Tuscany Razer Hydra Demo

[squibbfire]

Nateeight, im going to try to build a simple data glove for sure. Using hydra for arm/hand tracking and potentiometers for detecting closing of individual fingers. Thats the most accesible solution for me right now as I have very limited engineering skills and I found a really good usb-interface for 6 potentiometers that puts each potentiometer on a "joystick axis"

i feel an oculus glove kickstarter coming soon...

[Namielus]

Im going to do a kickstarter on my virtual lounge project /virtual cinema, I do hope someone else does a good glove on kickstarter tho.
But any design I make I will just be publishing it here on the forum.

[Visual Knight]

Im going to do a kickstarter on my virtual lounge project /virtual cinema, I do hope someone else does a good glove on kickstarter tho.
But any design I make I will just be publishing it here on the forum.

hey - I am doing a Virtual Lounge too I'm not really a programmer, but I am a 3D modeller and I'm going to make environments in UDK for people to explore. As far as Virtual gloves go- do you think taking apart the razer hydra and tinkering with it maybe a good idea?

[V8Griff]

Magnetic heading does not effect us in any measured way. Water does not spin a different direction depending on hemisphere under any reasonable condition.

Water going down a plughole does spin in a different direction dependent on the hemisphere you're in, I've observed this myself.

Observe the recorded path of a right handed man trying his best to walk forward while blindfolded.
He walked in a spiral towards the right, believing he was walking straight forward.

Blindflolding is sensory deprivation with no references to assist in establishing a heading and I'd suggest is irrelevant to this discussion as I'm talking about movement in a restricted manner more akin to being inside a barrel. So I'd assume that the knowledge you have something to hold on to or restrict your movement is also playing a part.

That's a different effect again it's well known that we favour one leg against the other so we tend to walk in circles that's nothing to do with standing on the spot and turning.

People don't tend to walk one way or the other. They more just follow the grade of the terrain depending on the direction they came in.

According to this link we're both incorrect on that one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -line.html

[MichaelH]

Water going down a plughole does spin in a different direction dependent on the hemisphere you're in, I've observed this myself.

Except it is not true. I don't know what else to say.

According to this link we're both incorrect on that one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -line.html

Yes, that is basically the sort of tests I was talking about.

[donkaradiablo]

Nateeight, im going to try to build a simple data glove for sure. Using hydra for arm/hand tracking and potentiometers for detecting closing of individual fingers. Thats the most accesible solution for me right now as I have very limited engineering skills and I found a really good usb-interface for 6 potentiometers that puts each potentiometer on a "joystick axis"

i feel an oculus glove kickstarter coming soon...

I would definitely be backing
1. an Oculus Input Device
2. one killer Oculus game, designed only for the Rift and the Glove, outsourced to a company like Gearbox if necessary, directed by Oculus

And if these were in the same Kickstarter pack, I would be willing to shell out another 300$ for them. It would be good for Oculus, good for VR, good for the industry and good for me

I would hope the input device would not be a glove but something like the combination of these two:

MYO - Thalmic Labs:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWu9TFJjHaM[/youtube]

MS Research
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm2IuVfNEGk[/youtube]

But I'm sure Palmer would analyse different solutions and choose the best one depending on things like latency and accuracy and also developer feedback to provide the best experience possible.

[Namielus]

Im going to do a kickstarter on my virtual lounge project /virtual cinema, I do hope someone else does a good glove on kickstarter tho.
But any design I make I will just be publishing it here on the forum.

hey - I am doing a Virtual Lounge too I'm not really a programmer, but I am a 3D modeller and I'm going to make environments in UDK for people to explore. As far as Virtual gloves go- do you think taking apart the razer hydra and tinkering with it maybe a good idea?

I plan on doing some experiments with razer hydra + a usb interface with 6 potentiometers for finger input when I have time.
I stopped using UDK and switched to Unity for my virtual lounge project.
There is a pretty long thread about my virtual lounge on this forum.

[PatimPatam]

If a wireless Hydra existed right now, it would mean that an enthusiast with a backtop could whip up a few lines of code and achieve full 360 angular and full positional head tracking easily. That would be enormously simpler than the complexities and compromises they currently have to go through with Kinects, IR cameras, etc...

I thought Carmack mentioned at Quakecon that even when close to the base station the Hydra has too low accuracy for usable head tracking (can easily roll off by 10 degrees for instance). That's not really noticeable when tracking the position of something you hold in your hands, but it is if the horizon is not really horizontal for example. And then there's the magnetic interference jitter problem as well..

[Dan_Sixense]

From what our Creative Director Danny Woodall (The guy running the demo) tells me that was Ben Lang's first time using the OculusVR headset with the Hydra integration. No rehearsing.

Danny and I worked together to get the standard Tuskany demo modified for the Hydra, adding objects to play with, hands, modifying existing objects (like the boots and paintings) to have back faces etc.

