Oculus for Linux

Linux has been on the back-burner for VR and desktop usage. This project allows Oculus Rift to be used under Linux.

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Inspiration

I have a strong passion for Linux and Virtual Reality. I heard that Linux support for the Oculus Rift was delayed and Valve is pushing for better Linux gaming support including their Vive VR headset and controllers. With the alternate controllers and headsets available that are compatible with OSVR and Linux, I believed the Oculus could use the same integration.

What it does

Allows the Oculus Rift CV1 to interface with OSVR programs.

How I built it

  1. Researched current projects that interfaced with the Oculus Rift CV1 under Linux.
  2. Found the OSVR and OpenHMD projects that have similar goals, with the OpenHMD project recently getting rotation data out of the Oculus Rift CV1
  3. Researched how OSVR plugins work and how to write them
  4. Basing my project off of an old one for the Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2, OSVR could get rotation data from OpenHMD

Challenges I ran into

  1. SteamVR is the preferred framework to make VR games for the Oculus Rift and Vive under Windows with Steam, but SteamVR does not have full support under Linux
  2. Framerate of the OSVR applications running in VR mode is really low even and the GPU load is low, but CPU load is high.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I got to work with an Oculus Rift. Right now, $600 for a VR headset is out of my price range, but the hardware is fun to work with.

What I learned

If I am going to make a VR game with support for Linux, the low level support for interfacing with the hardware is very important.

What's next for Oculus for Linux with OSVR

Buying myself an Oculus Rift or another headset to expand VR capabilities under Linux

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