Update on release plans

I spent most of last week working on the new sim hair that supports custom (import) hair and styling, but did not make it far enough to include anything in the next release. I can see after this initial work there is quite a bit more to do in this area before it will be ready for public release. Due to that, the next release will be called 1.17.5. I want to get other exciting updates into your hands this week so you don't have to wait for custom hair to be completed.

SteamVR input system changes

After the hair work last week, I switched gears to work on Valve Index controller support. To accomplish this, I had to update the SteamVR plugin I was using to a much newer version and completely revamp how all of SteamVR input works in VaM. A side benefit of this update is SteamVR users can now define custom controller mappings if they don't like the default controller setup. This will help those running WMR headsets as well as you will have complete control of the mappings. This new SteamVR input mapping system will replace all the current SteamVR in-game preferences for controller settings. Oculus native support will remain as is for now, but Oculus users may want to force VaM to run in OpenVR mode (using the shortcut provided) if they want more control of mappings than what is provided in VaM. I also do not have Oculus finger tracking supported yet unless run in OpenVR mode. I'll try my best to get native Oculus finger tracking support into 1.18, as I don't think I have time to squeeze this into 1.17.5.

Finger Tracking

Index controllers support limited finger tracking, shown here with new functionality that allows controlling any Person atom fingers remotely or in possess mode. On the left is Valve's own gloved hand model with direct, non-physical tracking. On the right is a Person hand that is operating with same input data, but in a physical fashion. After working on this a bit, I have decided to revamp all finger tracking systems to use a common base that will allow finger tracking to work with different types of tracking inputs, and then output to floating hands, possessed Person hands, or even remote control of Person hands. With this new system you will be able to choose between different inputs for finger tracking in the preferences area: 

• Simple trigger grasp (what is supported now)

• Partial finger tracking with controllers that support it

• Leap Motion full finger tracking

Then on the receiving side, you can set a Person's hands to be controlled in one of several ways:

• Pose Morphs only

• Pose Morphs unless possessed (similar to what is supported now)

• New JSON hand/finger parameters to control bend and spread

• Remote Input (shown above) controlling these new JSON parameters

All of this will be in 1.17.5 release coming this week. Many other things are coming to 1.17.5 as well:

• Teeth/tongue/mouth material control

• Improved presets

• New clothing items

• Bug fixes

I also have plans to allow recording and playback of finger motions in a future release (possibly 1.18), when JSON parameter recording via controller input is added.

Thanks again for your amazing support!

Meshed