My procedure for leap motion working perfectly in DCS

[Swson]

Hi to all

Some few words to share my procedure of how to perform a wonderful use of a leap motion device with DCS.
It is a bit long but I think interesting to read and it will perhaps save time to some of you.

I was flying in 2D with a TM Warthog. I have also built 3 hardware LCD MFCD and a proprietary track IR for few bucks, except the purchase of 2 sets of 2 Thrustmaster Cougar MFD.
I equipped 3 MFCD with their own 800x600 color LCD to delocalize the virtual ones of F18 and A10 II.
They are plugged using USB3 displaylinks saving GPU work. It was very nice (see description in home cockpit area) but I wanted trying VR flight.
Flying in VR requires switching DCS multi monitor lua files and WIN10 display configuration to single monitor using user capabilities of DCS controls area.
Personally I have 1 save for VR, 1 for single monitor 2D 1920x1080 and 1 for multi monitor 4320x1080, including the 3 real 800x600 MFCD (600x600 used), programmed in the user’s buttons 1/2/3.

After buying my HP reverb G2, I replaced the gasket by a FRANKENFOV using a velcro mounted Samsung Odyssey foam as described on youtube. This allow a minimalist bottom view very useful looking the environment without removing the headset. I am also using VR optical lenses even if I have very minor correction and dont always wear glasses usually.
At this point I discovered the problem to be blind to the environment. Using my own hands in the VR looks to be the only good solution compared with the constant permutation of VR controllers, HOTAS and mouse.
I discovered the old leap motion tool through an italian guy youtube and bought one from one located in France of the three Ultraleap site indicated buyers. Hopefully this tool is now supported by DCS.
Three days later I got both the leap motion (from UK) and a headset mount (from US) through Fedex.
The following is my experience and recommendations:
1- I install the leap Gemini 5.0 driver downloaded from developper Ultraleap site
2- Leap device USB3 link is immediately discovered and configured by WIN10 64bit and I got a green status in the leap parameters software
3- I discovered first that using the leap mount, the USB cable had to go out to the right arm side when headset is on the head. On the other side, the leap view is upside down and does not work well if even it works
4- The insertion of the leap into the extractible mount plastic part is VERY tight and it is VERY difficult to remove it so think a lot before inserting it inside.
5- On the G2, sticking the mount to the headset must be done above the two camera lenses of the headset, just under the headset’s LED status light, not to disturb the headset tracking cameras. In this position, the leap is not centered vertically and the headset curvature make it is looking a bit upward.
This is not bad because it prevents too much hands’ detection while they are on the HOTAS. Using leap mount is better and more stable according me than using velcro on the leap device because a fixed and stable position is critical.
The price of the mount is not so much.
6- Be sure to perfectly center horizontally the mount before sticking it on the headset. It is a one shot because the glue is very strong. This is critical for perfect symmetrical tracking.
7- At first I was very disappointed. The tracking was good but not perfect with the leap visualizer software so I made a fresh calibration using parameters software built-in app.
It took me at least ten trials before succeeding reaching 80/100. Don’t discourage and be sure that for this task, the USB cable is going out to the left arm side.
I performed the task with the device placed on the headset in its mount and not with it on hand as recommended by the application. Doing this, the headset was upside down allowing the cable out to the left arm as required. There is a demo video on youtube.
8- After a precise 80/100 calibration, the tracking through the visualizer was absolutely perfect. You must have :

1. the leap USB link connected on a USB3 with a green symbol on WIN10 task bar icons
2. all green status in leap parameters software, (I disabled the fault correction and robust tick linked with light)
3. plug your G2 to get WMR opening and launch steamVR, then the leap visualizer
4. obtain the 2 hands and arms skeletons with fingers able to touch in synchronism with reality, this means calibration is OK

9- close the visualizer and parameter software and launch DCS
10- it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to first make your environment as lean as possible.
In the beginning every time I wanted touching a virtual button, my hands were hitting something real so I rebuild fully my environment with this constraint in mind.
Also you MUST program and use the DCS cockpit camera commands particularly the forward and aft ones, then up and down and in a lesser importance right and left. This is mainly important for cold & dark startup were you manage many side buttons. Can be also of great help to manage frontal obscuration by real world objects like a desk or a monitor
Personally I use a programmable Xencelab small device able to program 5 sets of 8 keys onto a 10x5x1 centimeter box with a small OLED display giving the names of commands.
This is a perfect complement to an HOTAS were all commands are generally already affected in a recent jet AC.
I also positioned my stick and chair, of which I removed both armrest, very accurately and fixed using a fully adjustable studio monitor foot Gravity SP3102 which is very cheap and perfectly usable with the Warthog joystick. I am also using a side keyboard stand and a Trackball Logitech in place of a mouse. It is a much stable solution, always at the same location and that you could find blindly easily. I recommend it highly.
11- In DCS control « special » area activate leap and « thumb pressure » tick
I HIGHLY recommend suppressing all green pointers’ lines obtained while hands are closed  because they interfere a lot with the command through fingers.
This could be very difficult to obtain in DCS. There is probably a DCS bug.
You will need to select several pointer positions (right/left/both hands) every time ticking and unticking leap activation, click OK and going back to adjustment until pointers effectively disappears when closing hands.
This is ESSENTIAL according me. The leap motion is not really designed to click on menu buttons, mouse is here to stay…
In VR DCS commands part, click using mouse and restraint it to game area then unclick hand controllers
With this procedure, I successfully started and F18 from cold and dark using only hands, quite as fast as with a mouse and very accurately. It is really a HUGE improvement in immersion.

