[Source code] Emulating Vive Controllers using Leap Hands

fmaurer 2016-12-14 20:55:23 UTC #1

Project files for DIY HTC Vive motion controllers, using the Leap Motion mounted to VR headset for positional tracking:
https://github.com/fmaurer/FreePIE-VR-Controls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-FHn2ySXA

Over the weekend I finished 3D printing a second DIY motion controller and playing a few Steam VR apps. There were a few glitches that were very specific to developer implementation, but overall very satisfying to finally have access to the Steam VR stuff with motion controllers. Without any industry standards for VR controllers, your mileage will vary in app support. Rec Room didn't recognize the pickup action, but paintball was fun.

While researching and reading through forums I found a lot of people with wii nunchucks trying to do this. With a few edits to the FreePIE script, it should be easily converted to any device/buttons/orientation data they want. The hard part was figuring out the 3D transforms, now it's just a matter of mapping the data.

More info and photos: http://flrnmrr.com/2016/11/30/arduino-vive-controller-emulation

The biggest limitation is the 2014 FreePIE plugin for the Leap Motion. It outputs the normalized (and cropped) hand positions of the interaction box: https://developer.leapmotion.com/documentation/csharp/devguide/Leap_Coordinate_Mapping.html#the-interaction-box. Developer thread: http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=139&t=19753

The x,y,z positions of Left and Right hands are given in the InteractionBox's normalized space instead of the raw millimeter values of the full FOV from the Leap sensor. Until the driver is updated/recreated we're stuck using the limited InteractionBox volume to emulate Vive controllers.
If anyone with Windows DLL plugin development experience thinks it's straightforward, this driver could enable a flurry of VR applications for FreePIE community. Thank you again for everyone here helping out and the developer of FreePIE for such an awesome tool.

Mage_Enderman 2017-03-20 02:54:41 UTC #2

what do you mean by "Without any industry standards for VR controllers," the current industry standard for steamvr games for the vive are vive controllers

fmaurer 2017-03-20 17:48:20 UTC #3

"...for steamvr games" -- That's one ecosystem. That's the equivalent of saying "the industry standard for downloading apps is the Apple App Store." I wouldn't define that as an industry standard because it's a closed ecosystem only for Apple devices.

What I mean is a open protocol to communicate agnostically. For example, the USB HID stack is an industry standard. I can take an Arduino, flash it with my firmware to make it a USB joystick, then use it on a PS3, or Windows machine, or a Mac. Doesn't matter because the communication protocol is defined and open for everyone to implement.

Edit: In other words, there's no easy way for me to make a VR device that I can seamlessly use with my Vive, Oculus, WebVR, etc