VR integration

Details What the new VR integration will bring: improved perofmance lower CPU/GPU usage no more purple background The first release of this integration will work with the same devices as before. We're still trying to figure out how OpenXR will be supported, it seems that it is possible but we'll need to put more work into it to make it happen. This means that initially it won't be part of the first release of this new VR integration, but later on will be added. 04/12/2023 Update: Sorry guys for the lack of update. We're working with some developers to make this new VR version happen and in the last 6-7 months we had hard time finding someone who actually understand what needs to be done and how we want it to be implemented. This VR application requires some special knowledge which we do not have in-house, so we need to outsource small portion of it. We've 'burned' through 3 developers already in a span of couple of months. We're forunately working with someone at the moment and making promising progress on it. We already have a working version but it's not production ready and it has smaller issues, so we just need to make sure it's running smoothly and with no issues. The CPU usage is extremely good, rendering of the overlays are butter smooth and ultra responsive. Nothing like you've ever seen before I assume. We're also working on a decent UI within the VR environment to make editing and moving the overlays around much more user friendly and a lot easier. I'll try to leave more recent updates along the way of the development. 10/12/2023 Update: We've found a way to make the new implementation compatible with OpenXR, but it won't be available on the first release. We'll intorduce it after a few weeks. But the good news is that there is a way to do it with this new approach. Beta testing for the new verison is likely going to be available end of this year. 10/01/2024 Update: Beta testing is starting this or next week. If you want to be amongst the people who try the early version, just join to the beta-releases channel on discord and see the updates there. 31/01/2024 Update: Beta testing was pushed back due to some concerns about the build. We're working hard to make it available as soon as possible. I'm certain we will be testing both OpenXR and OpenVR variations of this new VR initegration in early february. 20/03/2024 Update: Many people were asking for an update understendably, here is our detailed update. We know the new VR version is taking very long to finish, but there is a very good reason(s) for it. Let us explain. Originally in 2022 we released our first vr integration. Right after around one year in 2023 we started to work on a new version beause we werent happy with the way the current VR integration works and also we knew performance could be better than it is now. On the first round, we started to work on the new version and it took us 1 year to realize that the new solution/approach we were working towards has a significant flaw and we had to abandon it completely, putting 1 year of work into the bin. The second approach was somewhat similar, a dead-end, it took us about 3 months to develop, and thanks to this approach we ended up with a significantly better idea, an idea that can potentially make our new VR integration THE BEST on the market. The third approach is what we're working now. We're confident that this is the final solution to what we want to achieve. This is such a complex and complicated field of development (VR development with overlays) that it took us this journey to realize what we need to utilize and how. The performance and easy of use this solution offers far outways the drawbaks and the struggle that took us to this approach. We're very excited to bring this to your table and to enjoy the benefit if this new VR generation. Here is how we stand in terms of development with this final approach: (DONE) developing tools and libraries we need to utilize (these are very low-level libraries, compliated to develop) (DONE) developing integration for multiple headsets, making it compatible with all headsets (DONE) adding openXR support (IN PROGRESS) fixing bugs that we identified in all of the previous steps (we only have 1 bug that we're fixing now) (NOT YET STARTED) integrating it into racelab application to be able to use it with our interface 10/04/2024 Update: We've managed to fix all the bugs in the OpenXR version. Here is how we stand in terms of development with this final approach: (DONE) developing tools and libraries we need to utilize (these are very low-level libraries, compliated to develop) (DONE) developing integration for multiple headsets, making it compatible with all headsets (DONE) adding openXR support (DONE) fixing bugs that we identified in all of the previous steps (we only have 1 bug that we're fixing now) (STARTED) integrating it into racelab application to be able to use it with our interface Integration steps: (1) adding options for users to select between VR modes: OpenXR and OpenVR (there is a huge list of supported VR headsets thanks for this) (2) new configuration file for defining overlays to open within VR environment ( it'll be a manually configurable json file, later on this can be managed from the UI) (3) making racelab work with the new VR application (managing states / starting it / stopping it / etc) Beta testing starts as soon as we finish these steps. These are the least time consuming steps, I would be surprised if the new VR is not ready before the end of this month (march) Sorry for the long wait, we are building something huge as you will see with the upcoming updates. 11/05/2024 Update: Thank you for everyone for being understanding of the recent delays. We happy to announce our first milestone of this newgen vr is complete now. Tasks are completed from the previous update. The new VR is now available in early-access mode. Please join to our discord channel to test it. This early-access mode only available for pro users. Instructions and installer is on our discord (beta-release channel) 27/09/2024 Update: We've been constantly updating the new VR version (minor updates, performance improvements) in our discord channel. Just wanted to mention it, because some people assume no progress if we don't post an update here. So please understand that the minor updates/improvements/fixes will not be individually addressed here. If you want to get the latest version, make sure you join to our discord channel and join to the beta-releases channel. The new VR is already working well, but for obvious reasons we must make sure it works flawlessly before we release it to the public. 27/01/2025 Update: First, we’d like to apologize for the delayed update and thank you for your continued support and patience. Transparency is very important to us, and we want to share where we currently stand. We have been heavily investing in VR development and remain committed to delivering the best experience possible. While our latest VR implementation shows great promise, it has faced significant challenges, particularly with compatibility across VR headsets. Additionally, some VR modes did not meet our standards for a proper solution. Taking these lessons to heart, we’ve started working on V3 of our VR integration. This new version builds on everything we’ve learned and aims to address the issues thoroughly. We understand how long this development process has taken, and we kindly ask for a little more patience as we push forward. The V3 version will be released on the beta channel as soon as we’re confident it’s ready for public testing. While we cannot commit to a hard deadline, our current goal is to release it by March. We’ve learned a great deal from the challenges we’ve faced, and we’re confident this will be our final solution. V3 is designed to deliver the best performance, wide headset compatibility, and seamless functionality with all sim titles supported by Racelab. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. We’re confident it will be worth the wait! 11/03/2025 Update: I can't believe I finally write this, but the new VR beta is available and ready to use/test. We've created a nice page for the installation and usage for you. Thank you all for the patience! 06/06/2025 Update: We've just released our new VR integration! Thanks for everyone to be patient and stayed with us on this journey. We believe the new VR integration is the right way to go witho ur vr integration. It's performance is unmatched, has a user friendly ui, and we'll keep adding features to it over time. Installation and usage: https://garage.racelab.app/docs/vr/install/