What is Reddit's opinion of Virtual Desktop?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Well, I'm reading this thread from within a virtual reality spaceship environment courtesy of Virtual Desktop with the HTC Vive on a screen whose size, distance, and curvature I control.

And this is only the beginning.

As an Oculus user, I'm just happy that they've been kicking ass for 2017. Artika.1 is great and Dash is exciting- tho atm its kinda buggy on Robot Recall. Valve managed to beat Oculus with SteamVR Home for the longest time- so in this way Oculus is just catching up. But overall, I'm really happy.

For you Vive friends, I highly recommend you take a look at Virtual Desktop. Right now Virtual Desktop integrates itself into the SteamVR dashboard- giving you the closest thing to 'Dash':

https://imgur.com/ib37JiK

You can get it here:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/Virtual_Desktop/

Giving a shoutout because the VD developer was proactive on helping me out on a issue previously.

Two words : Virtual. Desktop. http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/Virtual_Desktop/

Also worth investing in would be a month's worth of membership to say, V R B A N G E R Z or a certain place called W A N K Z V R. Promise you won't regret it. You didn't hear it from me.

Most folks agree that the current Oculus Rift and VIve headsets just don't have the resolution or optics to take the place of monitors and they're really bulky to travel with.

But, if you'd like to check it out anyways, something like Virtual Desktop or Bigscreen would be a good starting point.

Oh good! There are dozens of us. Everyone I've ever spoken to in person has always hated on 'em.

And I just found out from Uncle Google they sell separate standalone Thinkpad kb+m's. I think I might have to get one and an old style nub when I replace my current wireless keyboard. I only use it for Virtual Desktop, so it's not a huge deal for now, but damn I really do not enjoy using trackpads.

Exactly! Not to mention that without hands to interact with it, it becomes even worse!

I still would like to see a good 3D computing environment with the Vive. Something more than Virtual Desktop. I want something that you can actually walk around and interact with. We might not have the tools to properly interact with it right now (I mean the controls seem kind of limited for everyday computing right now) but if it's actually done right (not a gimmick, increases productivity, and actually adds more to the user experience than a mouse, keyboard, and monitor can) then it would be pretty awesome.

I'd like to see an Oculus home that:

1. Focuses on my library, instead of their store. I want my games to be the default view, not essentially ads.
2. Performs well. Small, static images shouldn't take minutes to load. This is 2016, not 1994.
3. Lets people review games. I shouldn't have to take my headset off and go to Google to check reviews on a game.
4. Incorporates my desktop. I shouldn't have to take off my headset to Google things in the first place. If an indie developer can provide this for $15, why can't a multibillion dollar company?
5. Takes advantage of VR. Using VR to present a 2D list is a hugely wasted opportunity. Why does the game media not support stereoscopic images/videos? o.O
6. Lets me incorporate my other VR games.

Once those things are sorted, a pet would be awesome, as part of customizable scenery in general. But there are some fundamental gaps in core functionality that need to be addressed first, IMO.

yea, no.

VR is a peripherial not a replacement for monitor, os's don't have support for them out of the box. You'd need something like http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ to use your desktop on VR.

And the VR desktop is funky and all, but not really all that useful.

It's a VR application which renders your desktop or videos in VR, but there's lots of different modes one of which is a virtual theatre. I've used it for Plex a little bit but it's not really worth it.

I know this isn't very creative, but using a Linux VM seems like the only option at the moment as none of the desktop VR headsets right now (HTC Vive / Oculus rift) support Linux. Valve is working on Linux support for the Vive though... Hooray!

Virtual Desktop puts your windows desktop in a VR environment. I plan to run an Arch + i3 VM in seamless mode in VR desktop when I get set-up.

This is something I experienced a few years back. The software solutions used then are pretty much abandoned or cancelled by now, but if I would do it again...

As SteamVR now can launch when you launch a VR app, I would probably have the machine auto login, put Virtual Desktop on auto-start and that would be it.

An alternative would be Big Screen Beta but for me that pops up a query of Rift or Vive when I open it from Steam, so you'll have to test that out for yourself.

It's certainly not an impossibility, just experiment a bit :)

3D TVs work via stereoscopy just like VR so its not difficult at all. You can play these in the Oculus Videos app. Just put 3D video files in a folder labeled "3D" inside the default Windows videos folder and they will show up in your Videos app.

Virtual Desktop can also play them.

