MVP Spec

Simula MVP Spec

Bare-Minimum Viable Product (BMVP)

1. [X] Stereoscopic eye rendering at greater than 30 FPS. One (slightly different) image for each eye is rendered to the Vive, creating the stereoscopic illusion:
2. [X] HMD Orientation & Positional Tracking. Head positional and rotational movement tracking, as per the diagram (which only shows orientation tracking):

   

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

1. [X] X App Compability. X apps launchable (and indistinguishable from Wayland apps) in Simula. The primary point of this is to allow a web browser (Chrome or Firefox) to be launchable in Simula alongside a terminal.
2. [-] Full Controller Tracking. HTC Vive controllers show up in Simula with full movement tracking (orientation + positional).
   • [ ] Fix texture error.
3. [-] Controller Point Clicking. Rays extend from at least one Vive controller into space such that a ray pointed onto a window surface projects a mouse pointer onto the window surface. Squeezing the Vive trigger should invoke a Wayland mouse click event. https://www.vrheads.com/sites/vrheads.com/files/styles/larger/public/field/image/2017/06/steamvr-home-environment.jpg?itok=f-VkB4N8
   • [ ] Controller rays
   • [ ] Reliable click events sent to windows
   • [ ] Right-click functionality
   • [ ] Mouse dragging functionality
4. [-] Controller-Grabable Windows. Squeezing one of a Vive controller’s grab buttons (which is just one button internally) while its controller mesh is intersected with a window surface places the window surface in a “grab state”, such that its orientation and position in 3-space is tracked by the Vive controller’s orientation and position, until the pressed grab button (or buttons) is released.
   • [ ] Twistable windows
5. [X] Resizable Windows. Grabbing a window surface with both Vive controllers and “expanding” or “contracting” them (by which it is is mean increasing or decreasing the Euclidean distance between the Vive controllers in 3-space) should result in the window surface expanding or contracting in size.

User Requested Features

1. [X] Window manipulation. The ability to freely move windows around in VR space was the first feature request we received:

   is there a way for me to move windows around?

   what i’d like to see eventually is the ability to move windows around, resize them, switch focus between windows, (ideally with steamVR controllers as the input)

2. [X] Background Color. We changed the background color away from pure white to something darker:

   [Simula needs] a less distracting background than pure white

3. [ ] Installation Tools. Simula’s build system still needs improvement:

   I need the ability to run a utility that verifies that I have my environment configured correctly for simulavr, so that I can determine if an error is coming from simula or from issues in my environment

   As Evidenced By: a tool that checks versions, install locations, runs tests, and otherwise verifies the “correctness” of a simula install, as well as explicitly calling out things that are wrong

4. [ ] Window alignment. One person requested an easy way to align windows on a plane:

   [I would like to be able to] set a 2d projection plane for all windows, similar to virtualdesktop. or at least the ability to align all windows on the same plane without dragging them manually

5. [ ] Mouse & Keyboard Visibility. The ability to see your input devices (in particular: your everyday mouse and keyboard) is important:

   with current technology, keyboard + controllers is ideal. eventually i want to be able to see a mouse and keyboard in VR. once that is possible, the ideal input would be mouse + keyboard

   to me, [activating the Vive’s webcam when you tilt your head downward so that you can see your keyboard and mouse] would be a pretty killer feature. not quite [as good as seeing your keyboard and mouse virtually] but so much better than nothing

6. [ ] Environments. The ability to modify Simula environments was requested:

   I would like to be able to configure and decorate my simulavr desktop space with images, audio effects, 3D models, and other cosmetic items, so that I can make the space feel and look the way I want.

   As Evidenced By: Menu’s and options to import assets and bind them to locations in the 3d VR environment, color change settings for the background color, and the ability to manipulate all of these from inside a running simulavr instance. – Talyor Ellington

7. [ ] Performance Improvements & Monitoring. Both improvements to Simula’s performance and a way to monitor and benchmark Simula’s framerate were requested:

   I would SimulaVR to perform well, averaging at least 30 frames a second, so that I can use it as a true desktop replacement with out suffering from exaggerated nausea or poor user experience.

   As Evidenced By: FPS count under different loads such as watching video, editing text, running multiple chrome tabs.