PointCTRL - Finger Mounted VR Controller

[Fusedspine33]

If you are going to start a new list for V2, I would like to be added.

[MilesD]

Important information for current "Now Serving Group".

 

This groups (up 1 to 325) is in final testing and I am about to send out invoices. I only have about 26 PointCTRL 1.0 Kits left. The plan is to switch to the new FCU v2 first, then update to HMS v2 in the coming months. I was expecting the FCU bare PCBs early April, but they may delayed.

 

I have enough 1.0 kits for this group, but if anyone would like to wait for the new smaller FCU's, let us know, and you will be moved to a "waiting group" for PointCTRL for new FCUs but the current HMS.

 

The new FCU will only be an improvement if you have joystick that contacts the FCU, like the F18.

 

I just wanted to give this group the option to wait if they preferred.

 

If you would like to be put on hold for PointCTRL 2.0, send an email to Carol at orders@pointctrl.com, with your DCS Handle, List#, and the word"HOLD" in the subject line and Carol will get you moved over.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

[MilesD]

Yes great work! The new Firmware and Voice assist, is also a big step forward. My PointCtrl runs great now.

@ micsmotionsimulator

Glad its working well for you TOYKILLA!

 

 

The new FCU looks good Miles. Great work.

 

Regarding development, are you still working on adding buttons to the headset? Any chance it will eventually be possible to purchase only firmware update for that and build the button box ourselves? Mainly to lower lead time and shipping cost.

Its in the latest firmware as a keyboard, but I will be switching to a hid joystick soon. I will publish the pin-out for the DIY guys.

 

 

I am in production on the Aux buttons now. $12.50 per button bank. Includes 1, 3 button bank, double sided tape attached, 4 wire 150mm HMS to AUX connector.

 

Here is Deano87's placement of 2 banks. He has been testing them for me.

 

If you are going to start a new list for V2, I would like to be added.

 

No more list, I think I am straining my friendship with FireCat.:smilewink:

 

You early adopters only have to send Carol a order, I will try and come up with price for you guys for the FCUs, I was thinking around $30.00 each, complete with battery, does that sound reasonable? They still take so damn long to make, I am hoping the over-molding process speeds things up a bit.

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

[RogueSqdn]

I’ll go for the whole shebang.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Voyager]

Question, since I'm in the 360's it's probably moot, but would the existing units interfere with a gamepad? I'm just having sparky ideas, so not likely a primary use case, just wondering.

[MilesD]

Question, since I'm in the 360's it's probably moot, but would the existing units interfere with a gamepad? I'm just having sparky ideas, so not likely a primary use case, just wondering.

 

Holy Crap, What an interesting idea Voyager,

I used to fly with a guy in the 99th, call sign "Xbox" who flew with an Xbox controller in VR, and he was awesome with it.

 

So with a gaming laptop and a VR headset, you could take DCS on the road. Not optimal, but you could get comfortable in a hotel room chair and learn the aircraft systems and switch-oligy since you would be using PointCTRL for that.

 

I had to stop what I was doing and try it out, Awesome idea.

 

Thanks again for sharing your "sparky" idea.

 

Miles

[Ratcatcher]

You early adopters only have to send Carol a order, I will try and come up with price for you guys for the FCUs, I was thinking around $30.00 each, complete with battery, does that sound reasonable?

Miles

 

Hi Miles, Sounds good to me. Will drop Carol an email this weekend if all goes well!

[Fusedspine33]

You early adopters only have to send Carol a order, I will try and come up with price for you guys for the FCUs, I was thinking around $30.00 each, complete with battery, does that sound reasonable? They still take so damn long to make, I am hoping the over-molding process speeds things up a bit.

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

 

Thanks Miles!

[DutchCoolHand]

Miles,

 

I know you have said it before somewhere in these 2200+ messages but what are these additional button used for? Can they be bound to a key?

 

Peter

[Harlikwin]

If you are going to start a new list for V2, I would like to be added.

 

Me too.

[Harlikwin]

Hey Harlikwin, I thought the Steam VR patch fixed that a week ago? did it not for you?

 

RatCatcher, When interacting with overhead panels like the Huey, your FCU can be very close to the HMS sensor. So your FOV window to capture it, is much smaller, and it also becomes more sensitive to movement the closer the FCU is to the HMS.

 

I mitigate this by fully extending my arm when interacting with the overhead panels on the Huey. This helps increase the FCU to HMS distance, and make it easier to use.

 

Let me know how it works.

 

Talk to you soon,

 

Miles

 

I think it did.

[MilesD]

Miles,

 

I know you have said it before somewhere in these 2200+ messages but what are these additional button used for? Can they be bound to a key?

 

Peter

 

Hey Peter,

Thanks for the great question. Yes, The next firmware update will see PointCTRL as a standard joystick. I am just waiting for Deano87 to give me the green light on his final test, and I will release it. Modifiers work with it also.

I will let this picture speak for my boring words.

 

[DutchCoolHand]

Thanks for the explanation Miles.

 

Will you be on Discord tonight (Thursday) I flew last night and both my controllers went haywire. When lifting my left hand the cursor showed up on the right side of the screen. And when I move it I can't get it to the center of the screen.

 

I loaded the new firmware and started the voice-guided setup and I could get it to work right. when I started DCS it did not show through to the setup program in the black rectangle.

 

I hope you are there

 

Peter

[Deano87]

Hey guys,

 

Sorry I've been a bit AWOL around here, real life has been a bit hectic. But as Miles has already said I've been testing the Auxiliary buttons that plug into the HMS and sit on your VR headset. attached below are some pics of mine. As you can see I haven't really done any cable management yet but I've yet to have any issues with this setup as is. We are currently working out the final bugs in the new firmware to work with these buttons, they will show up as an extra Joystick as far as DCS or any other sim is concerned and are bindable just as you would bind a joystick button.

