Vive Business Streaming 1.07.6a - Beta Release notes

[C.T.]

On 3/15/2022 at 6:12 PM, Ixixly said:

Thanks C.T., I found the program, entered in the IP and after I press "Assign to Focus 3" I get the success box but inside the headset it still prompts me to select which PC to connect to, any suggestions? Will this eventually be rolled into either the MDM Batch Configuration or into the VBS itself in future to streamline? Will become extremely cumbersome with large numbers of headsets having to do this way.

Try to quit VBS app inside focus 3 while doing the assigned IP action. the file may be occupied when you did it. Let me know if it works afterwards.

Also batch configuration is possible upon request through regional sales for paid enterprise service. hope this answers your question.

[Frankfurt]

Thank you C.T.! That was too easy to find 🙂

[Frankfurt]

Could you maybe explain on how to use the hand tracking data coming from the VBS in UE4 (Focus 3)? I was able to get the positional data for both wrists to work by using the openxr hand tracking feature (motion controller component) but by breaking up the struct there are no transform data for the finger-limbs. I'm also confused if i still need to compile and install the vive hand tracking sdk? Thank you again!

[jefmes]

On 3/14/2022 at 6:42 PM, C.T. said:

It's purely thumb and index finger, try raise it a little below eye level.  Similar to the dollar or okay gesture. That will opens up the quick menu.

The reason you don't see hand model in the helloXR wave SDK is because it doesn't support hand tracking input nor models. However, the above "quick menu" gesture is a system level gesture, that will be effected whenever the hand tracking is enabled without controllers present. 

It is placed under this folder. By the way, you do need to connect your Focus 3 via USB to config this, also VBS client cannot be running on the background when you assigned the IP.  

That makes sense! I still haven't been able to get it to work (I've been using VBS as a simple example since I'm in that a lot, and I like seeing the connection screen and what kind of connection I'm getting rather than using the VBS IP Setting option) - I assume that means it should work from within SteamVR home too, right? I'll see what I can work out.

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by jefmes

[C.T.]

On 3/18/2022 at 7:06 AM, jefmes said:

That makes sense! I still haven't been able to get it to work (I've been using VBS as a simple example since I'm in that a lot, and I like seeing the connection screen and what kind of connection I'm getting rather than using the VBS IP Setting option) - I assume that means it should work from within SteamVR home too, right? I'll see what I can work out.

 

If I read it right, you would like a gesture that can get you back to the VBS connection page where you can choose the server to connect to?

[GhostPsi]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:58 PM, Alex_HTC said:

@lalalice
Can you try a few things:

1) try wireless streaming session setup tutorial on a non-beta build with the latest firmware https://www.vive.com/us/support/vbs/category_howto/starting-a-wireless-streaming-session.html if that doesn't work, try a cable based solution to rule out other potential issues https://www.vive.com/us/support/vbs/category_howto/attaching-cable-to-headset.html including system requirements  https://www.vive.com/us/support/vbs/category_howto/system-requirements.html
2) Uncheck the experimental tcp mode, as this can cause additional failures if the issue is connecting at all
2) Find the IP of the headset, for example might be
     a) 192.168.11.5 - likely on the same network
     b) or something along the lines of 10.0.0.100 or 172.16.0.100 -- if they look this different, the headset may be connected to a different network
3)  Even when connected to the same network, sometimes the network prevents devices from talking to one another.
       So lets make sure that the headset is reachable from the pc by finding the ip of the headset, for this example let's use "192.168.11.5"
     a)Open cmd
 
  b)run ping command against the ip address of the headset (in this example I assume the headset is at "192.168.11.5")


If it looks like this, then the two devices cannot talk to one another
c) consult the network administrator or network admin panel if you own this network (for me, it's at http://192.168.0.1/ ) and consult documents to make sure that there are no firewall rules preventing udp traffic
d) make sure that if your pc that is streaming is on multiple networks, to set the device ip using the dialog shown in your post. otherwise it shouldn't be necessary. this happens if the pc has a wireless adapter and a wired adapter both connected, for instance. 

For my own personal example:
This is something I have to consult occasionally as I have a few home networks. If I find my headset's current ip, i go to settings->general->about and then headset status, and that popup will show the ip address
Open Settings


Open About headset 

 

In the above picture, I notice that my ip address is "192.168.4.43" which I happen to know is on a different network than my pc. 
I can verify this as it's not reachable when I try to ping it


I then go into my network settings and change my connection to my other network
Then verify that I'm on the same network by going back through general->about->headset status again


Here I notice my headset's ip address "192.168.0.170" is now reachable from my pc



Edit:

two more things, if steamvr crashes a few times, one might have to manually re-enable the relevant plugins in the steam vr app. This happened to me after some updates to vbs:
1)


2)
Initially the first time I ever ran vbs, I got an "error 311" "Encoder initialization failed" . 
After updating my driver, nothing happened
Went back to NVIDIA GeForce Experience and installed "NVIDIA Studio Driver" and things seemed to work

 

Im experiencing similar issues with the steamVR crash I even have freezes from time to time, which specific studio drivers do you use and which regular non studio did you try? 

[jefmes]

On 3/20/2022 at 8:05 PM, C.T. said:

If I read it right, you would like a gesture that can get you back to the VBS connection page where you can choose the server to connect to?

