Vrilda - Virtual Reality Laser Show Player

EDIT 2015-08-15: new version 0.5.0

This is a program I've been working on for the last few days, it's called Virtual Reality Laser Show Simulator (VRLSS), formerly Vrilda. Natural 3D, rotational and positional headtracking and multiple scanners supported. Don't own a laser projector, or want to test out a show without firing your projector up? Well this is the next best thing!

Unfortunately you do need an Oculus Rift to fully enjoy this program, but even if you don't own one, you can still view shows in regular 3D mode on a normal monitor as well, it just won't be as fun :)

You can download the newest version here: https://github.com/Grix/vrlss/releases

Demonstration video (old version, worse graphics than now): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bX3FqQi1Z0

Screenshot:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gr...creenshot2.png

Program is open source, but it's made in Game Maker: Studio so you'll need that program to make contributions unfortunately. Github page: https://github.com/Grix/vrlss

READ THE HELP.PDF FILE FOR CONTROLS AND INSTRUCTIONS, you can find it here (right click+save as): https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gr...aster/help.pdf

Keep in mind this is a beta, there are probably bugs and features are lacking.
Known problems:
- Only ilda format 4 and 5 supported
- Unrealistic laser transparency (multiple layers eventually turn opaque)

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Really cool! I think this will set a precedent / raise the bar for a new software feature! Thanks for sharing.

This is really unique.

Nice job!

Kudos on the open source.

I'm not sure about using specific keys on the keyboard to control stuff.

Good luck with that! :rolleyes:

James.

https://www.oculusvr.com/order/

300 bucks + this player and you can throw away your projector *retardo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnYayas

Does it feel like 3d with the glasses on? That would be really cool.

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Yes, that's almost the whole point. Each eye sees a separate image just like in real life. The 3D looks much more natural than f.ex. regular 3D movies using polarizing glasses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by james

This is really unique.

Nice job!

Kudos on the open source.

I'm not sure about using specific keys on the keyboard to control stuff.

Good luck with that! :rolleyes:

James.

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Thanks. Yeah, using the keyboard is a bit tricky with the rift on, but you can adjust everything in regular 3d mode before you put them on :)
And thanks again for all the help in the other thread with the ilda file parsing!

Really cool!
Here's hoping you will be able to simulate fog and such later on :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by james

This is really unique.

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Actually Lightconverse does 3D Anaglyph output.

It is truly unique for a free program though and really useful for those who can't afford Pangolin + LC.

EDIT: Found out its also does Left and Right, Top and Bottom, Dual output, nVidia 3D systems as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by White-Light

Actually Lightconverse does 3D Anaglyph output.

It is truly unique for a free program though and really useful for those who can't afford Pangolin + LC.

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Anaglyph 3D is quite different from Oculus Rift 3D though :p

Yeah I quite agree. Anaglyph is a poor method of 3D visualisation. I was just mentioning to James that its not the only 3D model based visualiser out there or the only one doing a 3D optical vision system. It probably is the only one using the Oculus system though and it could well be the only laser one that's free. :D I certainly look forward to your developments as to have a free option is great for the community.

Since this is open source, could you give some more details about what your dev environment is and what it offers your app?

In a nutshell, LaserBoy is Generic C++ using libSDL to get keyboard hits and provide a screen of pixels.

James.

Hi Brian.
.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by james

Since this is open source, could you give some more details about what your dev environment is and what it offers your app?

In a nutshell, LaserBoy is Generic C++ using libSDL to get keyboard hits and provide a screen of pixels.

James.

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As I mentioned, it's made in Game Maker: Studio which is a proprietary development suite that compiles a program from a mix of scripting and WYSIWYG programming. To be honest, it doesn't really offer much except that it's super fast to develop in, and it's what I have been using for years so I know it much better than regular programming languages. I have run into some problems with it, for example the reason ilda reading is so slow is because GM's file I/O suck. One can however utilize libraries like dll's to enhance it's features.
This program uses some functions limited to "GM:S Standard version" which costs money, this is of course regrettable from an open source perspective. But I have considered porting the app to a different language one day, and all the scripts that make up the program can be read on the github page if others want to as well. The syntax is C-like, and the GM exclusive functions are quite self explanatory, you can consider it pseudocode of sorts. The most important scripts are scripts/read_ilda.gml and scripts/draw_projection_3d.gml which parses the ilda file into arrays and draws the 3D projection respectively.

Also a safe way to preview audience scanning shows of unknown origin.

Have you considered the idea of just adding a new rendering function to the LaserBoy source code?

You already know LB can open all forms of ILDA plus some other vector art sources.

One of it's capabilities is to display the frames at a constant rate on the screen.

What you're doing seems to be just that from a different perspective.

I guess it depends on how much of the 3D geometry you are doing in your own code.

Then it could be truly open source and also compile for Linux and derivatives.

James.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by james

Have you considered the idea of just adding a new rendering function to the LaserBoy source code?

You already know LB can open all forms of ILDA plus some other vector art sources.

One of it's capabilities is to display the frames at a constant rate on the screen.