Encountered (small) problems were:

a)  some buttons are tricky to reach and/or activate (INS, RADAR, OBOGS…)in F18 you NEED to use the cockpit camera commands to move inside the cockpit, place the buttons onto leap device FOV and use then a reset command button to recenter view quickly. However I was even able to adjust rotating MFD brightness buttons using thumb and forefinger
b)  dont hesitate turning head looking to buttons. Dont forget the tracking device is on your head and has a limited while correct field of view
c)   of course use of leap motion during flight on the MFD in front of you is very easy and accurate
e) I encountered some freezes and two full disappearance of one hand during a one hour flight. Only one needing going in the special commands area to deactivate then activate leap to recover it. Moving hands close and far in front the device generally solves the problem.

So if you want invest few amount of money for a giant step into immersion dont hesitate. I join some photos as well.

Have a good day

Archive.zip

[The LT]

offtopic, but can you share which displaylink driver boards have you used in your builds? PD165?

[reemit0772]

Thanks for the information, this has got me very interested in trying Leap Motion for myself.

[Topo]

 

Well, maybe it's time to try again to see how it works.

 

Thanks!

[Swson]

Unfortunately I just downloaded the last version of Ultraleap Gemini 5.2.0 which is superb in their  visualizer with great improvement compared with 5.0 but it does not seem compatible with DCS….impossible to activate the hands when enabling the leap service in special area….if somebody has a fix thanks to share….  

To answer about the display link I bought 3 devices from AliExpress around 8€ each :USB 3.0 To HDMI female Audio Video Adaptor Converter Cable For Windows 7/8/10 

and was using the driver and app : FL2000-2.1.33788.0.exe from fresco logic and windows7-windows10 2.0.2.exe

another one similar device from another shop never worked with the provided by shop drivers so I was refunded

[CYPHER11]

Hey Swson, have the same Problem as you. with Gemini 5.2.0 it won´t work and i guess ED will not fix that in the near Future.... can you sahre the Gemini 5.0 here? i am unable to download an older version from their Website.


So i can use it with the old one until it´s fixed?


Thank you in Advance ... 

[slughead]

You can get v5.0.0 from the "legacy releases" section. There is a link to it on the "Tracking Software Download" page of the ultraleap website. Probably wise to uninstall the newer version before you install the old version.

 

[CYPHER11]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:31 PM, slughead said:

You can get v5.0.0 from the "legacy releases" section. There is a link to it on the "Tracking Software Download" page of the ultraleap website. Probably wise to uninstall the newer version before you install the old version.

 

Thank you, got it

[megatech]

To get to work with v5.2 Gemini software. Do this. 
Please follow these steps to update this:

1. Copy the new leapc.dll from the following location (or the location where you have installed the Ultraleap hand tracking software):

C:\Program Files\Ultraleap\VRVisualizer\VRVisualizer_Data\Plugins\LeapC.dll

2. Browse to the DCS World folder containing the LeapC.dll:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin

or the bin folder in your non steam version of DCS

3. Replace the LeapC.dll with the new file.

4. Restart DCS World and test! 
 

This is from Dan from Leap Motion

[CYPHER11]

13 hours ago, megatech said:

To get to work with v5.2 Gemini software. Do this. 
Please follow these steps to update this:

1. Copy the new leapc.dll from the following location (or the location where you have installed the Ultraleap hand tracking software):

C:\Program Files\Ultraleap\VRVisualizer\VRVisualizer_Data\Plugins\LeapC.dll

2. Browse to the DCS World folder containing the LeapC.dll:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin

or the bin folder in your non steam version of DCS

3. Replace the LeapC.dll with the new file.

4. Restart DCS World and test! 
 

This is from Dan from Leap Motion

Thanbks - worked!

[Leader98]

On 11/9/2021 at 5:58 AM, megatech said:

To get to work with v5.2 Gemini software. Do this. 
Please follow these steps to update this:

1. Copy the new leapc.dll from the following location (or the location where you have installed the Ultraleap hand tracking software):

C:\Program Files\Ultraleap\VRVisualizer\VRVisualizer_Data\Plugins\LeapC.dll

2. Browse to the DCS World folder containing the LeapC.dll:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin

or the bin folder in your non steam version of DCS

3. Replace the LeapC.dll with the new file.

4. Restart DCS World and test! 
 

This is from Dan from Leap Motion

Just followed these steps and I got a working Leap Motion controller in DCS (beta).