There is a Free Software called Virtual Desktop, which is in Steam, that allows you to use your PC in VR, and play any game that you have in your PC. So yes, you can play dota, not 360 VR 1:1 scale awesomeness, but play in a VR enviroment in 3d for sure!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

The resolution of the Vive is too low to use it as a replacement for a monitor. It all depends on what you're trying to do but generally reading small text or working with small detailed graphics is generally doesn't work well.

SteamVR will load any non VR game/application you run into a virtual home theater environment. It basically simulates having a very large screen TV in front of you and anything you run is displayed on the big screen. Again, some things work really well on this and others don't.

SteamVR's built in tool for this isn't the most feature packed and you might be able to get better results using Bigscreen or Virtual Desktop

Is it the one where all the other games are run through arcade cabinets?

like this? or this?

> Have seen some "solutions" for streaming games from the desktop - but is it possible to setup the GearVR (newest edition) to let me work with a bit of privacy from my laptop or at work on my desktop?

The only solution I know of that really gives you a large, immersive desktop experience; a proper workspace, is Virtual Desktop. And you can run that with VRidge/Riftcat so long as the host computer in question is powerful enough to provide a decent experience. Then you can just turn the host's monitor/display off, or hide it away or whatever.

you can buy virtual desktop or use bigscreen beta to play the games via your computer screen personally i prefer virtual desktop as it has better options and looks clearer

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ - virtual desk

http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/ -big screen

Of course VR isn't just a monitor, but my point stands that it's really only useful in a few niche applications and useless for day-to-day productivity (for now!) and most games.

Use Virtual Desktop (http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/) and paste the youtube link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg29RvYNSDQ) into the Youtube 360 field.

Or use a Youtube downloader and open the downloaded file in Simple VR Video Player (http://store.steampowered.com/app/500500/)

Note: This is based on the DK2 releases. I have a Vive, but haven't had a chance to buy and try these programs with it.

While Virtual Desktop works great for what it supports, Whirligig has been my go to player for awhile for everything else. Reviews on Steam are currently 50/50, 2 positive and 2 negative, however. LiveViewRift was also competent, sometimes the best, but I'm guessing by its title it won't be much use to Vive.

While I think these prices are fair enough, it'll be interesting to me when we start seeing the return of software and utilities not on Steam but just freely available. It feels a little weird to be buying a media player like Whirligig, to be honest, but I'd rather pay something for it than not have the option.

Edit: It looks like Whirligig actually has a free version that is updated to support Oculus SDK 1.3 and SteamVR,

To be honest it'd be a huge inconvenience to have to physically put your helmet on so frequently, even if it would be a REALLY cool immersive setup. I'd imagine you could slap it into lore, like it's a specialty targeting helmet like you see in a lot of pop culture cockpits, like Star Wars and Evangelion

HOWEVER, I believe there's some things we can do for VR's sake, very close to your own suggestion. I'd say a VR sickness mode would be a good addition, where it swaps from you viewing it like you're the guy in SC, to having a flat theater screen in front of you, essentially becoming a monitor (check out Virtual Desktop). This might actually be an oculus-side solution that needs to take place, or it could be on SC's head to enable this kind of switch, I really couldn't tell you. At any rate, a system like this could easily ground your vision into a stable environment (like a ship's cockpit does) and let you do all the twitch-shooting nonsense you like without worrying about the sickness that tends to happen with moving fast in FPS fashion

It's going to be available on Steam in a few hours (Edit: It was pushed back to March 31st apparently, it was going to launch today), $15. It won't be on the Oculus store until later.

OP, it does not support Windows 7 and Windows 7 has poor performance with Virtual Desktop.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4bmpyk/virtual_desktop_10_trailer/d1d3qbx?context=100

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4c7lnd/virtual_desktop_will_only_be_available_on_steam/d1fyet4?context=100

It quite clearly states that Windows 7 is not supported here - http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110

Do you have any proof that it actually works? Could be a good excuse for me to hold on the W7 a bit longer.

Most porn is just a side by side 180° stereoscopic video (if you're lucky). They will play on most VR players and I am pretty sure Virtual Desktop suppports them, it is available in the steam store in March.

Yeah you can do that with

http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/Bigscreen_Beta/

or

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/Virtual_Desktop/

You can even make many 2D games into 3D on that huge screen with TriDef.

Also check out VorpX.

Someone who gets it. Lack of stereoscopy is the main reason imho as well. Then there some videos where the videographer/photographer/director just didn't take this phenomenon into account when composing their work.

Edit: I use Simple Video Player mostly, which allows adjusting z-axis, tilt, ipd, supersampling, a toggle-able artificial sharpening algorithm, some sizing adjustments, and of course some basic brightness, contrast, saturation adjustments.