No sorry, it sounds like the right hand palm facing you "OK" gesture to take you back to the main menu is what I'm looking for - I just haven't been able to get it to trigger from the VBS connection page, so that I can go back to the home menu from VBS while inside the headset. Basically I'm just hoping to see the hand tracking overall user experience to "flow" a little better, so that a user is never stuck inside an app and can always get home. Firefox Reality for example, too. Hopefully once you're all moved over to Wolvic it'll get hand support also.

[Frankfurt]

So again ... Regarding to that statement "PC VR contents could now enjoy Focus 3 hand tracking with OpenVR Skeleton Input or OpenXR hand tracking." does this mean that i can now get not only the overall-hand-positions read (which already works) but also individual finger-limb-transforms within Unreal (using the latest VBS beta)? If so it would be great providing a quick tutorial on that. Thank you! 

[GhostPsi]

On 3/9/2022 at 8:07 AM, C.T. said:

VIVE Business Streaming Software 1.07.6a– Beta Release Notes
Released March 10^th 2022

Enable hand tracking to PC VR

PC VR contents could now enjoy Focus 3 hand tracking with OpenVR Skeleton Input or OpenXR hand tracking.
No additional porting effort is required. We provided a very easy way to switch between controller and hand interaction by simply pick up or put down the controllers. 
VBS also supports pinch gesture as controller trigger button, so that you could play various VR contents with just hands starting today.

VIVE Wrist Tracker

VBS now supports VIVE Wrist Tracker in two modes.

• One is the pure hand tracking to improve the tracking quality as it is on Focus 3 to PC VR contents. The buttons on Wrist Tracker could be used to open Dashboard and application menu to better playing content with hands.
• The other mode is to emulate as VIVE Tracker to PC VR. In other words, Focus 3 + Vive Wrist Tracker via VBS is now directly supports PC contents with VIVE Tracker.

Improve USB streaming performance

We are now supporting USB2.0 USB connection, and improved wired connection for higher bitrate and lower latency in 1.07. *Latest Focus 3 firmware 3.0.999.368 is required

Improved wireless streaming experience

In VBS 1.07, we made it easier to establish wireless connection by providing a tool to config dedicated PC IP for wireless streaming. We also added an option on console that allows automatically connect back to the last connected computer. It makes wireless VBS seamlessly connect as you launch VBS app inside the VRS Library.

We also improved wireless compatibility in 1.07. Now VBS can adaptively monitor for unstable connection and change transmission setting adaptively.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

VBS Console – 1.07.6a

• New Settings
  • Disable microphone
  • Hand tracking
    Worked with OpenVR Skeleton Input applications and OpenXR hand tracking applications
  • Vive Wrist tracker
    It could be used for hand tracking or for emulated as VIVE Tracker
  • Automatically connect to last connected computer
  • [Experimental] TCP mode

• Support bitrate up to 200Mbps.
• Support VIVE Wrist Tracker.
• Support USB streaming via USB 2.0 (latest Focus 3 firmware 3.0.999.368 is required)
• Support to set dedicate IP for wireless streaming.
  Tool can be found inside VBS installed directory under RR Tools
• Encrypt Audio and microphone data.
• Improve USB streaming performance. USB streaming now works with USB 2 connection.

• Improve experience with revised SteamVR launch/terminate commands.
• Fixed TheLab scene changing is not smooth with NVIDIA graphics cards.
• Fixed an issue that SteamVR play area could be incorrect.

VBS Client (1.0.9.46) - Be sure to update through Vive Business App Store, some of the changes require the latest client version

• Support Focus 3 hand tracking.
  • Hand pinch can be interpreted as controller trigger.
• Support VIVE Wrist Tracker.
• When using for hand tracking,
  • Hand pinch can be interpreted as controller trigger.
  • Left hand Wrist Tracker system button to open SteamVR Dashboard
  • Left hand Wrist Tracker app button mapped to controller ‘Y’.
  • Right hand Wrist Tracker app button mapped to controller ‘B’.

• Automatically connect to last connected IP for wireless streaming. (Need to enable via console)
• Encrypt Audio and microphone data.
• Fixed Sharpening failure issue to cause white image.
• Support color adjustment post-processing. (Available in Enterprise Mode)
• Support pass-through mode and Silent mode. (Available in Enterprise Mode)

Awesome update and working flawlessly with studio drivers for now, maybe add a note to always use studio drivers with any beta driver? 

A more technical question tho what is limiting us for higher quality sent to the headset? Im imagining we are sending a stream to the headset thats being encoded by NVENC and all the headset is doing with the stream is decoding it. How far could we theroetically push the headset in terms of quality? 4k? 5k? 

[RobP]

A little late to the party, but I'm very impressed with this release. With Wifi6 I can go full detail @ 200Mbps with no drop outs - just amazing!

And what's more with full sharpening I found the image to be almost as sharp as a Vive Pro 1. This is a massive improvement over the previous release. In fact the difference in sharpness between the two headsets is hard to discern and does require a lot of A-B testing.

It was this release that finally retired the Vive Pro 1. The Focus has a much wider field of view (if you do up the back knob properly), zero screen door and despite what people say, I actually think it's a pretty clear display right across the FoV (white text on a black background withstanding).

To have this become my main driver would have been impossible a month or two back because the image quality was way too soft.

I know the devs rarely get the praise they deserve, but they deserve this one! 🙂