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Gracefully handling input from various user devices and translating that to player movement in your VR scene is the most complicated part of the VRSimulator's functionality. But the good news is that it works right out of the box!

If you want to understand how it works and how to configure it to work with your VR experience, it would be helpful to first explain how input and movement in the VRSimulator work.

Overview of Input & Movement

The way movement works in any VR experience (or computer game, etc.) is really straightforward:

 

The software needs to receive (capture) the user's input from whatever device was used. Based on the input received (what button was pressed, what thumbstick was moved, etc.) the system needs to decide what that input means ("Move the player forward", "Fire the blaster cannon", etc.). And once that decision is made, the system needs to respond and do whatever it should do ("Move the player one step forward", "Start the process of firing the blaster cannon").

Where this can get complicated is that most input devices are built and designed differently, have different hardware features, different drivers, etc. And different experiences (and even different users within the same experience!) may want to have different button layouts, controller configurations, etc. for their style of play. Trying to accommodate all of the variability that's out there can get very complicated, very fast.

Which is why we have broken this process into four key concepts:

 

• Input Settings are the really granular definitions of all of your input sources - buttons, axes, devices, etc. Think of them as the definition of as "where your input comes from".  The VRSimulator includes a comprehensive set of input settings for standard keyboard, mouse, joystick, and the XBox One controller.
  
  If your project's Unity Input Manager is not configured with these input settings, then the VRSimulator will give you a button to apply them when viewing the [VRSimulator] prefab in the Unity Inspector. Applying these settings using the button cannot be undone (but is limited to the current project only).
  
  If your scene is configured to use Immerseum's default input actions but your project isn't using our default input settings, then when you enter play mode the Unity Editor will ask if you wish to apply our default Input Settings. If you confirm, then your Input Manager settings will be updated for the duration of your play session. When you exit your play session, your Input Manager settings will revert back to what they were before you entered play mode.
  

  Be Aware

  Not all input devices supported by the VRSimulator are reflected in the Unity Input Manager. In particular, VR-specific devices like the HTC/Vive Wands, the Oculus Remote, and the Oculus Touch are only accessible via their corresponding Unity plugin (SteamVR plugin and Oculus Utilities for Unity). The VRSimulator supports these devices through special device-specific logic which adds an easier-to-understand abstraction layer to the platform-specific APIs. For More Information... Custom InputAction Mapping

• Input Actions are a collection of inputs that together communicate the same intent. For example, when a user wants to move forward, they can communicate that intent using a variety of inputs: They can push up on a gamepad's right thumbstick, they can press the W key on their keyboard, they can push up on the d-pad, etc. An Input Action collects all of the different inputs that "do the same thing". Then, the VRSimulator checks every frame to see which Input Actions (if any) have been activated.
• Input Action Event is a C# event that gets fired whenever an Input Action (any Input Action) occurs. The Input Action Event is a programmatic way for the VRSimulator to tell anyone listening for that event "Hey, the user just signalled a desire to do X".
• Input Handling is the C# logic that listens for an Input Action Event, and then responds accordingly. This process usually consists of two steps: First, identifying the Input Action that occurred (by checking its name value), and then calling a method to "do" whatever it is that should be done for that Input Action.

So why does any of this matter to you? Honestly, it doesn't need to. The VRSimulator comes pre-packaged and configured to include:

• Input settings from keyboard, mouse, XBox One Controller, HTC/Vive Wands, Oculus Remote, and Oculus Touch.
• Input Actions and Input Handling for movement using any supported input devices,
• Input Actions and Input Handling for camera control using any supported input devices,
• Input Actions and Input Handling for other useful actions (e.g. trigger pulls).

If you are comfortable with the way we've defined our default movement mapping, you don't need to do anything other than configure your user experience in the Unity Inspector.

Managing Your Input Settings

If you are using the VRSimulator's default Input Actions, your project's Input Manager will need to have the corresponding input settings. You can either apply these settings permanently for your project, or you can have the VRSimulator temporarily apply those settings when you enter play mode in the Unity Editor.

To Apply Input Settings Permanently to Your Project

You can apply our input settings directly from the Unity Inspector. Just view the [VRSimulator] object and take a look at the InputActionManager component. There, depending on the configuration of your project's Input Manager, you will either see a button that lets you Apply InputManager Settings when clicked, or a message that says your input settings are properly configured:

 

To Apply Input Settings Temporarily

If you don't change your project's Input Manager settings permanently, but still want to use the VRSimulator's default Input Actions, Unity will prompt you to apply our default input settings every time you enter play mode.

Temporarily Applying VRSimulator Input Settings

Configuring Movement 

If you are using the VRSimulator's default movement mapping, you can adjust your user experience using the MovementManager's settings in the Unity Inspector.

Managing Strafe / Look Controls

Strafing is a mainstay in first-person shooter movement, and the VRSimulator supports it. However, strafing is also known to significantly contribute to simulation sickness in VR experiences. Therefore, we've made it an optional feature.

If Is Strafe Enabled is activated, then when you press the sidways buttons or move a thumbstick to the side, your player avatar will strafe: They will move sideways in the direction you indicated. To rotate the camera and simulate where your user is looking, you will need to use the default look-only controls on the keyboard, mouse, or gamepad.

However, if Is Strafe Enabled is deactivated, then when you press the sideways buttons or move a thumbstick to the side, you will only adjust the direction in which your player avatar is facing (the character's yaw rotation). Your default look-only controls will still work, but now the character can only move forwards / backwards relative to the direction they are facing.

Managing Run

You can enable or disable the ability for your user to run (move at twice normal speed) using the Is Run Enabled setting in the MovementManager.  If running is enabled, the default inputs feature controls that toggle run-mode on / off as you play. If running is disabled, these input controls will not make your player run.

You can adjust whether the player is currently in run-mode by toggling the Is Run Active setting in the MovementManager. This setting is only available if running is enabled, but it will always indicate whether the user is currently in walk (unchecked) or run (checked) mode.

Managing Your Gamepad Triggers

The XBox One Controller - like all gamepads - features multiple triggers. These triggers are mapped to two specific InputActions: one for the primary trigger, and one for the secondary trigger. But in order to properly map these InputActions back to the triggers, you need to tell the VRSimulator which trigger you want to be primary (the other will automatically become secondary).

You can do this by selecting Left or Right in the Gamepad Primary Trigger setting in the MovementManager.

Customizing Movement Controls

If you do not want to use our default movement controls, you can customize input handling to create your own movement logic. This does not mean you need to define your own custom InputAction mapping.

To customize movement controls while using our default InputAction mapping, you would need to:

1. Turn off the Default Input Map in the MovementManager's settings.
2. Write a custom input handling method to respond to each of the default InputActions that you wish to support.
3. Create an InputAction Event listener method.
4. Check the name of the InputAction against the list of default Input Actions, and then call the corresponding custom input handling method you wrote in (2) above.

For a walkthrough of how to do this, please see Custom Input Handling.

Customizing InputActions

Using C# scripting, it is possible to either:

• Modify our default InputActions,
• Extend our default InputActions with new InputActions of your own, or;
• Replace our default InputActions with custom InputActions of your own.

To learn how to customize InputActions, please review Custom InputAction Mapping.

 

 

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