PointCTRL - Finger Mounted VR Controller

[hannibal]

On 8/12/2023 at 7:43 PM, MilesD said:

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the comms blackout. I don’t like to overshare, but I understand the growing frustration out there with the lack of production, so I will overshare a bit here. Only waste the next few minutes of your life if you’re really bored, mad at me for not making more PointCTRLs, or are just curious how I started making these damn things.

As many of you know, PointCTRL is not a business for me. Following an injury in Iraq, where I served on a SFODA, also known as “Green Berets”, and a few years of surgeries and rehab, the Army eventually sent me to the glue factory aka the “Permanently Disabled Retirement List”.  I did my best to stay in the Army… (Insert your own Monty Python Black Knight meme here).

My friend “Los”, who was my Team Sergeant/Mentor earlier in my SF career, encouraged me to try VR flying with him. So, we bought a bunch of hardware, built 2 systems, and fired up our newly released CV1s. I was immediately hooked on inserting and extracting troops with the Huey.

But the crazy thing was, the very first time I took off my VR headset, I noticed something was wrong. I sat for a minute trying to figure out what the hell was going on with me and this feeling that I couldn’t identify. I remember I was about to call out to my wife because I thought VR had somehow broken my brain.

It wasn’t until I stood up and felt the ever-present burning nerve pain and muscle spasms return that I realized what had happened. I remember like it was yesterday, me looking at the CV1 now sitting by my side and saying to no one in particular, “Holy <profanity>… that thing takes away all the fucking pain when you’re in it.” There I was for the next few months flying around this virtual world, in a half broken body full of titanium rods, screws, and bolts, in what felt like a new virtual body.

Unfortunately as I became more accustomed to VR, the pain and discomfort slowly crept back in, but there was always some degree of escape from it.

Like everyone else experiencing VR for the first time, I continued to physically reach for switches and knobs only to remind myself “Hey, you have to use the mouse, dumbass”. One day, my wife Carol, who was now accustomed to me seeing me in the corner of our dining room flying away in my own little world, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Hey…stick out your hand.” I did as instructed, and I was rewarded with the feeling of a nice cold unsolicited beer in my hand. I am lucky to have a great supportive wife who always encourages me to fly more. After drinking a bit of it, I promptly placed the beer on the center console of the Huey, where it immediately dropped to the real-world floor, spilling beer all over it.

After cleaning up the beer, I thought, “I can fix this.” So I found a low table the same height as the Huey’s center console, and placed it to my left. I went back into VR, touched the virtual center console and was rewarded with the feel of a hard object right where it should be.

I yelled to Carol that I fixed the problem, I was again rewarded with another unsolicited cold beer, this time when I placed it on the Huey virtual console, it stayed.

My simple mind was proud of itself, and the very next time I reached for a switch that I could not move, I thought, “ Hey I just made a place to put my real beer down in a virtual world, surely I can make something so I can just reach out and flip the virtual switches in my cockpit.

So it started…
Those that are familiar with SFODAs, the 18Bs or “Weapons Guys” are usually known as the knuckle draggers of the bunch. However, I always had an interest in all things mechanical, electro-mechanical, electronics, as well as computers when they started coming out in the early 80s.
So I set about looking at different ways to make something I could wear on my finger, that would not interfere with my flight stick or throttle, and allow me to press a button or flip a switch.

This is getting way too long, if anyone is interested, I will finish the development process another time. For now, I will just skip to the part you probably came here for.

Important Part:

Several months ago, I took down the PointCTRL shop and began relocating everything to another house my wife and I purchased so we could care for my elderly Mother. There was renovation involved, but not too much to get settled and start production again in a much larger dedicated space for PointCTRL.
Not to have pity party here, I know I am luckier than many, but unfortunately the old injury that put me out of the Army had created other issues that were expected from the beginning. With treatment, things are slowly getting sorted, and I am getting somewhat more mobile with bursts of real productivity. I am working on getting the shop to a minimal functional state today. I hope to have the production crew running in the next few weeks.

Well that’s it, no PointCTRLs because the shops not set up yet, I am old, we are still trying to sort the new house, and get the previous house sold.
So yea, two weeks…

MilesD

 

 

Ray ramano here.. miss you and the pointctrl group.. still trying to fly the harriers with u guys! We have to revisit the huey mission! We are lucky yo have u on the DCS community 

[majmike]

Miles seems pretty busy, so getting a Crystal mount may take awhile. Haven’t found anyone printing and selling one. Haven’t tried mounting my G2 PointCtrl Mount of the Crystal yet. May be forced to try it soon. After having PointCtrl the past few year, hard to live without it.

 

[Snacko]

Just FYI, I was contacted by Miles a few days ago, to verify my email address.  My order was placed Jan 11, 2022

[j9murphy]

20 hours ago, majmike said:

Miles seems pretty busy, so getting a Crystal mount may take awhile. Haven’t found anyone printing and selling one. Haven’t tried mounting my G2 PointCtrl Mount of the Crystal yet. May be forced to try it soon. After having PointCtrl the past few year, hard to live without it.

