Que. How to Set Up HTC Vive?

Pre-Requisite Laptop/Desktop Configuration:

1. Intel™ Core™ i5-4590 or AMD FX™ 8350, equivalent or better
2. NVIDIA GeForce™ GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 480, equivalent or better
3. 4 GB RAM or more
4. Video output: 1x HDMI 1.4 port, or DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
5. 1x USB 2.0 port or newer
6. Windows 7 SP1, Windows™ 8.1 or later or Windows™ 10

 

·  Pick a room

Pick a room with some free space. For Room Scale VR, you will need at least 2m x 1.5m (or 6.5 ft. x 5ft.). The maximum distance supported between base stations is 5m (or 16 ft).

Make sure you have some room overhead, as some experiences may have you reaching above your head.

Your VR area should be clear of furniture and pets – look for two corners of the room (or high bookshelves) opposite each other that have a good view of this VR area. This is where you will set up your base stations.

Room Setup Examples:

Note: In addition to Room Scale VR, SteamVR and the HTC Vive also support Seated and Standing VR experiences.

 

·  Install Base Stations

 

Unpack your Base Stations. Make sure you have:

• 2 Base Stations
• 2 Power cables and adapters
• 2 Mounting kits
• 1 Sync cable (you probably won’t need to use this)

 

Determine where you want to set up your base stations.

• Make sure you can see both Base Stations from everywhere in your play area. Ideally they are placed at opposite corners of your space, near the edges of your play area.
• The area doesn’t have to be a perfect square.
• For room scale VR you will need a minimum of 2 meters by 1.5 meters of free space (6.5ft x 5ft).
• The maximum distance between base stations is 5m or 16 ft.

 

 

Set up each base station securely

• Bases should be above head height (ideally over 2m or 6.5 feet), and angled down 30-45 degrees.
• The base stations should have an unobstructed view of each other, to enable optical sync.
• Make sure the base stations are stable and secure, as vibrations will affect tracking.
  • The base station can be placed with the provided mounting hardware, or any other 1/4 -20 UNC threaded mount (standard for speakers and tripods).
  • A braced floor to ceiling pole with clamp mounts is a good alternative mounting solution.
  • You can also try placing the base stations on high bookshelves.

 

 

Plug your base stations into an outlet with the provided power cords.

• If the provided power cord is too short to reach an outlet, any 12V power cable extension will work.

 

Plug your base stations into an outlet with the provided power cords.

• Press the mode button on the back of one base station, so that the readout on the front is “b“.
• Press the mode button of the other base station until the readout on the front is “c“.
• It doesn’t matter which base station is in which mode, as long as one is “b” and one is “c“.

Look at base station LEDs and make sure they are solid white.

If both base station LEDs don’t turn white after 10-15 seconds, something may be wrong:

• If the LED is blue, it is still spinning up and waiting to stabilise. If it never changes from blue, check to make sure the base is mounted securely. Vibrations can cause it to be stuck in this state.
• If the LED is off, it doesn’t have power – make sure that the power cord is plugged in and your outlet isn’t connected to a light switch.
• If the LED is slowly blinking white, it’s in standby mode. Try unplugging and re-plugging the base station to fix this.
• If the LED is solid or blinking purple, the base stations are having trouble seeing each other. Make sure nothing is in the way.

If your room makes it impossible for the bases to see each other (and the LED is purple), there is another way to sync.

• In the box you’ll find a very long cable – this is the sync cable (this was the optional cable referenced earlier). Connect the base stations with the sync cable.
• Push the mode buttons on the back of the base stations so that one base station is “A” and one base station shows “b”.
• The base station lights should now turn solid white.

 

 

·   Install Headset

 

Connect the Link Box to your Computer

Once you have connected your Link box to your PC, DO NOT unplug it. Important drivers will immediately start installing, and interrupting this can lead to a faulty hardware installation.

• You will be connecting the side of the Link Box without the orange ports.
• First, use the included HDMI cable to connect the Link Box to your PC. Make sure to plug it into your computer’s graphics card.
• Second, use the included (longer) USB cable to connect the Link Box to an available USB port on your PC. (Vive supports USB 2.0 or greater)
• Finally, plug the power cord into the Link Box, and plug it into a power outlet.
• You may notice an additional Display Port port on the Link Box. If you prefer, you can use a Display Port cord (not included) instead of HDMI to connect your Link Box to your computer.
• The extra short USB cord is optional, and can be used for additional Headset accessories.

 

 

Connect your Headset to the Link Box

(Orange to Orange)

• The end of your Headset’s attached 3-in-1 tether has three orange tipped cords (USB, HDMI, and Power). Plug all three of these into the side of the Link Box with orange ports.
• Your devices should now be set up like this:

 

Get your Headset situated

• Remove the lens film, proximity sensor film (next to lenses), and camera film.
• There’s an audio cable port coming out of the back of the headset. Plug in the included earbuds (or your favorite headphones) here. The Vive PRE headset has a built-in mic, so don’t worry about speaking into the earbud’s mic.
• When not using your headset, store it with the lenses pointed away from any source of direct sunlight. Failure to do so may cause damage to the headset display.

·   Install Steam and SteamVR

You can download and install Steam here. You will need to create an account.

Once SteamVR is installed, set it to SteamVR Beta.

• To do this, right click on SteamVR in the Library (under Tools) and click Properties.
• Select the Betas tab.
• Click the drop down and select beta – SteamVR Beta Update. Wait for it to update.

Launch SteamVR.

• You can launch SteamVR by clicking the VR button that appears in the top right corner of the Steam client.
• If the VR button doesn’t appear, launch SteamVR from the Library under Tools. Then look at the Double check your headset section below.

 

The SteamVR Status window will show up. (You may also see a Room Setup screen pop up)

Let’s look at the SteamVR Status window.

• This app will report the state of your VR system. Green is good, flashing green means you aren’t tracking (ie, the device can’t see the base stations), red is bad, and grey means off or not connected.
• There will be some helpful alerts that will tell you what to do next.

 

Double check your headset

If you are getting a Headset Not Detected error on SteamVR, or your Headset LED is red and the displays are dark, do the following:

• Quit SteamVR
• Unplug the Power and USB cord from the PC side of the Link Box (not the orange side).
• Wait a few seconds, then plug the Power and USB cord back into the Link Box. You may see more drivers install. Wait for this process to finish.
• Launch SteamVR.
• You may need to repeat the steps above more than once. If it doesn’t work, you can also try plugging into different USB ports on your PC.
• If this problem continues to persist, visit the Troubleshooting site and follow the instructions there.

 

Que. How to Incorporate HTC Vive Package in InstaVR?

• Login to InstaVR Console with Pro rights & HTC Vive access from https://console.instavr.co/login

Check Package → HTC Vive

• Create Project with respective VR Scenes (Video/Image) & add Links, Hotspot and Action as require.

• Add required images in Branding tab for App Icon, Splash Screen & Home Screen.

• Select Package → HTC Vive and enter required information in Advanced Options → Common Settings / Advanced Settings / Platform Settings

 

• Click on “Make Package for HTC Vive” to publish.

• Once Publish Process is finished, go to Download tab and download HTC Vive package on respective Windows system (System where HTC Vive connected)

• Extract .zip package → Double click on application file (.exe file) → Wear HTC Vive Headset & View Application