If your going to play 180/360 videos, this and Whirligig (which is cheaper I think but I haven't tried it) are probably the best players to play them with. Virtual Desktop is mire than just a video player so that one might still interest you too. Give'm all a look.

> I've been unable to play 3d videos or movies on my vive. When I open one up on YouTube it plays as a regular video with a small icon on the top left that I can click to move around. How can I set that up for full immersion?

I use Virtual Desktop, which has a built-in player for 180/360 degree video. You just paste the YouTube URL. There are other VR media players like Whirligig, but I haven't used any personally. > > I'm also having trouble setting up the vive to play some trackir type games like Mechwarrior Online or flight Sims or pretty much any fps that has a way to decouple your head movement from your mouse movements. I hear the consensus is that vorpx is horrible so I'm trying free alternatives to see what it looks like (such as the TriDef 14 day trial) but the best I see is a windowed double screen on my monitor and nothing but the empty vr space in the vive.

AFAIK TriDef is only intended for 3D play on flat screens - it has no official support for headtracking or VR headsets. If you wanted to play on a virtual 3D screen you would setup TriDef, use Virtual Desktop or BigScreen to open the game, then use the appropriate settings (enable side-by-side 3D) to put the virtual screen into 3D mode. I don't know how you'd set up head tracking with this, though.

On Vive (Blasphemy i know!) I prefer using Virtual Desktop. I've watched a few 360 concerts like Run the Jewels and it was pretty awesome

I really want them to add this on Bigscreen Beta! Being able to watch 360 videos in multiplayer would be so epic! Go to concerts and sports games with friends!!!!

Virtual Desktop has Milkdrop incorporated as a music visualiser but like Plane9 it is not interactive with Vive controllers.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/
My lil donut is free on Steam and is interactive, but you can't use your own music.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/506280/
Dimensional Intersection is also interactive, but again you can't use your own music.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/447690/

My hope is the Mediafire application, which allows a VR comic reading experience. With animated panels and subtle sound effects. (GearVR version already released, but no * .cbr implementation available.) If GearVR present, necessarily testing. Great ambitions!

Unfortunately, only by using VirtualDesktop and e.g. ComicRack possible. And adjust the image size in VirtualDesktop to the desired size.

It should also be noted that the gaming use cases of VR headsets aren't strictly limited to just playing VR specific titles. With things like Virtual Desktop one can benefit from a VR headset by playing regular games on a large virtual monitor. This also applies to watching movies, Netflix, Youtube, etc.

The downside compared to using an actual television or a monitor is of course that it's not very well suited for multiple viewers as every viewer would need their own VR headset. The relatively low resolution of the current headsets is also a limiting factor, but I imagine this will be alleviated in future headsets when higher-res panels become a possibility.

I find Virtual Desktop to be a really great solution. http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ There is a video tab in virtual desktop where you can paste a link from YouTube and view it in 360.

Edit: Apparently I didn't see the comment about Virtual Desktop.

Yes, Virtual desktop.

Simply play the movie in side-by-side mode on your desktop, then change your VD options to SBS. Put on your HMD, 3D blueray movies in VR.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

Try the Leawo Blu-ray Player FREE, downside, I don't think it supports a full featured Blu-ray navigation menu: http://www.leawo.org/blu-ray-player/

Or the DVDFab Media Player Pro, $65, 30 day trial, does include full featured Blu-ray navigation menu : http://www.dvdfab.cn/media-player.htm

Then use the players in Virtual Desktop to watch your BR films: http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

:)

Virtual Desktop is awesome for so many reasons. You can browse for the content while in VR, then when you want to view a 360 video in it you can just copy the YouTube URL and paste it into VD. It'll download in high quality and start playing once it's finished downloading. It also supports streaming but TBH I haven't tried that because I've mostly been stockpiling 360 content for when my CV1 arrives. The few videos I've watched on my DK2 have been great, though!

This is a VR workstation environment for the Virtual Desktop program on steam. It works with both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. Source

I'm definitely going to be picking it up once my Rift gets in.

This is absolutely doable and something I plan on doing. The software is called Virtual Desktop

However if you're thinking you can just use your Headset for everything and not have a monitor, I really wouldn't recommend it. The pixel density is still extremely low on the new headset and you'd honestly have a better time with a monitor.

But you can do sooooooo much more with VR than just games. It isn't like a console.

