The latest version of Virtual Desktop can emulate Vive Trackers and Index controllers on Quest headsets.
Virtual Desktop continues to surprise with new features that differentiate the PC VR streaming app from competing free solutions Air Link and Steam Link.
The latest update uses two relatively new Quest features to emulate Vive Trackers, allowing for a more accurate reflection of physical movement on avatars, especially with Quest 3, without the need for expensive tracking hardware.
The first feature is Inside-Out Body Tracking (IOBT), which is only supported by Quest 3. The second feature is Generative Legs, which is supported by Quest 2, Quest Pro and Quest 3.
Virtual Desktop uses IOBT (Quest 3) or inverse kinematics (older Quest headsets) and Generative Legs to emulate Vive Trackers. In apps such as VRChat, your own body movements are reflected more realistically. With the Virtual Desktop Body Tracking Configurator (available on Github), the Vive Tracker emulation can be configured according to your own wishes.
The new update also emulates Valve Index controllers using Quest’s hand tracking. This feature only works with OpenVR games that support finger tracking.
Guy Godin, the developer, has made enhancements to various aspects such as the Synchronous Spacewarp rendering feature for all headsets. Additionally, there have been improvements to reduce compression artifacts of 10-bit codecs, along with the implementation of the Wide Motion Mode for hand tracking that expands the tracking volume.
Below are the complete release notes, comprising various additional enhancements.
Quest/Pico/Vive version 1.30.4 – Release Notes
– Added option for SteamVR Vive tracker emulation through inside-out full body tracking on Quest
– Added option to Emulate Index Controllers on Quest; this allows finger tracking in OpenVR games that support it
– Improved motion extrapolation quality of Synchronous Spacewarp (SSW) for all headsets
– Now sending headset battery level and charging state to SteamVR
– Reduced video compression artifacts with 10-bit codecs
“I have enhanced the latency of desktop streaming on macOS.”
– Added Wide motion support with hand tracking on Quest
When employing standard hand tracking, the system now detects the index and finger curl in order to identify trigger and grip presses.
– Fixed issue with Unreal/Unity/WebXR where the VR session wasn’t ending properly
– Fixed desktop being cutoff on some resolutions with AMD
Game compatibility has been resolved for the following titles: Hard Bullet, Resonite, JKXR, and Roblox.
