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wildermuthn
Up and Coming
June 12, 2013

Steal this idea: VR Wand

A real wand. Like Harry Potter. You know, a short thin stick.

A wand is better than hand-gestures because it has a more precise point and position. A wand is light. A wand can vibrate to simulate tapping-contact in the VR world. A wand can also have a small button at the base, allowing activation.

Entire VR GUIs can be built around a wands tracing paths in space. To open a door, activate the wand and swipe left. To unlock a door, trace circle-pattern on the doorknob. Sky is the limit.

VR is a magic-like simulation of reality. A wand capitalizes upon the essential god-like powers we have over our VR world.

If someone isn't already working on this, please do steal this idea.

    24 replies

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    ganzuul
    Up and Coming
    June 19, 2013
    I think I stole your idea about 6 months ago... :P
    But it must be a good one then!

    Our dev platforms could be our mobile phones and webcams. We get tactile feedback from the vibe, which at least for entering text on buttonless smartphones works out great.

    Would you like to work on this together with me, Geekmaster? What mobile phone(s?) do you have?
    geekmaster
    Up and Coming
    June 19, 2013
    "ganzuul" wrote:
    ... Would you like to work on this together with me, Geekmaster? What mobile phone(s?) do you have?

    Just a low-end company-supplied phone. One of my clients pays the phone bills, even though I ported my personal telephone number to it that I have had for decades.
    :D

    No smartphone, sorry. And a very full schedule with a very long "To Do" list. Of course, that is subject to change if your project draws enough of my interest. What *is* your project? I recall seeing interesting things awhile back with your avatar attached to them, so I may indeed be interested.
    ;)

    http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=16999&p=118399#p118399
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
    ganzuul
    Up and Coming
    June 19, 2013
    When I signed up for this dev forum I designated my project as node.vr. I was gunning for an event-driven VR framework centred around node.js and the web as a single platform, but since I discovered that ARM processors (common in mobile phones) have SIMD instructions, that js knows nothing of the kind and that there's nothing I can do about it I have just been moping about, kicking rocks. The beautiful symmetry fell apart. Je suis désolé.

    Also medical issues caused by absurd stress from work. I have a vacation now and will use part of it to look for a new job. I got my Rift yesterday and I just started thinking about what to do next.
    geekmaster
    Up and Coming
    June 19, 2013
    "ganzuul" wrote:
    When I signed up for this dev forum I designated my project as node.vr. I was gunning for an event-driven VR framework centred around node.js and the web as a single platform, but since I discovered that ARM processors (common in mobile phones) have SIMD instructions, that js knows nothing of the kind and that there's nothing I can do about it I have just been moping about, kicking rocks. The beautiful symmetry fell apart. Je suis désolé.

    Also medical issues caused by absurd stress from work. I have a vacation now and will use part of it to look for a new job. I got my Rift yesterday and I just started thinking about what to do next.

    Although for a different device, you should check out this project (ixtab is a friend of mine):
    http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175512
    It is a Java byte-code patcher (with source code). Perhaps you could use something like that...

    I love beautiful symmetry too, but also syncopation and continuously evolving periodicity (i.e. trance music). And I *loved* Mickey Hart's "Drumming at the Edge of Magic" book (and music CD). Like polyphasic sleep cycles, I also like polyphasic music. So cheer up, the future will bright. We will make it so. Nous pensons que cela sera le cas. конечно.
    :mrgreen:
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
    ganzuul
    Up and Coming
    June 19, 2013
    Oooh, browser devs would really hate me if I did that. The web is such an extremely hostile environment...

    The album Super Psychedelics by The Ventures was something that greatly shaped my mind when I was very little. Completely instrumental and uninhibited. The music looked exactly like the album cover sounded.

    Just had a look at the Samsung Galaxy S4. Looked like the panel would not run at a higher refresh rate than 30 Hz, so no go for use as display upgrade for the Rift. The new LG phone with an 1080p screen is apparently not available here yet.
    Jstsqzd
    Participant
    July 16, 2013
    I like this idea, almost like a 3d stylus. I feel like this could be a very useful tool for any people thinking about working in the rift. Seems like it would be great for 3d designers and artitsts.
    jasonjoslyn
    New Participant
    March 28, 2014
    I agree.

    A virtual "hand" in the world is crucial for establishing a sense of presence, so the user isn't just floating around like a ghost that can barely interact.

    It doesn't have to be a full on glove, although that's cool. Even a hand-sensing glove needs a low latency 6dof position tracker.

    In the early days of VR it was always done with a Polhemus or Ascension Technologies hall-effect sensing device. One was AC field, one DC.

    http://www.polhemus.com
    http://www.ascension-tech.com

    Probably still prohibitively expensive devices. Like $1K+.

    I remember using a detached thrustmaster joystick handle with lots of ergonomic buttons and a polhemus 6dof tracker in it as a VR wand.

    I don't know why it has to be expensive to do this tracking technique. An XYZ magnetic field is emitted from a box, and an xyz hall effect sensor is in each tracker sensor.

    Someone should kick starter a budget 6dof tracker wand asap.
    usb420
    Up and Coming
    March 29, 2014
    you might not even need a real wand, just attached one to your hand in the virtual world.
    wildermuthnAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 3, 2014
    I still like this idea. But with the IR Camera in CV1, I think that some kind of camera integration makes the most sense. I'd be very surprised if Oculus wasn't working on some kind of input that used the camera. If gloves are too large to avoid interfering with the Rift's IR LEDs, perhaps a thin stick would work better.

    I'll be interested to see how the DK2's USB interface works, and whether we get access to the camera.
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