PointCTRL - Finger Mounted VR Controller

[Archer16]

2 days with my point crtl

 

I received my point control a couple of days ago, I wanted to let folks on this post know what I think. I would recommend as Miles did to watch the calibration videos before you do anything, for me it was a couple of times through videos and a read through the pdf. After a couple hours and a few tries I was able to get the process down. Its not complicated but there are more then a couple things to do. I can now run through the process with ease if needed. I was using point crtl with the F18 and F14. I am very impressed with the performance and accuracy of the fcu. I did not have any trouble pointing at and selecting any button or switch in either cockpit. After flying with it for a couple of days, flying without would feel like i am missing something. In my opinion point crtl is a game changer. The biggest issue I found is trying to get to buttons or switches that were blocked because I could not physically move my hand to them, they were blocked by my seat. Also any buttons or switches behind you are a challenge to get to. It was the same issue when trying to get to them with mouse. Thanks Miles for doing this Its a steal at what you are charging. jim

[Drac]

I received my point control a couple of days ago, I wanted to let folks on this post know what I think. I would recommend as Miles did to watch the calibration videos before you do anything, for me it was a couple of times through videos and a read through the pdf. After a couple hours and a few tries I was able to get the process down. Its not complicated but there are more then a couple things to do. I can now run through the process with ease if needed. I was using point crtl with the F18 and F14. I am very impressed with the performance and accuracy of the fcu. I did not have any trouble pointing at and selecting any button or switch in either cockpit. After flying with it for a couple of days, flying without would feel like i am missing something. In my opinion point crtl is a game changer. The biggest issue I found is trying to get to buttons or switches that were blocked because I could not physically move my hand to them, they were blocked by my seat. Also any buttons or switches behind you are a challenge to get to. It was the same issue when trying to get to them with mouse. Thanks Miles for doing this Its a steal at what you are charging. jim

 

What about leaning in and "recenter" to be able to reach the buttons. Would that work with the Pointctrl?

[Habu_69]

Agree with Archer16. Took me couple of hours to finally understand calibration. Not that it is difficult, just that it is not very intuitive and I am thick-headed. Also, remember to calibrate in either windowed or full screen mode, whichever you use for flying.

 

 

Once you have the FCU's calibrated, tho, experience is indeed game changing.

[AKA_Clutter]

My experience has been that spending the time to learn the calibration process is well worth the effort.

 

And yes, PointCTRL is a game changer.

[Capn Penguin]

Sent in PM :)

Edited October 6, 2019 by Cap'n Penguin

[sirrah]

Sorry guys, yet another Pointctrl noob question. How do I see if the FCU is fully charged?

 

So while playing, both my FCU's suddenly became unresponsive, so I guess it's charging time.

 

Using the charging cables Miles provided, I plugged one of them in an open USB 3.1 slot in my pc. the other one I plugged directly into an AC power socket USB convertor plug (for this one I also used the USB charging monitor Miles had send me).

I can see the Ampere value change, but what value should the charging monitor indicate when the LiPo battery is fully charged?

 

Also, in the instruction manual on page 10, it says:

Charging Indicator

Red Light = Charging

Light Off = Fully charged or no battery connected

 

I must be doing something wrong, because i can't find a red light anywhere :book:

[MilesD]

MilesD, or anyone...

I’d like to use the upper camera of my RiftS.

Has anyone tried mounting the sensor to the left or right, off center?

Does it mess with tracking? Could this offset be handled in software?

 

Hi Goblin,

If you want to play a game that needs to track a controller above your head, the PointCTRL PCB pops out in a few seconds. There is a cutout in the mount for the camera lens to see through when the board is removed.

 

When the cover is removed the board is captured by the USB connector. To remove and install it be sure to pivot the cord on the USB connector.

 

I haven't tried offsetting the mount. If you re-calibrate with the mount offset it should work. But it will offset slightly left or right as the FCU distance from the HMS varies. It may not be that noticeable.