 

They can also be used with modifiers should you want extra buttons. They use the same button pads as the FCUs so have a really nice tactile click and I find them to be really useful.

 

Currently I have my left bank of buttons bound to NVG Gain Up, NVG Toggle, NVG Gain Down. This allows me to toggle my NVGs and adjust their brightness while keeping my right hand on the stick, which I find extremely useful, and I also like the extra realism of reaching up to my head to do it instead of clicking a HOTAS button. My right hand bank is set to less commonly used keys like Toggle Briefing, ESC Menu, and Flashlight.

 

If you have any questions then let me know!

 

Also, I'm sure somebody will ask: I haven't had any tracking issues with the Rift-S while using my hands to actuate the Aux buttons, even though the position of my hands do somewhat block the side cameras, it has yet to be an issue.

 

Great Job Miles!:D

 

[TOYKILLA]

Sounds good. To Bad my Order is only a few Days ago, but what's the Pricetag for the 6 Buttons Addon only?

 

@ micsmotionsimulator

[Ratcatcher]

They can also be used with modifiers should you want extra buttons. They use the same button pads as the FCUs so have a really nice tactile click and I find them to be really useful.

 

Hey Deano, No questions yet but just wanted to thank you for taking the time to update us. This looks really useful!

 

I was thinking about opportuntites to add another 3 buttons above the current ones on the FCU's, but as they're about to get a whole lot smaller I'm guessing that may not be a practical option going forward?

 

Cheers

 

 

Oh yes nearly forgot, Miles just wanted to say I ran though a new calibration last night. Although the Assist screen goes a little "odd" at the botom of the page, the actual calibration went though really well. No issues connecting and even my age addled brain went through the steps a lot easier, so many thanks for the streamlining!

Edited March 20, 2020 by Ratcatcher

[MilesD]

Sounds good. To Bad my Order is only a few Days ago, but what's the Pricetag for the 6 Buttons Addon only?

 

@ micsmotionsimulator

 

Hey TOYKILLA, I am thinking $12.50 USD per button bank of three buttons. Includes the connector, double sided tape, and black shrink tubing to cover the wire.

 

Electrical tape, taped flat to the top of the headset is probably a cleaner option for the wires.

 

So 2 banks with 6 buttons would be $25.00 USD.

 

Hey Deano, No questions yet but just wanted to thank you for taking the time to update us. This looks really useful!

 

I was thinking about opportuntites to add another 3 buttons above the current ones on the FCU's, but as they're about to get a whole lot smaller I'm guessing that may not be a practical option going forward?

 

Cheers

 

Oh yes nearly forgot, Miles just wanted to say I ran though a new calibration last night. Although the Assist screen goes a little "odd" at the botom of the page, the actual calibration went though really well. No issues connecting and even my age addled brain went through the steps a lot easier, so many thanks for the streamlining!

 

Glad the Voice Assist worked out for you. You can get out of full screen mode by clicking the Options menu in the upper left hand corner of the GUI and uncheck full screen.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Miles

[TOYKILLA]

Hey TOYKILLA, I am thinking $12.50 USD per button bank of three buttons. Includes the connector, double sided tape, and black shrink tubing to cover the wire.

 

 

 

Electrical tape, taped flat to the top of the headset is probably a cleaner option for the wires.

 

 

 

So 2 banks with 6 buttons would be $25.00 USD.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys,

 

 

 

Miles

 

Ok Thanks Miles. Can you ship the two Button Banks as a Big Letter around the Globe, to reduce the Shipping Price?

 

 

 

@ micsmotionsimulator

[MilesD]

Ok Thanks Miles. Can you ship the two Button Banks as a Big Letter around the Globe, to reduce the Shipping Price?

@ micsmotionsimulator

 

Let me check it out, I think we can give it a try, I think they are thin enough.

 

Now Serving up to 350 for Version 1.0

All invoices for 325 are out. If you received an invoice and want to wait for the smaller FCU's let Carol know.

Smaller FCUs are probably 30 to 45 days away.

 

Thanks,

 

Miles

Edited March 21, 2020 by MilesD
Added info

[Jester84]

Hi!

How do you fixed the multi monitor issue? On mine Site all is up to date but still have the multi monitors with Microsoft mixed reality.

[TOYKILLA]

I Think it was the SteamVR Beta and WMR-for Steam Beta Update, what fixed the issue.

 

 

@ micsmotionsimulator

[Baldrick33]

Apologies if this is an old topic but this is long thread!

 

Is it possible with PointCTRL to divorce the hand movement from the head movement?

 

I.e. if I am reaching out to a control with my hand do I have to keep my head still to prevent the cursor moving like I do with a normal mouse?

[Jester84]

I Think it was the SteamVR Beta and WMR-for Steam Beta Update, what fixed the issue.

 

 

@ micsmotionsimulator

 

Both Beta and updated. Windows and Nvidia driver to. Ok will take a closer look this evening.

Thanks anyway! :thumbup:

[MrScott]

Has this gone anywhere or are gloves the new ticket?

[Terry]

I just got my invoice and am really looking forward to getting PointCtrl. I'm using a TM F18 stick however so it would probably be better for me to wait for the smaller version 2. Before I finally decide, does it make a massive difference when using this stick and are there any other changes like battery life or extra functionality. I don't really want to wait any longer tbh because I'm like a big kid waiting for Christmas.