EFB for VR users - Improve the VR user experience

[Jonny]

What DCS really lacks for VR Pilots is an update to the out-dated knee board. A real make-over! DCS needs a virtual EFB on our virtual lap. Like we do in the real world - we have an iPad on our lap. 

(EFB=Electronic Flight Bag). 

On that EFB we can run whatever apps we want.  Here are some examples:

• Be it an aerial maps app (one that lets us slew the map around, zoom in and out, display or remove data layers such as different coordinate systems [MGRS,LAT/LONG], waypoints, terrain, Satellite imagery, terrain data, obstacles data, points of interest, Navids, routes, SAM and threat rings, weather data (dangerous thunderstorms, severe turbulence, winds aloft, etc..), and even mark something on the map freehand with an apple pen our finger, and much more. To that app you can add sensors like GPS, thus turning it into a moving map app, and even ADS-B data that turns it into a portable TCAS and updates the weather in real time.
• Be it a mission computer app or a portable data link app
• Be it a documents managing app that let us view PDF’s with our checklists, lists, aircraft manuals, mission data such as intel, objectives, coordinates, frequency lists, airport and approach charts, you name it. 
• Be it Weight and Balance apps that would help us decide how to load the aircraft with payloads.

I would suggest it to allow us to run real world apps on the virtual tablet (sort of like a virtual machine), for example ForeFlite, and be open to the public to write apps to this virtual tablet.. this could open up a market of apps for the virtual EFB, and lead to devs from the community write amazing apps for it.

 

This EFB can also be linked to a real world iPad that would run a DCS EFB app on it that will allow us to freehand on the real life iPad with a real apple pen, and see it appear on the virtual tablet on our virtual lap in-game. 

 

Although the pilots in the 70’s didn’t have tablets and EFB’s in the cockpits, and it’s not realistic, they did have real hands and real maps and real pens and real knee boards that they could use to get all of this data that VR pilots just cannot access once the VR “helmets” goes on and limits our world to the DCS eco system. 

A virtual EFB could compensate all that and help us immerse into that virtual world. 

And of course one could limit the use of some of the EFB’s features through the mission editor, so WWII pilots won’t be able to cheat with a moving map or a portable data link app…. 

 

I also see an opportunity for Eagle Dynamics to make more income out of this - selling apps for the virtual EFB (a virtual App Store?), collaboration with real world vendors such as ForeFlite subscriptions, Navigraph subscription, and much more, even selling the real iPad app that would interface our real iPad/Tablet to the virtual EFB..

 

VR is the future of simming and  It’s time for a makeover of that knee board. The sooner ED improves the immersion in VR - the better. 

The sky is the limit!

[Lurker]

Sounds like it could be extremely expensive to produce, and very demanding on our PCs. Maybe some day...

[InfinityWingman]

VRK has some of these features. Works well with a $40 Huion tablet.

 

 

[Jonny]

Producing the full suite I described might be resource demanding, hofwever starting from the basics at least - an interactive maps app on a digital knee board (to allow VR user to slew and zoom a map. That would be a good starting point and a big leap comparing to what we have today. 
 

As for VRK I’ll give it a try however it’s only a small and less game changing feature. 
 

For example, navigating around with a UH-1H in a multiplayer environment is nearly impossible with the current “dumb map” on the current kneeboard …

[WHOGX5]

I'd be happy with clickable 3D kneeboards on the pilots legs akin to the VRKneeboard linked above, only that it would work for people without VR aswell. Having tabs that take you directly to different sections would be amazing compared to now where you're forced to spam through tonnes of pages just to get to the part you're looking for. It turns everything into a real hassle if you want to have all your checklists in the kneeboard.

 

It'd be especially nice if they added two kneeboards, one on each leg.