 

Keep me posted,

 

Miles

[MilesD]

Sorry guys, yet another Pointctrl noob question. How do I see if the FCU is fully charged?

 

So while playing, both my FCU's suddenly became unresponsive, so I guess it's charging time.

 

Using the charging cables Miles provided, I plugged one of them in an open USB 3.1 slot in my pc. the other one I plugged directly into an AC power socket USB connector plug (for this one I also used the USB charging monitor Miles had send me).

I can see the Ampere value change, but what value should the charging monitor indicate when the LiPo battery is fully charged?

 

Also, in the instruction manual on page 10, it says:

 

 

I must be doing something wrong, because i can't find a red light anywhere :book:

 

Hey Srirah,

The new black chargers work differently than the original blue charger, here is how they work.

 

New Black FCU Charger Indicator

Charger Plugged in, not connected to FCU = red light ON

Charger Plugged in, connected to FCU and charging = red light OFF

Charger Plugged in, connected to FCU and FCU is fully charged = red light ON

I test all components in each kit before shipment, so the batteries may be fully charged.

 

FCU Battery Check

1) Press the on/off button on the FCU for 2 seconds or until the cursor moves to the center of the screen vertically.

2) Observe Horizontal position of cursor, the height of cursor is proportional to the battery life remaining. See examples below.

 

Top Center of screen = Full Battery

3/4 up from the bottom of screen = 3/4 Battery life remaining

1/2 up from the bottom of screen = 1/2 Battery life remaining

1/4 up from the bottom of screen = 1/4 Battery life remaining

Bottom Center of screen = Low Battery

 

I would be surprised if your batteries died at the same time. I would make the following checks.

 

1) Check if the FCU is in the Active Mode, Left Black Button on the HNS enables and disables the FCU.

2) Make sure you did not click out of the active window.

3) You can always reboot the FCU by pressing the white reset button on the HMS, you will not loose any settings. the reset only disconnects and reconnects PointCTRL from your PC and restarts the PointCTRL firmware.

 

Let us know how you make out,

 

Miles

 

P.S. Don't forget to join our discord, there are a lot of helpful PointCTRL owners on there who jump right in when they see someone on the help channel.

Edited October 7, 2019 by MilesD

[MilesD]

What about leaning in and "recenter" to be able to reach the buttons. Would that work with the Pointctrl?

 

Hey Drac,

Good question, for me, I lean around a lot to access certain switches, just like you would in real life. If a switch is behind you, you have to turn in your seat to see it, and then point at it to interact with it. I find it a bit easier than turning while using a mouse that is in a fixed position, because you are taking the mouse with you when you turn. Its all really rather intuitive.

 

Edit: I see you asked about re centering to reach a switch. That technique would work well with PointCTRL, and the cursor will always re-align with the new re-center. I personal don't use that method because some days turning in my seat is the only exercise I get.

 

Miles

Edited October 7, 2019 by MilesD

[Drac]

@MilesD - Roger. Since I am not as flexible with my twist (and items in the way), I lean in and recenter to get a better view of the switches that I can't get to... Once I select all those switches, I select recenter again to put me back to the default view. Good to know it will work.

[FoxDelta]

Interesting... The cursor moevement should be the full width and height of your FOV in VR. Is it less in the Index? The cursor may be using the native vertical resolution of the desktop monitor instead of the Index's. Can you move your standard mouse to the FOV limits? Mariner experienced reduced cursor movement when he went from the CV1 to the Reverb before re-calibrated and expanded his cursor limits and targets.

 

Miles

 

interesting, with the mouse i can t use , i would say 15% of the far upper and lower area in DCS, this applys to mouse and PCtrl the same, do you think thats because of any missetting in DCS or just because of the increased FOV the INDEX provides compared to my old RIFT?

