VirtualHQ

A virtual workspace application to allow you to operate your PC entirely through VR

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Inspiration

I've been planning to build a VR app for quite some time. I invested in a personal HTC Vive which I've been developing with in my free time. I've always wanted to have a 'Minority Report' style computer system and couldn't wait to get my hands on VR as soon as it was released. I've noticed some apps hitting the market of late, such as 'BigScreen' and 'Virtual Desktop' but I hope to make something that can take what they've started and improve on it.

What it does

The current build is capable of streaming your desktop in real-time to a textured pane inside the game engine. You can build worlds around it and have your desktop displayed anywhere from the middle of a forest to the farthest reaches of space.

How I built it

I built it using unity, the oculus rift (as there were no vives available), the leap motion (to compensate for the lack of vive remotes and also get that 'minority report' feel), c# and c++ for scripting the desktop capture using windows desktop duplication api.

Challenges I ran into

The desktop duplication api was a great challenge. There is very little documentation of the api and even fewer examples of it in action. It was difficult and tough going scripting the api to render in real time to a texture in the unity engine.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm extremely proud that I was able to crack the desktop api and render my desktop inside the game engine. This was the first major step on the way to developing my app, the next being touch interaction.

What I learned

I learned a great deal of C#, something that I had very little experience of before Friday night.

What's next for VirtualHQ

My next immediate goal is to finish integrating touch interaction with the desktop. This will start with being able to tap your finger on the screen to click, and then develop into pinching the sides of the desktop to enlarge or make it smaller. I'll also implement rotation and inclusion of more than just one screen.

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