Using keyboards in Oculus Quest 2 in a VR office environment.
I have a K830 keyboard which is connected to Quest-2 via BlueTooth.
This keyboard has a US key mapping and english key inscription.
I am planning to use Quest-2 for general software development unrelated to VR.
Because the keyboard is not clearly visible via helmet, we do not need to change letters on key inscription. But we can see the keyboard in the VR environment and surely we need to change the texture mapped to the keys.
Setting 1. Oculus connection only.
K830 connected to Quest-2 via bluetooth. This setting is not very useful since it can be used only in the oculus browser. It is possible to write Google docs, or code in the browser.
I have to admit, tracking the keyboard in VR is very good!! The texture on the keyboard is located (in older firmware, I found in internet) /system/priv-apps/VrShell/VrShell.apk/assets/logitech_k830.gltf.ovrscene/k830_diff.ktx
or /system/priv-apps/VrShell/VrShellHome.apk/assets/logitech_k830.gltf.ovrscene/k830_diff.ktx
Setting 2. Immersive application (Linux, Windows, Mac)
In Immersive there is no specific support for the K830 keyboard. It uses any keyboard connected to a PC or K830 connected to an Oculus. Program provides keyboard tracking and covers it with keyboard image. It is only one image, one keyboard layout. Since Immersive is written using Unity it must be in asset bundle immersed.apk\assets\aa\Android.
But there is no keyboard tracking, it lays texture on the table based on static coordinates of P Q and B keys. The process of coordinate mapping is called CALIBRATION.
Setting 3. Oculus Remote Desktop application with Horizon Workrooms (Windows, Mac)
This application shows only one monitor with low (1440x900 default) and high resolution (1920x1080) which require manual switching. The position or size of the screen can not be changed. It seems it is related to the very simplistic pixel rendering algorithm. Also neither keyboard or mouse connected to the helmet are working. The K830 keyboard is tracked using Oculus algorithm but in order to type it shall be connected to the computer.
The interesting thing is that Remote Desktop has an additional pass through mode where you can see the keyboard and hands still with keyboard tracking.
Setting 4. vSaptial
vSpatial Very complex application in terms of graphics and working with computer screens. But it is absolutely useless if you want to work with a keyboard. It takes input from the Oculus but there is no real tracking or pass through. The calibration process even for K830 does not allow do position keyboard keys some were near the real coordinates.
Setting 5. Virtual Desktop streamer
Unfortunately no support for the keyboard.
Conclusion
The best and usable keyboard support is available in Oculus directly, but it is kind of useless. The same level is available in Horizon WorkRooms but with resolution 1920x1080 and static screen size, which kills the idea of a VR coding environment. The second option is Immersive. It has flexible graphics but there is no keyboard tracking at all. Just calibration of 3 keys position, which is not precise with a single and strange keyboard layout I have ever seen. Since Immersive is written using Unity we probably can reverse engineer it to change keyboard view.
About language switching
If you work with a computer in VR, the keyboard already works with computer defined languages. What is missing is visual key mapping in VR. It could be done statically, like inscription on keys (we have it on physical keyboards) or dynamically when inscription changes when language changes. The first one is easily doable replacing static textures in VR applications.
The second is simply impossible, because a VR application in a helmet should know the language settings of your computer.
So currently the only practical option is to tweak the immersive app, as the only application with a keyboard useful for software developers. But tracking is so bad so I am not sure if it will give me any profit in terms of working efficiency.