Virtual desktop http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ is a big one. There are also many VR environments such as museums that you will actually be able to walk around in. You can even have all your fantasies come alive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbaE7kHghXs

Idk, I just think it is wrong to think VR as a new sort of gaming console when it is so much more.

Yeah, that's what I found:

BMS in VR - 2D using OpenTrack and SteamVR

1. Download and install Steam.

2. Configure SteamVR for Oculus Rift. So Your Oculus acts as a Vive :-p https://www.roadtovr.com/how-to-use-oculus-rift-with-steamvr-play-games-install-support-non-vr-games-desktop-theather-mode/

3. Purchase Virtual Desktop ($15) http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/Virtual_Desktop/

4. Download and install OpenTrack - https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/releases

5. Run OpenTrack and select "Valve SteamVR" as input and "FreeTrack 2.0 Enhanced" as output

6. Run BMS and enjoy :)

For flat screen games Virtual Desktop performance is the best. Bigscreen and Steam theater work worst the heavier the game. I guess is the lightest virtual desktop app out.

I would like to test to compare Windows MR 2D games performance for not UWP apps.

Yep. And that portable kit honestly doesn't look like it could handle complex graphics at ~120ish fps and high resolution. We'll see though.

I might just get an HTC Vive (newer generations) when the price comes down a bit and the headset becomes wireless, because I think AR still has a good road ahead. A huge VR monitor for coding would be a neat application (something like virtual desktop).

Hey boys, can you use virtual reality headsets other than the Vive and Oculus for the VR desktop software? Are there other softwares similar to this one?

Tridef looks like a crappy version of virtual desktop.

Played a bit of RL on VD and its pretty good, the resolution of VR headsets is the only issue which makes it a bit harder to judge your shots but the experience is pretty good regardless.

After a little research, it looks like Virtual Desktop does the trick. If you can download the video somehow, Vive Video may work too.

https://www.vrheads.com/how-watch-360-degree-youtube-htc-vive-and-oculus-rift

the games libraries are expanding, there are the regular made for vr games, then there are other games like super hot, subnautica, and elite dangerous that have super immersive VR options. One thing im looking forwards to with a real vr headset is this project: http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/Virtual_Desktop/ Though there will probably be better programs later.

If you're in the mood for adventure, get HBO running through a browser on a desktop PC and then use Virtual Desktop on SteamVR via Riftcat to view it. If you have an nVidia card that supports Gamestream, you may even be able to do it with nothing more than StreamTheater. This might even work on some low-end laptops or Windows tablets.

Not Niagra specific, but I use https://www.4kdownload.com/ to download the youtube videos since my internet sucks balls.

Download the best quality you can get, then I play them in Virtual Desktop http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

I'm an indie dev working on a VR game, so maybe it's just because I keep up on this stuff, but Unreal already has an OSVR plugin pre-installed, so literally any dev using their engine can use OSVR for their project. There is one VR app that I can positively say uses it, and that's Virtual Desktop, and that's only because I actually have that. I can't speak for any others that I know are using it. But it's definitely there, and it works.

Not sure how it will be set-up for the daydream.
For the Vive, there are specific video apps that people use, like whirligig, Virtual Desktop, and BigScreen.

I use http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ (Virtual Desktop) as I can fire up a web browser and browse around for 360vr videos. This player doesn't stream, it fully downloads the video before playing, though I use this to my advantage (playing 360vr videos offline, and never caring about buffering after initial download).

Not well versed in this area but you could look into Riftcat VRridge ,you probably need to use something like virtual desktop with it. There is also Trinus.

I want to combine a Google Cardboard viewer with something like Virtual Desktop or EnvelopVR using TrinusVR to have a complete desktop environment in VR.

The Conjuring 2 - Experience Enfield VR 360 Oculus Rift

Program used to display video on Oculus Rift :

Virtual Desktop : http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110

Video original : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aRkhlqWuE

Says 0 points for me :P

So your basics, you've got "virtual desktop in VR": http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

or: http://store.steampowered.com/app/372650/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_2

I also saw one that I can't find in the 30 seconds of searching I can be bothered to do, which gave you a virtual room to walk around in with icons representing your apps scattered around the room.

This "launcher and window positioning" style is pretty accessible to make. The "hard" part, if you want the feel of a VR OS is to follow this approach:

1. Invent a 3d visual language to allow representation of types of data (brackets for the current 2d style). This needs to include how data is displayed (a document), how contexts are divided (windows), how interaction occurs (buttons, sliders).

2. Build a widget kit so people can use this language consistently throughout apps designed for your VROS

3. Create services for applications to use, such as notifications, focus management, task management.

4. Build some sort of shell (the default app) to allow users to launch and manage applications that are installed (this is the taskbar / start menu equiv).