I actually flipped some switches in the KA-50.

It was GREAT!

Thanks @megatech and Dan from Leap Motion!

[gyurmak]

Thanx guys,

 

It is working with that method!

 

Cheers,

George

[gyurmak]

The other issue that appears to a lot of people is that the tracking is gone while you play randomly...In my experience if you enable/disable 'mouse' under VR settings, the issue is gone, so it works good in the session..maybe that helps you, too guys...

[vitdor]

Yes! It is works! Not perfect, but acceptable. Be sure to turn off the green pointers.
Follow the advice of the author of this post. For version 5.2 you need to replace the dll according to the instructions above.

Edited November 17, 2021 by vitdor

[Hempstead]

I see no hand at all in the visualizer, even though the status is all green. Sticker on the sensor says to activate at that URL, but no activation whatsoever at that URL, only Gemini download. Do I need to unlock the thing or pay some subscription or what? Or is it simply dead on arrival?

I spend two hours searching the web for solutions to no avail and gave up.

[Bailey]

2 hours ago, Hempstead said:

I see no hand at all in the visualizer, even though the status is all green. Sticker on the sensor says to activate at that URL, but no activation whatsoever at that URL, only Gemini download. Do I need to unlock the thing or pay some subscription or what? Or is it simply dead on arrival?

I spend two hours searching the web for solutions to no avail and gave up.

I just got mine around the time you posted this, coincidently. Uninstall all Leap Motion apps. Install the download at the url. Plug in the device. From there got to the visualizer (which may or may not require VR). It worked for me.

[jonde99]

 

On 11/9/2021 at 4:58 AM, megatech said:

To get to work with v5.2 Gemini software. Do this. 
Please follow these steps to update this:

1. Copy the new leapc.dll from the following location (or the location where you have installed the Ultraleap hand tracking software):

C:\Program Files\Ultraleap\VRVisualizer\VRVisualizer_Data\Plugins\LeapC.dll

2. Browse to the DCS World folder containing the LeapC.dll:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin

or the bin folder in your non steam version of DCS

3. Replace the LeapC.dll with the new file.

4. Restart DCS World and test! 
 

This is from Dan from Leap Motion

Thanks for this. In my opinion Dan from Leapmotion should pull his hand out of his butt and make this happen in the install. I hate having to dig through the internet for hours to find simple solutions to stuff developers should have done. 

[edmuss]

I've just set mine up again and it's far more useable than it was a month ago!

I seem to be getting odd dropouts with tracking the right hand though, it will disappear and come back seemingly at random; no amount of waving or holding my hands up will force it to reset.  Anyone else experienced this?  Is this the mouse thing that @gyurmak mentioned above?

edit: seems to help the issue slightly, but now I have vr mouse disabled the mouse cursor keeps popping up and seems to be knocking out the tracking?

Edited November 23, 2021 by edmuss

[ScorpioFeralHog]

On 11/9/2021 at 5:58 AM, megatech said:

To get to work with v5.2 Gemini software. Do this. 
Please follow these steps to update this:

1. Copy the new leapc.dll from the following location (or the location where you have installed the Ultraleap hand tracking software):

C:\Program Files\Ultraleap\VRVisualizer\VRVisualizer_Data\Plugins\LeapC.dll

2. Browse to the DCS World folder containing the LeapC.dll:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DCSWorld\bin

or the bin folder in your non steam version of DCS

3. Replace the LeapC.dll with the new file.

4. Restart DCS World and test! 
 

This is from Dan from Leap Motion

Thanks, Dan, that got my setup working as well, however, only briefly.

Now I get the green pointer lines when making a fist but I don't see my hands rendered by the sim. Any ideas?

 

[edmuss]

12 minutes ago, ScorpioFeralHog said:

Now I get the green pointer lines when making a fist but I don't see my hands rendered by the sim. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like the arms visible box is unchecked and you have the pointers on both hands enabled in the drop-down. Often the settings get confused and don't do what you think they should be doing.

I'd disable and re-enable leap motion in dcs, uncheck and check the arms visible and then set the pointers to something you don't use and then back to your preferred mode. That should reset the lot and get your hands back, you can do this at any time.

Edited November 28, 2021 by edmuss

[ScorpioFeralHog]

That was it, thanks Edmuss!

[edmuss]

Good stuff!

[joso]

Hi, but Leap Motion for the fps?

[Jonay]

 Any changes to the above with the new 5.2 driver? Has it made any difference to the performance/accuracy of the virtual hands?

 

I go the LEAP controller for Christmas but haven't had a chance yet to test it out yet, (Family staying with me at the moment) but keen to try it out.

[joso]

7 minutes ago, Jonay said:

 Eventuali modifiche a quanto sopra con il nuovo driver 5.2? Ha fatto qualche differenza per le prestazioni/precisione delle mani virtuali?

 

Vado al controller LEAP per Natale ma non ho ancora avuto la possibilità di provarlo (la famiglia sta con me al momento) ma desideroso di provarlo.

For me nothing