OpenGloves News

Releasing v0.4.2!

This update includes numerous bug fixes and improvements. Notably: inputs via named pipes, smoother finger animations and improvements to glove positioning relative to the controller.

A full list of changes are below.

Driver:
* Adds a method to communicate glove inputs via named pipes, which allows the gloves to be used without needing an external device connected through Bluetooth/serial
* Already being used in both @PerlinWarp 's NeuroGloves, and utility app for OpenGloves! Check them out here:
* https://github.com/PerlinWarp/NeuroGloves
* https://github.com/PerlinWarp/pygloves
* Fix to "lag" in glove poses, where there might be some delay in the glove updating it's rotation relative to the controller
* Improve animations for fingers curling in skeletal input - animations should be a lot smoother
* Adds an option to disable force feedback messages being sent to the glove, in an attempt to fix issues people were having with force feedback being disabled in the firmware
* Couple of small changes to how we handle communication and fails in order to help improve stability
* Adds an option to enable a thumb approximation mode, where the driver will trigger a touch on the A button in order to move the thumb in games like Boneworks
* Gloves are now disabled by default when downloading the driver (more below)
* Values can be now encoded with multiple characters
* Potential bug fixes for serial and Bluetooth communication dropping out

UI:
* Added ability to reset configuration to default
* Added "initialize openglove" screen on first run to help prevent people who have unintentionally installed the driver having issues with their controller setup.
* Turns out, a lot of people decide to add any free VR steam apps to their library. If this happens with opengloves, the driver is automatically installed and previously would start acting as the user's default vr controllers, preventing input from their ordinary controllers. For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/ohyirj/please_help_index_has_stopped_working_no_obvious/
* Now, the driver is initially disabled, with a prompt to activate opengloves when the user first opens the UI
* Move the hardware calibration option in the UI up to the top in the pose settings
* Add more info when an error occurred, such as not having a headset connected (which is required)
* UI now opens SteamVR when triggering functions. Before, functions would throw an error if SteamVR was not open
* Footer now includes link to discord server

Force Feedback Demo:
* Improve force feedback calculations done for grabbing objects. On hovering over an object, the servos will now be "armed" with an estimate of the curl, then once grabbed will be set in place.

Boneworks Force Feedback Mod:
If you haven't seen already, we also have support for force feedback in Boneworks, thanks to @l4rs!
* Check it out here: https://boneworks.thunderstore.io/package/L4rs/BW_OpenGloves/

As always, the driver is available and recommended for you to install on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574050/OpenGloves/
You can also see the github release here: https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-driver/releases/tag/v0.4.2

As always, please let us know if you run into any issues or have any suggestions for future improvements!

Driver v0.4.1 is here!

Changes:

Driver:
* Serial and Bluetooth will now reconnect automatically if the glove was disconnected or was connected late
* Baud rate is now configurable (Thanks @noob247365)
* Driver now parses GLTF files for hand animations, this should mean that the quality of the hand animations should be functionally the same as the index controller (we're using the same animations)
* 4095 is now the default max analog value (**NOTE**: Arduino users may need to change back to 1023)

UI
* Added "functions" in the UI:
* Added a method to trigger auto pose calibration from the UI, in addition to the calibration button
* Added methods to retract/extend Force Feedback servos from the UI
* Boolean values are now checkboxes instead of True/False selects

This build is live on Steam now! Alternatively, you can download the build via GitHub (though not recommended):
https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-driver/releases/tag/v0.4.1

Let us know what you think!

[h2]Additions:[/h2]
[h3]FORCE FEEDBACK HAPTICS![/h3]
- In compatible apps, you can now feel the resistance of the objects that you hold!
- Requires LucidGloves Prototype 4 or higher.
- Currently compatible with our Unity DLC and Half Life Alyx (requires DLC for integration and mod).
- Links for github repositories to DLC's:
- https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-hl-alyx-integration
- https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-half-life-alyx-scripts

[h3]Automatic Pose Calibration![/h3]
- Instead of having to manually type in the pose offsets to put your hands in the correct place, you can now have it calibrated automatically!
- This feature (for now) requires wiring a button to your gloves for calibration.
- Hold the button and move your hands to where your virtual hands are. After releasing, it will automatically calibrate.

[h3]New Encoding Manager[/h3]
- You will now notice in serial manager that the data is displayed with letters instead of `&`'s.
- This gives us extra redundancy in the data structure to prevent crashes from bad packets, and allows us to add extra inputs on the fly with future backwards compatibility.

[h3]Menu button[/h3]
- Now added a menu (system) button that works with Alphabetic encoding.

[h2]Changes:[/h2]
- Controller Discovery through Overlay
- The driver now detects your controllers through a separate included overlay app that automatically runs.
- This will improve the experience for users using Vive wands as they will pair on the correct sides.

- Settings will now not reset between updates
- Before, updating your driver would reset all your OpenGloves settings.
- Now the settings are saved within SteamVR so they will save between updates.

[h2]Fixes:[/h2]
- Fix issues with bluetooth not working on some machines
- Fix bug with pose settings caused by unit conversions
- Fix bug with playspace calibrator caused by lighthouse tracking name

This version of the driver is available through Steam, it should automatically update but you may need to relaunch the steam process.
This driver build is also available through GitHub (steam release is recommended though)
https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-driver/releases/tag/v0.4

Your settings will be reset when updating to v0.4 but they should retain after that.

We've pushed a small UI update which adds two new features:

• Copy configuration to clipboard - There is now a button to copy the edited configuration to clipboard, which appears to the left of the save button
  
• A splashscreen has been added while the application loads
  

Driver v0.3 has released!
Bluetooth & Steam support now included!

Change notes:
- Added bluetooth driver implementation. This feature is still experimental as it has not been tested on all boards yet.
- Driver renamed to opengloves
- Added support for automatic Vive Wand & Tracker discovery
- Potential fixes for crashes caused by corrupt data packets
- Independent offset values for each hand (rather than mirroring)
- Knuckle emulation icons now replaced with glove icons to avoid possible confusion (implementation still works the same)


The driver has been released onto Steam!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574050/

The release is also available on github, though we thoroughly recommend everyone to use the Steam releases to receive automatic updates and a UI for configuration!
https://github.com/LucidVR/opengloves-driver/releases/tag/v0.3

We've published a UI for Steam users to tweak configuration values. You can get to the UI by launching the OpenGlove Steam app. Note that you only need to launch the app if you want to edit the configuration, you can launch SteamVR as normal and the driver should activate.

IMPORTANT: If you've already installed the driver via GitHub, make sure to delete it if you are installing via steam.