What you're doing seems to be just that from a different perspective.

I guess it depends on how much of the 3D geometry you are doing in your own code.

Then it could be truly open source and also compile for Linux and derivatives.

James.

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I don't think I have the skills for that yet.. I'm not used to from-scratch graphical programming. GM sets up the whole 3D environment for you, all I really had to do was make equations for the projection primitive's x, y and z values and plot them into a few premade functions.

I wrote all of the 2D, 3D geometry and raster graphics stuff for LaserBoy.

All I get from libSDL is a screen of pixels of a specific width and height, bits per pixel and the address of the first pixel.

It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to write a function to plot a 3D like ray or fan for a beam appearance.

I wouldn't get much out of the split screen 3D for goggles though.

I'm blind in my right eye!

James. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by james

I'm blind in my right eye!

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Laser related injury? :p

No. I was born that way. My macula and optic nerve just never fully developed.

Can you make it work with non-Oculus displays? a side-by-side, non-distorted display would be excellent, because then I could use it with my Sony VR headset.

I've worked a bit on this in the last few weeks, and released a new version. New features include a much better user interface, a more realistic laser projection with fog simulation, and various optimizations and bug fixes.
You can download the newest version here: https://github.com/Grix/vrilda/releases

Also, I have ordered an Oculus Rift dev kit 2 which should arrive in August, and I will add support asap. The DK2 should provide a much better experience, not just because of better resolution and tracking, but it uses an OLED screen with much better colors and deeper blacks, which is obviously very good for laser simulation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by heroic

Can you make it work with non-Oculus displays? a side-by-side, non-distorted display would be excellent, because then I could use it with my Sony VR headset.

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This is on the to-do list of the http://gmoculus.com/ extension which this program uses. It's been a while since it has been updated, but the development should reignite when DK2 arrives.

Hey I just tried this.
I don't have an oculus but I exported an show in both 30fps and 75fps as a test and both had the same issue: a mention of an FPS drop and it playing back really laggy while flickering on and off on the virtual laser projectors.

ILDA version is 5 and my pc is a mid-high end desktop using an nvidia graphics card the actual performance of the whole enviroment to move in works just fine.
The readme where is being reffered to is also nowhere to be found.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by masterpj

Hey I just tried this.
I don't have an oculus but I exported an show in both 30fps and 75fps as a test and both had the same issue: a mention of an FPS drop and it playing back really laggy while flickering on and off on the virtual laser projectors.

ILDA version is 5 and my pc is a mid-high end desktop using an nvidia graphics card the actual performance of the whole enviroment to move in works just fine.
The readme where is being reffered to is also nowhere to be found.

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Oops, guess the readme wasn't included with the installer or something, you can find it here (right click+save as): https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gr...aster/help.rtf

Only 30fps shows are supported atm, but this will change eventually, it shouldn't be hard to support other framerates. But for now, if you try to play a 75fps show it should play very slowly.

Exactly what CPU and graphic card do you have? Are they better than the ones listed in the readme linked above? And what does the fps indicator in the corner say?

One thing you can do to improve performance is press B to disable the fog shaders. And I will add more performance options later, like custom anti-aliasing levels and resolution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grix

Oops, guess the readme wasn't included with the installer or something, you can find it here (right click+save as): https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gr...aster/help.rtf

Only 30fps shows are supported atm, but this will change eventually, it shouldn't be hard to support other framerates. But for now, if you try to play a 75fps show it should play very slowly.

Exactly what CPU and graphic card do you have? Are they better than the ones listed in the readme linked above? And what does the fps indicator in the corner say?

One thing you can do to improve performance is press B to disable the fog shaders. And I will add more performance options later, like custom anti-aliasing levels and resolution.

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Graphics card is an oldie but it's gona be replaced soon:
Nvidia GTX 260
Intel I7 860 (quad core)

I tried a 30fps show even single and it had that weird lag where the projectors just stuttered on and off but the actual navigating around was fast.

Error: FPS is lower then 75, this can cause playback skipping.

The FPS however is a solid 75fps all the time.

Hm, that is strange, if the FPS counter shows 75 fps it doesn't sound like it's caused by performance issues. (The warning is probably just because the fps drops below 75 for a fraction of a second every now and then)

Have you tried any other shows? Do you mind PM'ing me the ilda file so I can try to reproduce the problem? Also, if it's not too much trouble, do you mind making a recording of the issue and upload it to youtube or something so that I can get a look? For example using https://obsproject.com/

I released a new version yesterday, way overdue.

Changes:
Update to Oculus SDK 0.6.0.1 (meaning better virtual reality performance, direct mode, etc)
Far better laser rendering and 3D graphics in general
(Laser shader features: Proper 4D simplex noise fog simulation, laser is brighter the closer to projector it is, laser is brighter when viewed in a more parallel than perpendicular angle to the camera, like in real life.)
Lots of tweaks, bugfixes and optimizations

Should be a much better experience.

https://github.com/Grix/vrlss/releases/tag/v0.5.0

Looks great with the DK 2. I wish there were more laser programs that use the DK2.

Thanks!