LPVR New Release 4.9.2 – Varjo XR-4 Controller Integration and Key Improvements

12/11/2024
Blog, Product, Uncategorized

New release LPVR-CAD and LPVR-DUO 4.9.2

As it is with software, our LPVR-CAD and LPVR-DUO products for high-fidelity VR and AR need maintenance updates. Keeping up-to-date with the wide range of supported hardware as well as fixing issues that are discovered necessitates a release every now and then. Our latest release, LPVR-CAD 4.9.2 and LPVR-DUO 4.9.2 is no different. This blog post summarizes the changes in the latest version, LPVR-CAD 4.9.2 and LPVR-DUO-4.9.2.

Support for Varjo XR-4 Controllers

The feature with the highest visibility is support for the hand controllers that Varjo ships with the Varjo XR-4 headset. These controllers are tracked by the headset itself, and Varjo Base 4.4 adds an opt-in way of supporting them with LPVR-CAD. Varjo does not enable the controllers by default because the increased USB traffic can negatively affect performance on some systems, and so an LPVR user has to decide whether the added support is worth it on their system. Of course, we also continue supporting the SteamVR controllers together with LPVR-CAD. We detailed their use with the XR-4 in our documentation.

To enable the Varjo controllers in LPVR-CAD, first open Varjo Base. Then navigate to the System tab in Varjo Base. When LPVR-CAD is configured you will find a new input field, depicted below.

Setting its value to “true” will enable controller support, and “false” will disable it. After changing the value, scroll down to the Submit button and click it to effect the change. Varjo also recommends restarting Base after making this change.

Please note that this input is handled by Varjo Base itself, and so this button will also appear in older versions of Varjo Base, for reasons that are too broad to go into here. Providing this support quickly had higher priority to Varjo and us than polish. One issue that can cause confusion is that the Varjo Home screen will not display the controllers, at least in Varjo Base 4.4.0. Unity applications will have to be updated to a recent version of the Varjo plugin. Varjo is working on improving these issues.

 

Updated Support for JVC HMD-VS1W

An interesting AR headset of see-through type is JVC’s HMD-VS1W. It is a niche product which is typically used in the aeronautical sector. This is a headset which uses Valve tracking with a few custom twists. With a recent software update on their side (version 1.5.0) compatibility with LPVR was broken, but it was easy enough to restore and we have recovered full compatibility.

 

Various other changes

One of the key points when creating an immersive VR and AR experience is that the motion should appear as smooth as possible. We are therefore constantly refining our algorithms to meet that goal. This release significantly improves the smoothness of rotations, especially for Varjo’s third-generation headsets such as the Varjo Aero and the Varjo XR-3.

We fixed a condition where under some circumstances LPVR-DUO would crash after calibrating the platform IMU. This was related to a multi-threading issue which caused a so-called deadlock in the driver.

We also added support for a global configuration of our SteamVR driver which can be overridden by local users. Since automatic support for this requires major changes to our installers and uninstallers, we decided to postpone enabling this feature by default. Please get in touch if that is something you want to use already.

We often recommended the so-called “freeGravity” feature to our users to improve visual performance in most circumstances. We changed the default for this setting to match the needs for the most common use cases.

Immersive Driving Assistance with LPVIZ

22/02/2024
Blog, Product, Uncategorized, Use Cases

How LPVIZ Augments Driving Reality

Going beyond a simple screen replacement, LPVIZ is an augmented reality driving assistance solution for the car. It allows displaying related content to a driver or passenger in 3D, superimposed to reality. Content can be placed anywhere inside the car, such as a virtual speedometer over the dashboard, and anywhere outside of the car, such as point-of-interest markers or navigation guidance.

The video on top of this post shows what a drive around the block in Azabujuban, Tokyo with LPVIZ looks like. A virtual dashboard is projected onto the center console of the vehicle. Arrows on the ground show lane guidance to the driver. Red Google Maps-style markers show points of interest. The virtual dashboard stays fixed to the same location in the car, even when the vehicle turns. The navigation arrows move smoothly and the point-of-interest markers are globally anchored.

Perfectly Tuned Components

LPVIZ consists of several components that all have to interact perfectly to create a compelling and safe augmentation experience. The below illustration shows a block diagram of how the hardware components are connected.

Accurate tracking is required to display useful content to the driver: the HMD pose in the local car coordinate system and the vehicle pose in a globally anchored frame. Precise calibration of all components of the solution is essential to provide the highest visual fidelity and driver safety. Our LPVIZ product makes all parts of the system available in a compact form factor, ready to be integrated with any vehicle.

The Past, Present and the Future

In the current development stage we’re focusing on the most essential aspects of the solution: displaying a virtual dashboard, navigation information and points-of-interest. While this is our proprietary content, we’re opening our software to work with 3rd party developers to create their own content building on our platform.

Currently we’re offering LPVIZ as a B2B solution for prototyping, design and research. However, we’re working on reducing system complexity to make it work as a consumer facing automotive after-market solution to be released later this year.

Towards a Consumer Product

We are very proud of the progress our team has made in the past months. We’re moving closer to making our vision of an augmented reality driving assistance system a reality for everyone. One very important take-away from our recent developments is that it’s indeed possible to provide real utility to the driver using technology that is readily available. It might still be early days, but we’re edging towards a product that could appeal to a wider consumer market. This is just the beginning.