5. Convince developers to build apps for your system.

6. Profit?

theres a few people working on the productivity side like:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/13/envelop-vr-adds-google-ventures-to-5-5m-round-for-enterprise-virtual-reality/

If it's 360 videos from youtube:

Get virtual desktop at http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

Then it a simple question of copy/paste the video URL to download high res or stream the videos in full 360.

As of youtube live360 streaming, I believe that this is in the work https://youtube.googleblog.com/2016/04/one-step-closer-to-reality-introducing.html and should be coming on line soon(tm).

I was definitely not doing this today.

If I were to, though, I'd open up one of those videos at http://www.pornhub.com/vr and I might click the VR button underneath the player, then maybe "Download VR Video." Then if I were feeling super enthusiastic, I'd fire up Virtual Desktop (http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/), go to the Videos tab and open that video. The key is setting the video mode to "Over Under."

If you were to do that (which I've of course never done), it might feel a bit overwhelmingly real. Good luck

You click a button. Vr Desktop will download the highest quality from Youtube and save to your library. Get VD! Lack of __

As the others said, you can use Virtual Desktop (windows 10 or 8.1 only :/) but it's really awesome, or a dedicated video player like Whirligig.

SteamVR also has built in desktop functionality (no stereo support though). To use this (not sure about vive controllers but on a 360 controller): Press select to bring up steam interface, press start to browse the bottom bar, and hit right to select Desktop.

Really virtual desktop has a ton of nice features that SteamVR desktop doesn't have, so if you have Windows 10 already, it's really worth the $15 imo.

Edit: added 8.1 to virtual desktop support

Free version of Whirligig: http://www.whirligig.xyz/player2-1-2/

On Steam (£2.79, more features coming): http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

Virtual Desktop (£10.99 + Oulcus Home key): http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

All support Oculus Home, which includes Oculus runtime 1.3 (the Oculus SDK is purely for developers, so you don't need to download).

>If an OS was built around the VR concept it could remove the need for monitors and multi-monitor setups

Well there's Virtual Desktop at the moment, so that eliminates the need for monitors.

There is a "your desktop in vr" app for rift but I haven't seen anything for cardboard. I'm looking for one that works with Mac but I think it's a lost cause for now. http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if you're not playing VR exclusive games, can you not still cast your main monitor onto the VR screen? I'm hyped for Eve: Valkyrie, but I still think I'd have a pretty enjoyable time playing everything else I currently play through an Oculus. Even watching Netflix/Youtube through the headset would be pretty cool.

Once my refund comes in, I'm considering going South Park on it and pre-ordering.

Edit: http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/store/promo/steamvr/SteamVR_Dashboard_WithDota_720p_5Mbps_For_Web.mp4

Think of all the money you can save on monitors.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ This made me want to get a VR headset so badly, so so so very badly. However I am waiting till the VRLA expo so I can try them out hands on before I decide which one. Helps that the Rift is backordered till July. Though I can't wait for wider FoV headsets as I have pretty wide peripheral awareness the extra FoV would be handy. Not to mention then it is like the combination of the two, ultrawide and VR :D

60Hz here, only reason I haven't upped to 144 is because I sank too much into the Vive and getting VR ready lol.

Edit: which, for now anyway, leaves me gaming on a 980ti at 1920p 60Hz lol. I am super excited to try my Vive with virtual desktop when I get it.

Just saw from the screenshot that you're also from Germany. :)

SPVR as a background service would be a great way to choose your own method for streaming the video (as Moonlight also only works on newer Nvidia cards). I am looking forward to trying out Virtual Desktop with this, which launches today on Steam with SteamVR. Do you think this will work? It allows mirroring to a window, but the old version (pre-SteamVR) needed an Oculus Rift to be connected even for the mirroring to work.

I was thinking about this too. You would be able to stream it, for sure.

There is probably a way you could get the chat to appear on screen via an overlay or just an always on top window w/ transparency (I don't know how well this would work). There is Virtual Desktop that you could use to simulate a multi monitor situation, but I don't know how or if it would work with VR games while still giving you access to a second virutal monitor with all your information.

Yes & no.

There's a way of accessing the desktop through SteamVR, but early reports suggest that its performance is not up to scratch, and that you'll get pretty low FPS in games.

The Virtual Desktop developed by an independent developer will cost $15: http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/ . As I understand it, it's a pretty low level integration with Windows and so gets much better performance.