Welcome to OpenCities Planner VR
Good news everyone – Virtual Reality support has officially been released for OpenCities Planner Offline!
In Virtual Reality, the user wears a headset which immerses them in an interactive 3D world. Popular VR use cases include attracting attention at exhibitions and evaluating the spatiality of interior architecture.
Here’s what you need to know to get started:
1, 2, 3… Virtual Reality
- First be sure to have properly configured your VR environment – OpenCities Planner VR has been tested with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
- Run the Sync Tool to update to the latest version (or download Sync from the User & Organisation Settings window / Licenses tab in OpenCities Planner):
Download Sync - Open the Sync Tool Settings and enable VR mode:
Sync, VR switch
Using OpenCities Planner VR
In VR-mode you can fly freely in the Virtual World, interact directly with POIs, and even use the menu button to bring up the OpenCities Planner interface
The interface works as it normally does – projected on to a virtual window before your eyes. You can toggle Groups & Layers, use the Sun & Shadows tool, view Project Info, use Viewpoints to teleport around the map, and so forth.
One of the VR-controllers functions as a laser pointer to interact with the Interface Buttons as well as Points of Interest in the 3D-world, while the other works to navigate around the virtual world.
How to use the Navigation Controller
- Up/Down Buttons change your altitude, moving your position directly up or down
- Trackpad/Joystick Forward lets you fly straight ahead in the direction you’re facing
- Trackpad/Joystick Left/Right/Back simply moves you in the corresponding direction
How to use with the Interaction Controller
- Clicking the Menu Button toggles the OpenCities Planner interface window
- To interact with Points of Interest and Interface elements, point the laser and ‘click’ using the trigger or the trackpad buttons
Setup for Oculus
If you want to use Oculus with OpenCities Planner Offline, there’s a few extra steps needed.
- Install the latest Oculus SDK https://www3.oculus.com/en-us/setup/
- Install Steam VR which is bundled with the Steam installer, http://store.steampowered.com/about/
- Turn on “Enable unknown sources”, here’s how you find that setting http://riftinfo.com/why-and-how-to-use-oculus-rift-on-steamvr
If you experience performance or rendering issues with Oculus, here’s a thing you can try:
- Locate this directory on your computer: C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-diagnostics
- Run “OculusDebugTool.exe”
- Then find the setting “Service/Asynchronous Spacewarp” and set this to “Disabled”.
Close the program and try running Cityplanner Offline again and see if it helps with performance.
Questions or Feedback
Please use our feedback form if you have any questions or feedback for the VR-Team at Agency9.