 

when i recalibrate i can provide a wider fov in PCtrl than in the index but regarding height i am limited at the top and bottom area 15% prior reaching the INDEXs fov,

HONESTLY, thats still enough but just not the full FOV of the headset

 

u remember when i had troubles with the extended desktop when using the rift? with the INdex its not an extended desktop anymore, it shows just the monitor under display settings which has just 2560x1440 maybe that 1440 are the limiting factor now

Edited October 8, 2019 by FoxDelta

[sirrah]

Hey Srirah,

The new black chargers work differently than the original blue charger, here is how they work.

 

New Black FCU Charger Indicator

Charger Plugged in, not connected to FCU = red light ON

Charger Plugged in, connected to FCU and charging = red light OFF

Charger Plugged in, connected to FCU and FCU is fully charged = red light ON

I test all components in each kit before shipment, so the batteries may be fully charged.

 

FCU Battery Check

1) Press the on/off button on the FCU for 2 seconds or until the cursor moves to the center of the screen vertically.

2) Observe Horizontal position of cursor, the height of cursor is proportional to the battery life remaining. See examples below.

 

Top Center of screen = Full Battery

3/4 up from the bottom of screen = 3/4 Battery life remaining

1/2 up from the bottom of screen = 1/2 Battery life remaining

1/4 up from the bottom of screen = 1/4 Battery life remaining

Bottom Center of screen = Low Battery

 

I would be surprised if your batteries died at the same time. I would make the following checks.

 

1) Check if the FCU is in the Active Mode, Left Black Button on the HNS enables and disables the FCU.

2) Make sure you did not click out of the active window.

3) You can always reboot the FCU by pressing the white reset button on the HMS, you will not loose any settings. the reset only disconnects and reconnects PointCTRL from your PC and restarts the PointCTRL firmware.

 

Let us know how you make out,

 

Miles

 

P.S. Don't forget to join our discord, there are a lot of helpful PointCTRL owners on there who jump right in when they see someone on the help channel.

Thanks for the explanation

 

You were right, the batteries were still pretty much full. Not sure why the FCU's suddenly became unresponsive (probably something I did :P)

 

I try and join the discord channel next time with my questions :thumbup:

[MilesD]

interesting, with the mouse i can t use , i would say 15% of the far upper and lower area in DCS, this applys to mouse and PCtrl the same, do you think thats because of any missetting in DCS or just because of the increased FOV the INDEX provides compared to my old RIFT?

 

when i recalibrate i can provide a wider fov in PCtrl than in the index but regarding height i am limited at the top and bottom area 15% prior reaching the INDEXs fov,

HONESTLY, thats still enough but just not the full FOV of the headset

 

u remember when i had troubles with the extended desktop when using the rift? with the INdex its not an extended desktop anymore, it shows just the monitor under display settings which has just 2560x1440 maybe that 1440 are the limiting factor now

 

I think you are correct, confirming how the fixed monitor resolution affects the the mouse vertical cursor movement limits in VR is on my to-do list.

 

Just as you stated, weather you are using PointCTRL or a standard mouse, I think the maximum cursor movement is limited by your monitors resolution or pixels, and as you noted, the 1440 monitor/1600 VR Display = .9 or 90%.

 

The only thing that throws a wrench in that theory is I think we only see about 75% of monitors display on our VR displays.

 

In the end, I think there must be a cursor movement reduction built into the vertical that is exacerbated by the monitor/HMD vertical resolution ratio. Fortunately its not that noticeable.

 

Thanks for the input on this, let us know if you come to any conclusions. Rather than physically switching to a low res monitor, I was going to see if changing the desktop and DCS resolution affected the cursor movement.

 

Miles

Edited October 8, 2019 by MilesD

[MilesD]

Thanks for the explanation

 

You were right, the batteries were still pretty much full. Not sure why the FCU's suddenly became unresponsive (probably something I did :P)

 

I try and join the discord channel next time with my questions :thumbup:

 

So, all is good now?

 

Miles

[sirrah]

So, all is good now?