 

If no one is working on it I may try to create my own and print it... if I get anywhere, happy share the result.  will be a few weeks before i can take that on though.

[TimSell75]

Am 16.10.2023 um 21:01 schrieb j9murphy:

Has anyone tried to mount a pointctrl on a Pimax Crystal? Any tips?

You might wanna try this. It is a workaround but holds mine in place pretty well:

https://www.uhu.de/de/produkt.47906

[j9murphy]

Are you using this on a crystal? I was worried since the top edge is angled in different directions that wouldn't work...

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[TimSell75]

vor 18 Stunden schrieb j9murphy:

Are you using this on a crystal? I was worried since the top edge is angled in different directions that wouldn't work...

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk
 

You can use it on any headset, it is flexible and can be formed to any shape

[davidjb]

Polymorph is your friend!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Mouldable-Polymorph-Thermoplastic-Unlimited/dp/B08THPV8J5/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=polymorph&qid=1698085527&sr=8-8

I used this when upgrading from Rift to Reverb, while I was waiting for the proper mount from Miles

(Hmmm) years later , still working fine with some 2x sided foam tape ( 3M - for car trim) . Dead easy to use and remold if you dont get it right first time.

 

[brabs]

Hello, i use point CTRL since two years now, very nice !!

but I have one question... it is possible to momentary override point CTRL, with a button on my hotas, by example ??

I explain : sometimes, i need to override because i going in external view, or sometimes need to use the standar mouse, and if i do that, i have to mask the HMS captor to not have conflict..;.

Thank's !

[MilesD]

Hey Brabs,
There is not currently a way to do that.
PointCTRL should only over-ride your mouse cursor if an FCU is active(button pressed within 15 seconds), and in the FOV of the HMS sensor.
If my FCU's are active and in my FOV and I need to immediately use the mouse for something, I try and look up and away from the FCUs.
Other than that (Left had over HMS, Right hand on mouse, until the cursor times out.

Miles

[HoneyBadger]

Would it be possible just to buy one of the APB? I'd love to mount that to my Valve Index and use it for things like NVGs.

[MilesD]

On 11/21/2023 at 2:41 AM, HoneyBadger said:

Would it be possible just to buy one of the APB? I'd love to mount that to my Valve Index and use it for things like NVGs.

Hey Honey Badger,
Unfortunately the APBs require the HMS to function.

 

[jkhonea]

On 10/21/2023 at 8:51 PM, j9murphy said:

Are you using this on a crystal? I was worried since the top edge is angled in different directions that wouldn't work...

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk
 

I'll let you know.  I used the regular Pimax mount for mine today.  I am hopeful it's going to work as the angle doesn't seem too different with how I have it mounted.  I'll report back after I see how it goes.  Fingers crossed.

 

[Lt_Jaeger]

Head over to the PointCtrl Discord

 

I mixed some files together (absolute noob in CAD) and came up with a mount, which will fit the pimax. STL should be there as well

 

I glued mine with hot glue now, that will leave no marks if removed, so this is an older pic

 

[Vladdo]

How long does it take it take to ship? Looks like the queue is pretty long? Like over 12? months.. Also, is there a quest 3 mount available?

[Snacko]

1 hour ago, Vladdo said:

How long does it take it take to ship? Looks like the queue is pretty long? Like over 12? months.. Also, is there a quest 3 mount available?

Just received mine yesterday, and I ordered on 1/11/21.  It's a long line..

[Vladdo]

Appreciate the reply and understood. Thank you. Shame that it's a long line but understand that it's not a commercial operation.

[Snacko]

14 hours ago, Vladdo said:

Appreciate the reply and understood. Thank you. Shame that it's a long line but understand that it's not a commercial operation.

I'm just getting mine started/setup, and so far it appears to be a quality product all around.  Worked pointing at my screen for the mouse right out of the box.

[jkhonea]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:33 AM, Lt_Jaeger said:

Head over to the PointCtrl Discord

 

I mixed some files together (absolute noob in CAD) and came up with a mount, which will fit the pimax. STL should be there as well

 

I glued mine with hot glue now, that will leave no marks if removed, so this is an older pic

 

Thank you so much!  Printed this last night and it came out PERFECT!  Great work on this.  

And side benefit, I'd been struggling with my 3D printer settings for months and had dropped it entirely and this forced me to get it working again.  So now I have the 3D printer working right as well. Win win. LOL

 

[Johnny Dioxin]

Unfortunately this thread is very long now and finding any required info is a bit of a nightmare.

 

I now think I know the difference between V1 and V2, but I do have a couple of questions:

I'm buying used (I have ordered, but with over 2 years delivery time it's a long wait) and am concerned about battery durability. Any info on that? I have no issue fitting one if it's at all possible, as a radio tech I'm used to that sort of thing.

How long ago was the V2 released?

