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Virtual Desktop 1.0 - Now available on Steam

guygodin
Protege
Virtual Desktop is a little utility that improves your VR experience on the desktop. By efficiently replicating your desktop into the Rift, the application allows you to see your desktop on a giant virtual screen. You can browse the web, watch movies or even play non-VR games. It also allows you to launch VR games and resume from them without having to take your headset off.




After you launch Virtual Desktop, a tray icon will appear in your taskbar. From there you can manage your list of games, change your settings.




You can also drag & drop executables or shortcuts to add more games to your list.

Requirements
- Windows 8 or 10
- Oculus 1.3 Runtime

Latest Changes
- Added ability to browse 360 photos
- Added mirror to monitor feature

Follow the link below to access the store page
Official website
Virtual Desktop Developer
1,844 REPLIES 1,844

cybereality
Grand Champion
You can try forcing the Nvidia GPU in the display settings. However, I do know some Optimus laptops can *only* use the Nvidia GPU on the laptop LCD. When you use an external monitor (or the Rift) it will use the Intel integrated GPU. It's like this on my Lenovo Y570 (Nvidia 555m) and maybe some others. I'm not sure if they fixed this or what.
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guygodin
Protege
Thanks for the info cyber. I've removed the restriction in the latest version Raptor, let me know if you encounter any issues.

I've added lots of new functionality in the latest build,
check the first page (https://developer.oculusvr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=8182) for more information.
Virtual Desktop Developer

Domitjen
Adventurer
Can someone clarify for me if I HAVE to install windows 8.1 or if it's just recommended for this application? I'm currently using Windows 7.

guygodin
Protege
You don't have to if you just want the launcher functionality. But if you want to see your desktop on the rift when you're not in a game, you will need Windows 8, yes. I'd recommend you first try it out with Windows 7, that will give you an idea of how it works.

I am investigating hardware specific APIs (from nvidia) to support the same performance in Windows 7 but I can't make any promises.
Virtual Desktop Developer

mrgreen72
Superstar
Sweet! I finally have a good reason to run Windows 8.1! :lol:

Looking forward to try that tonight!

Anonymous
Not applicable
This is a great start!

A couple of issues:
1. If you set the screen distance fairly low (say at starting 50cm), and look left or right, it is quite apparent that the image convergence is off. It is bad enough to hurt my eyes. If you are looking straight, everything is properly in place. So I think there is something wrong with your projection matrix. This isn't a huge deal because if you are too close, you can really see the whole screen at once. At higher distance, it works great.

2. The curved screen option just gives you odd distortion. It doesn't feel like the screen is wrapped around me.

A suggestion:
In experimenting with GUI panels in my app, I found something that works quite well, but might be hard to explain. If you set the screen object to 'LookAt' a point somewhere behind your head, when you turn your head right, the screen will actually pan right in a natural way. In effect it amplifies your head movement. This would allow you to more easily see and interact with a larger screen size. For this type of app I think it would work really well. I might post a demo sample to show what I mean since words don't really describe it well.

guygodin
Protege
Thanks ccs, your suggestion makes sense. When you turn your head right you essentially convert the rotation to a translation to the right, correct?
Virtual Desktop Developer

Anonymous
Not applicable
Yeah there is some translation involved as well, but mostly rotation to tilt the screen left/right up/down as you turn your head.

Here is a link to a very simple demo of what I mean:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6jksvh7x1is4v72/ScreenPan.zip

I know you aren't using Unity, but here is the Unity C# code I used to achieve this affect:
using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class MoveAsOtherAndLookAt : MonoBehaviour {

public Transform LookAtTransform;
public float MoveTowardsLookAtDistance = 0.0f;

void Update () {
if (LookAtTransform) {
transform.LookAt (LookAtTransform);
Vector3 look = LookAtTransform.position - transform.position;
float dist = look.magnitude;
look.Normalize();
transform.position += look*(dist-MoveTowardsLookAtDistance);
}
}
}


This essentially sets the position (by setting transform.position) and rotation (by calling transform.LookAt) of the screen object. In Unity I set the LookAtTransform to be a game object attached to the right camera, but way behind it. Then I adjust MoveTowardsLookAtDistance to adjust where I want the screen to be in relation to the look at point.

tdkhrs
Explorer
I'm very interested in this app.

Is this app supports only original Rift(DK1)?
I have "RiftUP!" FHD display kit and now I can see "Virtual Desktop" logo through the Rift.
I'm able to look around for virtual screen.

But when I start program from "Open on Oculus Rift" context menu, It starts normally on first display.

Can it support Rift that "RiftUP"ed ?
or Can I try something else?

::: Win7 64bit
::: DK1+RiftUP! FHD kit

guygodin
Protege
"tdkhrs" wrote:
Can it support Rift that "RiftUP"ed ?
or Can I try something else?

It will work fine with a modded DK1. The issue you are having with the game launching on the main window rather than the Rift one is a little odd though (which game is this?). There's an issue at the moment with the "Reset to Defaults" button that will clear the saved adapter setting, so you can try to restart Virtual Desktop before launching your game, that may solve your issue.
Virtual Desktop Developer