.
Obviously, I'd like to play games, but I'm also interested in visualising data (in particular I see that VTK supports OpenVR).
So I was wondering whether anyone in the community here has succeeded in getting this to work under linux, and if they can comment on the hardware required.
I'd be grateful for any insights.
As I understand it, it's best to get 120FPS, otherwise the brain doesn't like it.
I see that system76 has a "thelio major" desktop that can handle a range of NVIDIA cards, but I honestly don't know which would be the minimum that still gets me reasonable performance.
Is it important to have a lot of memory, a lot of cores?
Will I be able to change the level of detail in games to gain in FPS?
Right now it looks to me like I'd need more than 3000 euros for the whole thing (computer+htc vive).
My wife may not approve.
In any case, with the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in the winter, I'm under the impression a working VR system would be a reasonable addition to the "don't go crazy" activities around the house.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Marand on Friday July 17 2020, @03:09AM (3 children)
I went through this at the end of last year because I decided to finally get a VR headset and also wanted Linux-compatible, and what I learned about VR and Linux-compatible headsets:
I concluded that it just wasn't worth the trouble. So, instead, I got the Oculus Quest, which is a standalone headset with no need for Windows or a VR-capable PC. The refresh rate isn't as high as the Index but it's still two screens, with 72hz per eye, so I've had no issues with that, and being able to use the headset without dealing with beacons and cables is amazing.
They also added a feature to allow you to hook it up to a PC via USB3 (or 2 now via software update, though with reduced quality due to bandwidth) and play PC VR games, making it something like the Nintendo Switch of VR, though my suggestion is to skip that entirely and install VR Desktop [vrdesktop.net], which lets you do the same thing over a wireless connection, retaining the freedom of not being tethered to a PC and getting tangled in invisible (to you) cables. These options aren't quite as smooth as a traditional tethered headset but the difference is minimal and I find the convenience worth the trade-off. Anyway, this worked out for me because I built my system with GPU passthrough in mind, so while I run Linux as my host OS I also have a Windows VM with its own GPU and enough resources dedicated to it that I can run VR games there as well. So I just fire up the VM, put on the headset, and play VR games that way. Dual boot would be easier, but I find Windows more tolerable when I don't have to actually use it for anything. :)
Even if you never do PC VR with it, the Quest has a lot going for it. You get the convenience of wireless use and not having to deal with OS bullshit plus the ability to use the Quest anywhere in the house instead of being tethered to a small area near your PC, and for less up-front cost. It uses two screens and has a physical IPD slider so you can adjust the displays to match your head better than the Rift S, and it (like the Rift S) uses inside-out tracking so you don't need to deal with beacons for controller and headset tracking. It's not perfect but it feels like where the future of VR is going, and Oculus' addition of PC tethering (plus third party wireless solutions) seems to indicate they think the same thing.
Anyway, my suggestion is instead of dumping a huge pile of cash into VR all at once, split up the costs by going the Quest route. Basically, buy a Quest now, get a few games for it and play it standalone for a bit. Later on, after the headset cost is out of recent memory, you can look into doing a PC upgrade and choose your system and parts with GPU passthrough in mind, even if you only get one GPU at first. Then you buy a second GPU, set up passthrough, and you now have a VR-capable VM and a wireless headset.
Doing it this way, you get your feet wet with VR now, while being able to spread out the additional purchases over time and hopefully avoid the wife approval process for a single large sum of money. It works with company expenses, so maybe it'll work on the wife. ;)
(Score: 2) by hubie on Friday July 17 2020, @11:22AM (2 children)
How well/poorly do these headsets work for people who wear glasses?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Marand on Friday July 17 2020, @12:17PM (1 child)
I don't know about other headsets, but they work fine with the Quest and the Vive in my experience. One of the reasons I took so long to get into the VR game was concern over how they would interact with glasses, but last year I got the opportunity to try a Vive headset (with Beat Saber, naturally; it's a great "show off VR to people" game) and it worked fine, which is what encouraged me to give it a shot. I got the Quest and it similarly has had no problems despite my terrible eyesight and a need to get my prescription updated.
The main concern is prescription lenses pressing up against the headset lenses and causing damage, but the Quest (and maybe others? no idea) came with an extra spacer you can place between the foam padding at the headset itself to give some extra space for glasses. The default fit had enough room that I probably would have been fine without it, but I still use the spacer just to be safe; the only negative to it is the added distance from the lenses restricts your field of view slightly. I even added this silicone cover [vrcover.com] to the foam pad because it's an itchy sweat magnet and my glasses still fit fine, though they pull a little when I take the headset off because the silicone is more "grabby" than the foam.
The only issues I've had so far are occasional fogging up of my glasses when putting the headset on and I tend to smudge up the edges of my glasses somehow during play. It never affects visibility while using the headset but I always have to clean them after I take it off, so I'm probably doing it while removing the headset.
If you don't want to use a spacer, it's also possible to get attachable prescription lenses [vroptician.com] that you can snap on top of the headset lenses. I'd like to try this out but it'd be a waste right now because I really need to update my prescription first, so I stick with the spacer for now.
(Score: 2) by hubie on Friday July 17 2020, @01:49PM
This is great information. Thank you very much.