 

Miles

 

Yes

 

Still trying to optimize my calibration, but I'm getting better and more familliar with it each time.

 

Another minor issue I stumbled up against. I'll have to find another solution for the 3M tape, as the HMS keeps falling off my HMD (Rift cv1). The tape doesn't seem to stick properly to the HMS. It sticks very well to my HMD though. But I'll find a sollution for that

[FoxDelta]

I think you are correct, confirming how the fixed monitor resolution affects the the mouse vertical cursor movement limits in VR is on my to-do list.

 

Just as you stated, weather you are using PointCTRL or a standard mouse, I think the maximum cursor movement is limited by your monitors resolution or pixels, and as you noted, the 1440 monitor/1600 VR Display = .9 or 90%.

 

The only thing that throws a wrench in that theory is I think we only see about 75% of monitors display on our VR displays.

 

In the end, I think there must be a cursor movement reduction built into the vertical that is exacerbated by the monitor/HMD vertical resolution ratio. Fortunately its not that noticeable.

 

Thanks for the input on this, let us know if you come to any conclusions. Rather than physically switching to a low res monitor, I was going to see if changing the desktop and DCS resolution affected the cursor movement.

 

Miles

 

did some tetsting with progressive higher resolution, lower resolutions and changed aspect ratios. with no conclusion or change within the INDEX at all.

your argument sounds logical regarding not seeing the whole panel in VR so this shouldn t be an issue.

 

tested this on my old rift cv1 as well where this vertical mouse limitation was also noticeable but not as big as in the index with better fov

 

because its affecting the mouse the same way and is present on both headsets i would say this is a DCS limitation or bug?!

[MilesD]

Yes

 

Still trying to optimize my calibration, but I'm getting better and more familliar with it each time.

 

Another minor issue I stumbled up against. I'll have to find another solution for the 3M tape, as the HMS keeps falling off my HMD (Rift cv1). The tape doesn't seem to stick properly to the HMS. It sticks very well to my HMD though. But I'll find a sollution for that

 

Hi Sirrah,

I see you you ordered the Rift CV1 mount. The mounting tape on the Rift CV1 only sticks to the front of the headset, it wont stick to the material on top. That's why the lower portion on the CV1 mount is so large compared to other mounts. (I need to add that piece of info somewhere)

 

If you put the tape on face and not the top, please let me know. I recently switched to a less aggressive tape based on a few comments on how the rubber VHB was to difficult to get off.

 

Is anyone else having problems with the HMS not staying securely fastened?

 

Reference the calibration, I am working on a GUI to simplify calibration.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Miles

[MilesD]

did some tetsting with progressive higher resolution, lower resolutions and changed aspect ratios. with no conclusion or change within the INDEX at all.

your argument sounds logical regarding not seeing the whole panel in VR so this shouldn t be an issue.

 

tested this on my old rift cv1 as well where this vertical mouse limitation was also noticeable but not as big as in the index with better fov

 

because its affecting the mouse the same way and is present on both headsets i would say this is a DCS limitation or bug?!

 

Thanks FoxDelta, I had a suspicion (okay, I was hoping) you would do some testing. I used to mess with the LUA files a lot in the past, I wonder if there is a setting there we could change.

 

Your mod came out great, I hope you don't mind that I share it here. Did I send you the new or old CAD files? The new ones also eliminated the bump on the bottom of the switch's. But your design, with the hinged top and built in diffuser is next level. I am also looking at over-molding the current FCUs with a smaller battery.

 

That 3d printer encloser you built came out great. Is that a IKEA cabinet, if it is, what fantastic idea for an encloser, I never would have never thought of that.

 

Awesome stuff Fox!!!

 

Sharing FoxDelta's FCU Mod

Edited October 9, 2019 by MilesD

[Harlikwin]

Yes

 

Still trying to optimize my calibration, but I'm getting better and more familliar with it each time.

