Throwing a Ball in VR
Throwing a Ball in VR
The goal: 3D print a spherical frame for the HTC Vive tracker that you could throw in real life.
The goal: 3D print a spherical frame for the HTC Vive tracker that you could throw in real life.
We started with a thin exoskeleton frame, roughly mango-sized. We left as much open space as possible to prevent interfering with tracking.
We started with a thin exoskeleton frame, roughly mango-sized. We left as much open space as possible to prevent interfering with tracking.
We 3D printed the initial design and promptly broke it.
We 3D printed the initial design and promptly broke it.
Our design needed more structural support if we were going to throw it
Our design needed more structural support if we were going to throw it
Version 2 had thicker arms, with reinforced supports at the intersections. We also covered it with rubber strips to dampen impacts.
Version 2 had thicker arms, with reinforced supports at the intersections. We also covered it with rubber strips to dampen impacts.
We 3D printed the ball in 2 sizes to see how small we could make it before interfering with tracking.
We 3D printed the ball in 2 sizes to see how small we could make it before interfering with tracking.
The smaller ball wouldn't track, but the larger one worked great! Tossing the real ball felt natural, and latency was low enough that the virtual version looked realistic.
The smaller ball wouldn't track, but the larger one worked great! Tossing the real ball felt natural, and latency was low enough that the virtual version looked realistic.
Lessons Learned: 3D printing trackable controllers is tricky, but the resulting interactions can be worth it.