My favorite is jumping off the balcony, going through the windows using the board as a ramp behind the house, and crouching by the fire looking up the chimney . I can't wait till its released and everyone gets to try it.


Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

[Dan_Sixense]

The technology that the Hydra is based on was actually developed as wireless. Our v2.5 and v3.2 dev kits were both wireless units.

Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

[phoenix96]

From what our Creative Director Danny Woodall (The guy running the demo) tells me that was Ben Lang's first time using the OculusVR headset with the Hydra integration. No rehearsing.

Danny and I worked together to get the standard Tuskany demo modified for the Hydra, adding objects to play with, hands, modifying existing objects (like the boots and paintings) to have back faces etc.

My favorite is jumping off the balcony, going through the windows using the board as a ramp behind the house, and crouching by the fire looking up the chimney . I can't wait till its released and everyone gets to try it.


Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

Is there a timeline for release?

[TheHolyChicken]

This and 'The Gallery' look to be such interesting experiences that I'm thinking I may have to go and get one. It's funny - when I saw this a few years ago, integrated with Left 4 Dead 2, I was completely uninterested; a cool, but pointless peripheral I had no desire to buy. In VR, however, it just makes sense.

[Dan_Sixense]

No timeline that I can comment on atm, I'll see if I can get some info though.

I REALLY REALLY want to see this combination of hardware integrated into Amnesia. That'd just be the most terrifying game ever.

Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

[rmcclelland]

From what our Creative Director Danny Woodall (The guy running the demo) tells me that was Ben Lang's first time using the OculusVR headset with the Hydra integration. No rehearsing.

Danny and I worked together to get the standard Tuskany demo modified for the Hydra, adding objects to play with, hands, modifying existing objects (like the boots and paintings) to have back faces etc.

My favorite is jumping off the balcony, going through the windows using the board as a ramp behind the house, and crouching by the fire looking up the chimney . I can't wait till its released and everyone gets to try it.

Thanks for commenting. I just picked up a Hydra and look forward to trying this out! I like how the hands open and close, making them look less dead. I don't want zombie hands!

[TheHolyChicken]

No timeline that I can comment on atm, I'll see if I can get some info though.

I REALLY REALLY want to see this combination of hardware integrated into Amnesia. That'd just be the most terrifying game ever.

Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

Amnesia already makes me so scared sometimes my stomach gets painful. My body literally goes into 'fight or flight' mode, where the blood is pulled away from lesser priority tasks (digestion) to instead potentially aid me should I need to punch monsters in the face or, more likely, run away like a sissy girl. I think Rift + Hydra + Amnesia would make me so scared I would just poop my pants. I can't think of a better showcase for Rift + Hydra!

'Penumbra: Overture' is open source, I believe. It might be interesting to throw in Rift and hydra support into that game. I don't think the hydra would be too difficult.... the way you interact with the world already suits it really well.

[Zoide]

The technology that the Hydra is based on was actually developed as wireless. Our v2.5 and v3.2 dev kits were both wireless units.

Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

Interesting! Why did you choose to make the Hydra wired?
Will the Hydra's successor be wireless?
The recent brutally discounted prices for the Hydra seem to indicate that it'll come sooner rather than later, yes?

Thanks

[Parallaxis]

The technology that the Hydra is based on was actually developed as wireless. Our v2.5 and v3.2 dev kits were both wireless units.

Dan Paullus
Art Director
Sixense Entertainment, Inc.
http://www.Sixense.com

Interesting! Why did you choose to make the Hydra wired?
Will the Hydra's successor be wireless?
The recent brutally discounted prices for the Hydra seem to indicate that it'll come sooner rather than later, yes?

Thanks

I remember some youtube video showing the dev wireless version in action with close to 1 sec latency. That even worse than Kinect running on Xbox 360. It would be unplayable in VR. So that explains the wired version.

[totallymichael]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIcwN9nhBg[/youtube]

[Thodder7]

I'm considering the Hydra now, I was just curious, Can we do that with a hydra, or is it not released to the public? I couldn't find any specific version. I was also curious what games we can play with the RIFT and HYDRA at the same time? It is my understanding Team fortress only supports one at a time...

[Dan_Sixense]

I used to play League of Legends pretty competitively on our 3.2 devkits, far before the Hydra was even a concept drawing . Obviously with no where near 1000ms. The latency you get will directly scale with the filter you apply to the signal. Overall the performance of the 3.2 from my experience is the same as the Hydra. Obviously the Hydra is a nicer form factor .

I dont have any information about a wireless Hydra or a next generation of the Hydra sorry.

A common reaction to the idea of oculus + hydra + Amnesia around here is "i would poop my pants."

[Dan_Sixense]

At the time the Hydra was originally produced, going wired instead of wireless brought the price way way down.

