Desktop Environments

Until some future Rift model comes with a Windows Desktop compatibility mode pre-installed in hardware, we have this free software solution:

Deskope:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1505

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EDIT: Deskope has features that would be extremely difficult (if not "impossible") to implement in firmware or hardware.

Very cool looking application - I want to check it out!

However, this is still an application only suitable for Windows. What about firmware? What about making the final product as universal as possible?

One suggestion I'd like to make to the official developers at Oculus is to consider the possibility of teaming up directly with the makers of Tridef3D or a similar company - that has actually made firmware drivers for 3D display devices - to work on integrating 2D and 3D image splitting and calibration into the Rift.

"EricE" wrote:
Very cool looking application - I want to check it out!

However, this is still an application only suitable for Windows. What about firmware? What about making the final product as universal as possible?

One suggestion I'd like to make to the official developers at Oculus is to consider the possibility of teaming up directly with the makers of Tridef3D or a similar company - that has actually made firmware drivers for 3D display devices - to work on integrating 2D and 3D image splitting and calibration into the Rift.

The Rift would need at least an FPGA, and perhaps nearly as much of the graphics and processing power of modern gaming consoles, plus head-tracking support in that video processor module hardware and firmware, to begin to compete with the capabilities of Deskope. That would add significantly to the manufacturing cost, and the goal here is to make it inexpensive enough for mass market appeal, while avoiding "Creeping Featuritis".

I hope Carmack codes his own Tridef / Vireio driver or buys one of them out and refines it. It would instantly make a large amount of content available even if it isn't perfect.

Peejle

"EricE" wrote:
With 3D drivers built into the device, the Rift can act as any other plug-and-play device. No need to use separate software installed on the computer that only works with such-and-such a game.

I don't understand how you can come to this conclusion. The OS sees the Rift as a monitor, which is the only reason games can target it. If you're suggesting that the Rift try to own more of the 'device stack' then it would have to act as a 3D graphics card, which might imply that it could provide the distortion shader on it's own. However the distortion shader alone isn't enough to provide stereoscopic rendering.

The game that outputs to the Rift still has to render two completely distinct viewpoints, each of which has it's own modelview and projection matrix.

Trying to make the Rift more complicated than it is in any fashion will both increase the cost and increase the difficulty for end users. OVR should instead spend it's time making the SDK easier for developers to integrate into other software and working with OS manufacturers to improve the handling for display outputs that should be enabled for the DirectX and GL APIs but should be ignored for the desktop metaphor.

These are valid points when it comes to immersive 3D gaming - the processor needs to render two separate viewpoints. But 2D applications, games, movies, etc... don't need additional rendering. Why can't this be done by the headset itself? I've seen it done in the HMDs of the past - where a single image output is split between two screens (usually sent trough prisms to project the light) and then to each eye separately. Why not add this capability so people can plug it into a BluRay player or an iPad?

Dunno if this is Off or On Topic, but I imagine being in a kind of control room where shortcuts on your desktop can be doorways or windows that you can open up and look through/walk through to open the programs. Instead of being on "windows" in the computer sense, they'd actually be "windows" in the traditional sense. :lol: I haven't really thought about the realistic side of it, just throwing ideas out there. I see the future of VR in terms of desktops as being in a room, where you're able to use gestures to sweep and scroll through your computer files, or have a program that dynamically recreates your computer into buildings. For example, each hard drive could be a building, with each floor/room representing a file or program on said hard drive. The thought of walking around inside of your computer's memory is now starting to fascinate me :mrgreen: But I figure walking around a seemingly abandoned building would feel lonely. Imagine assistants that walk through the building, say hello to you as you pass, converse with each other. Then when you want files to be copy-pasted, moved, deleted, the assistants will walk through the building to move the files! Sure, if you're moving something from one side of your HD to the other (Weird, don't think that expression has been used before) it might take longer, but it'd be a hell of an experience! And instead of being either quiet or filled with chatter from assistants, you can bring up an overlay or have a small PDA/watch that allows you to play music throughout the building, or to easily navigate via teleportation or GPS! Or CPS (Computer Positioning System)? Or instead of the building being dynamically created, you can create shortcuts and rearrange rooms and floors for your convenience! Leave all those Sys32 in the basement underneath, while you have an express elevator to the penthouse in which you have your steam library, a web-browsing holoscreen! And when programs are developed, they can be used in sync with the new VR Desktop, so that maybe Windows Media Player (or your player of choice) manifests itself as a cinema, booth, or whatever you want it to be. Or, you can just sit at a booth in the penthouse and open up your computer on ANOTHER "computer" to do any tasks that would be tedious via VR. Just imagine, telling your kids or grandkids or great grandkids: "We used to have to do everything from a 2D screen we sat in front of. We didn't have these fancy virtual mansions with these fancy virtual assistants and fancy virtual personal theaters." OR maybe have some friends look around your PC, then yell at them when they open that one door to that one hallway that's always locked with a keypad. You know what I'm talking about. 8-)

/Endrant. I'm getting too excited, I considered not even posting this because it's just me rambling like an 8 year old. :roll:

Does anyone know if there is a serious effort to get the rift working with Compiz? I think there is great potential there to make the rift not only a game device but a productivity device as well.

I am not able to find much googling around, nothing going with compiz, and some projects that look like they are trying to reinvent the wheel. Compiz already renders the entire desktop in a 3d environment, all that needs to be done is split images for parallax separation and let the head tracking control the desk-cube POV. I suspect that even if the split images were not separate view points it would still be a decent user experience.

I am also going to try to drum up interest on the compiz development side. I can code, but haven't taken on something like this before. I would like to get Oculus Rift support into the main line Compiz, and if I cannot find anybody already working on this I will see if I can fork compiz with the goal of getting the needed changes merged back in to it. If anyone has the skills and would like to be a part of it, let me know.

I actually believe a fully 3D desktop is necessary regardless of whether you use a Rift or not. It's something I've had in the planning stages for years now. Of course, adding Rift support is a logical step forward.

It's not really necessary for the Rift to have a 3D environment baked in. Eventually, each OS will adopt whatever it finds most suitable and that will become a standard part of the OS. However, there's something to be said about having a tablet like device that the Rift can plug into and become a completely wireless device. Imagine, running your Rift off of an Android like device and using cloud computing to do the heavy lifting. If you want an example, take a look at Nvidia's SHIELD.

does anybody know if theres a program that can just split your monitor screen in half like it does in games so you can run any program/game in 2d with the oculus rift when the monitors are in duplicate monitors mode?