Regarding new purchase, though, is there any customs charge with delivery to UK? I expect to be paying the usual 20% VAT, but I've been hit with some high charges on previous overseas imports and need to be prepared

Thanks for any info.

edit: forgot - I probably have a different headset to the previous user (I have Pico 4) - will it make a big difference to the fitting or is it easy to just bodge something?

 

Edited January 4 by Johnny Dioxin

[Lt_Jaeger]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Dioxin said:

Unfortunately this thread is very long now and finding any required info is a bit of a nightmare.

 

I now think I know the difference between V1 and V2, but I do have a couple of questions:

I'm buying used (I have ordered, but with over 2 years delivery time it's a long wait) and am concerned about battery durability. Any info on that? I have no issue fitting one if it's at all possible, as a radio tech I'm used to that sort of thing.

How long ago was the V2 released?

Regarding new purchase, though, is there any customs charge with delivery to UK? I expect to be paying the usual 20% VAT, but I've been hit with some high charges on previous overseas imports and need to be prepared

Thanks for any info.

 

 

You get a brand new unit with delivery. I used mine for roughly 2 years extensively before my right FCU battery started to get weak to a point where I would not be able to run a whole mission (2+ hours). Why only the right? Because on the left side I use a panel with switches in the correct position, got sadly no space for that on the right side. Left FCU is still going strong.

When I ordered my PointCtrl I ordered a set of spare batterys which I used one from for now. Hope I'm good for another 2 years now. But I guess you will also find replacements somewhere in the net.

For a delivery to Germany I had to pay VAT. Cant remember but I believe it was something between 25 to 50 €

 

[Johnny Dioxin]

Thank you - I'm really looking forward to receiving my Point Control in a couple of days. Of course I'd prefer to just wait a little longer and have the new one - I added extra bits, too, just in case and with the long lead time - but with the way things have gone this year there's a high chance I may not even be able to use a HOTAS in 2 years, so the used one was a logical option to take.

Up to now I've been using a POV hat to operate all the cockpit controls, with the inbuilt gaze control option - I only ever take my hand off the HOTAS to either have a drink or use the mouse for the controller UI (weird that, and that it's been around for so long - but IIRC it may have been fixed in a recent OB update). Left is LMB, right is RMB, up and down are 2 zoom levels and I use modifiers for the same POV for chat, menus etc. Been doing it that way since years, so it's going to be a big challenge remembering to use the Point Control instead!

[Johnny Dioxin]

Can anyone please tell me the exact spec of the batteries? The type and capacity should be enough - read through to page 19 (of 135 on my browser) so still a lot to get through and it may be somewhere here, but I haven't got to it, yet!

 

edit* is this the right one?

 

https://thepihut.com/products/150mah-3-7v-lipo-battery

 

I see Amazon do them, too - with more details and multi-buy offers:

https://thepihut.com/products/150mah-3-7v-lipo-battery

 

so if that's the right one, I reckon I'll get some in, pronto.

 

Edited January 5 by Johnny Dioxin

[MilesD]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:18 AM, Johnny Dioxin said:

Unfortunately this thread is very long now and finding any required info is a bit of a nightmare.

 

I now think I know the difference between V1 and V2, but I do have a couple of questions:

I'm buying used (I have ordered, but with over 2 years delivery time it's a long wait) and am concerned about battery durability. Any info on that? I have no issue fitting one if it's at all possible, as a radio tech I'm used to that sort of thing.

How long ago was the V2 released?

Regarding new purchase, though, is there any customs charge with delivery to UK? I expect to be paying the usual 20% VAT, but I've been hit with some high charges on previous overseas imports and need to be prepared

Thanks for any info.

edit: forgot - I probably have a different headset to the previous user (I have Pico 4) - will it make a big difference to the fitting or is it easy to just bodge something?

 

 

Hey Johnny,
Sorry for the slow response, if you pop over to the discord it will be easier to get your questions answered.
We slowed/stopped production for a bit, but are back up now.
V1 and v2 have different batteries, and v2 has been out for about 3 years now.
For v1, the connector is a JST-PH 2.0mm 2 pin and are 150mah capacity.
The batteries you linked have 100mm extension and would probably have to be shortened.

This one from amazon looks pretty close
https://www.amazon.com/260mAh-Rechargeable-Battery-Charger-Quadcopter/dp/B08ZJ4QQMW/ref=sr_1_35?crid=228BOIB0MFGTF&keywords=JST-PH+2.0mm+150+mah&qid=1704477965&sprefix=jst-ph+2.0mm+150+mah%2Caps%2C61&sr=8-35

Good luck with the unit, and let me know if need any assistance with set-up.

Miles

Edited January 5 by MilesD

[Johnny Dioxin]

Oh thanks for the info, Miles - totally unexpected. I have registered with the Discord channel but haven't had a proper look round, yet.

Really look forward to having a go with this - hoping it will boost my experience in DCS World in the same way VR did in 2016.

Happy new year to you, Sir!

Edited January 5 by Johnny Dioxin
spellling