[cmfockler]

I'm not a customer yet, Dan, but will be buying a Hydra soon. In future versions could you add a simple hole to provide a place to tie on a wrist strap?

It would also be cool to provide some ways to help us mount the controllers into accessories like guns, paddles, flight sticks, golf clubs, crossbows etc. The Wii controllers do a decent job of this and I'd like something similar in the Hydra.

[jayoh]

dan,

thanks for sharing these tidbits. i can't wait for that hydra'd version of tuscany!

[Dan_Sixense]

Sixense aside from our dev kits which we used to develop the tracking technology, has very little role in hardware and we are mostly a software company. We can obviously mention hardware suggestions in talks with Razer but the best way to make your opinions heard is probably to talk to them directly. We had no hand in influencing the form factor of the Hydra whatsoever, that is all Razer; we're simply involved in the workings of the tech inside.

When you get your Hydra make sure you get the Sixense replacement driver, it's way more powerful than the stock Razer one.

http://www.sixense.com/motioncreator

I'll post here when I get info about when we're releasing that Tuscany demo

[jayoh]

dan,

i've got all 3 at the ready. if you guys need an extra tester, let me know. my rift thirsts for content!

[mayaman]

Wouldn't the P5 glove be best for this?

[Nogard]

I don't know if it has been asked before but can you do chin-ups in the demo? I guess that would also mean can you climb.

[V8Griff]

I don't know if it has been asked before but can you do chin-ups in the demo? I guess that would also mean can you climb.

Not sure how you'd do chin-ups but you can certainly climb up stairs.

[Nogard]

I don't know if it has been asked before but can you do chin-ups in the demo? I guess that would also mean can you climb.

Not sure how you'd do chin-ups but you can certainly climb up stairs.

by grabbing hold of the ceiling with the hydra, and then pulling them towards you because the house has more mass then you, you should move towards it.

[V8Griff]

I don't know if it has been asked before but can you do chin-ups in the demo? I guess that would also mean can you climb.

Not sure how you'd do chin-ups but you can certainly climb up stairs.

by grabbing hold of the ceiling with the hydra, and then pulling them towards you because the house has more mass then you, you should move towards it.

Ah OK, interesting thought. Don't have a Hydra at the moment so can't test that one, but an answer would be interesting.

[Nogard]

Not sure how you'd do chin-ups but you can certainly climb up stairs.

by grabbing hold of the ceiling with the hydra, and then pulling them towards you because the house has more mass then you, you should move towards it.

Ah OK, interesting thought. Don't have a Hydra at the moment so can't test that one, but an answer would be interesting.

Even if its not there it should be implemented, it would mean you could clime a wall like spiderman

[Falan]

Even if its not there it should be implemented, it would mean you could clime a wall like spiderman

Oh man imagine free climbing using that idea, your a genius! Stuff like assassins creed would be excellent actually using proper handholds to sneak around castles and things, it would need a slower game play version though, perhaps Thief 4 anyone?

[Vamplifire]

Has it been confirmed that they are going to release this build of Tuscany for devs?

[jack612]

Has it been confirmed that they are going to release this build of Tuscany for devs?

Yes.

[V8Griff]

Has it been confirmed that they are going to release this build of Tuscany for devs?

Yes their Art Director (see posts above) has confirmed that is their intention but there is no release date yet.

[Vamplifire]

Sweet!! I really wanted to take a look the physics. Also wanted to see if adding objects affects the FPS too much. I’m pretty sure I can juggle the baseballs too.

[Dan_Sixense]

Regarding the chin ups idea mentioned. There was one experience in the demo that I found particularly interesting. That was taking a barrel, walking up to the outer wall outside the house (which reached about up to the middle of your vision), and reaching your barrel holding hand gently over the top of the wall to drop it over the other side.

Not only did this act feel eerily "real" (I cant find the right word for it now) but it gave you an overwhelming urge to grab the edge of the wall with both hands and lift your view up to peek over and see the barrel rolling down the hill on the other side.

I also rode a roller coaster in the oculus which was totally crazy, my core muscles were instinctively tightening up to stabilize me in corkscrews and loops and by the end of it I was physically sweating. I'm checking If I can talk more openly about this project, but the point is, roller coasters are awesome in VR lol.

[V8Griff]

Good stuff

Enough of the teasing, let us have the demo

[maboo63]

yeah mr sixense plz give us the gooooods

[Dan_Sixense]

Still no news on when we releasing Tuscany public yet, we're really busy the next couple weeks :/.

However I did get the okay to talk about a little experiment we did rendering video to cube maps. We basically made a virtual Imax theater where you can run any video through it you want, that's where we ran a first person perspective render of a roller coaster ride, it was really cool. Obviously to prevent stretching the video too much we couldnt cover more than like 130 degrees of your view, so the video edge would be visible if you looked hard left or right, still amazing experience.

I bet I can talk one of our software guys into releasing this demo when we get some down time .