 

Another minor issue I stumbled up against. I'll have to find another solution for the 3M tape, as the HMS keeps falling off my HMD (Rift cv1). The tape doesn't seem to stick properly to the HMS. It sticks very well to my HMD though. But I'll find a sollution for that

 

Yeah, same here with the reverb. I'm using it on the top and front (cloth), but it does come off or points to one side. I just think we need stronger tape.

[sirrah]

Hi Sirrah,

I see you you ordered the Rift CV1 mount. The mounting tape on the Rift CV1 only sticks to the front of the headset, it wont stick to the material on top. That's why the lower portion on the CV1 mount is so large compared to other mounts. (I need to add that piece of info somewhere)

 

If you put the tape on face and not the top, please let me know. I recently switched to a less aggressive tape based on a few comments on how the rubber VHB was to difficult to get off.

 

Is anyone else having problems with the HMS not staying securely fastened?

 

Reference the calibration, I am working on a GUI to simplify calibration.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Miles

I only used the 3M tape to the front of the HMD as you mentioned and pressed it on tightly.

 

Small side note, it is the HMS that came loose. The tape it seems to stick very well to the HMD. So I think it might rather be a HMS surface "issue" than a tape issue. I'll try again after applying some non-aggressive degreaser on the HMS

[VF31_Subsonic]

Thanks FoxDelta, I had a suspicion (okay, I was hoping) you would do some testing. I used to mess with the LUA files a lot in the past, I wonder if there is a setting there we could change.

 

Your mod came out great, I hope you don't mind that I share it here. Did I send you the new or old CAD files? The new ones also eliminated the bump on the bottom of the switch's. But your design, with the hinged top and built in diffuser is next level. I am also looking at over-molding the current FCUs with a smaller battery.

 

That 3d printer encloser you built came out great. Is that a IKEA cabinet, if it is, what fantastic idea for an encloser, I never would have never thought of that.

 

Awesome stuff Fox!!!

 

Sharing FoxDelta's FCU Mod

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great stuff!!! Are you sharing the stl file anywhere yet sir?

[MilesD]

Yeah, same here with the reverb. I'm using it on the top and front (cloth), but it does come off or points to one side. I just think we need stronger tape.

 

Roger, Thank you, I will go back to the VHB rubber tape.

 

UPDATE: As asked for, and needed, this is the first go at the GUI or the NVGUI (Not Very Graphic User Interface)

 

The goal is to pre-select monitor and VR hardware specs and have cursor limit box and targets automatically generated in the right places.

 

The user can then measure the physical distance from the HMS to where they will be using the FCU most of the time on the front or side panels. (PointCTRL VR Mounterd Sensor to Finger Units)

 

The User then only has to perform a "Zero" procedure of the HMS using only a center target.

At this point, math should get things very close.

 

A full standard and edge calibration can be performed separately, but will not require setting cursor boxes or targets.

 

The light and dark blue boxes will move with the FCU buttons to let you know where you are on the menu, and what to do next when doing standard and edge calibrations. There will also be a voice assist while you are in VR.

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

Edited October 10, 2019 by MilesD

[FoxDelta]

cool Miles, this will make the entry into the PCtrl experience less frustrating and time consuming.

 

another big milestone at your project, hats off

:thumbup:

[mariner3302]

Damn, that is a MAJOR update. I will see if it holds up to my crayon box.

[FireCat]

 

UPDATE: As asked for, and needed, this is the first go at the GUI or the NVGUI (Not Very Graphic User Interface)

 

The goal is to pre-select monitor and VR hardware specs and have cursor limit box and targets automatically generated in the right places.

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

 

Looks very intuitive and easy to navigate a welcome addition for everyone. I am looking forward to this.

 

Just a quick question on the fixed monitor resolutions. Will you cover all possible resolutions in the selection boxes?

 

I have a single monitor with a native resolution of 3440 x 1440.

 

Thanks again Miles