Choosing your play space
Make sure the tripods are at least above your head
Make sure the tripod’s feet are pushed down and spread out completely. We don’t want them falling over.
The glass portion of the light house has to be focused towards the play space and must be in the field of view for one another. The most optimal position would be from opposite corners of the play space, but since we don’t have any plugs in the correct positions, putting them on either side of the front desk is fine.
Plug in the power cords that are in the boxes.
Take boxes 1E and 1F off the cart.
Pull out the cardboard insert underneath are the power cables.
Go to the back of the light houses and on the left hand side is a circular port meant for one end of the power connector.
Insert the power cable.
Go to the power strip and plug in the other side of the power cable.
After plugging them in, take a look at the front of the light houses should have the letter “b” and the other should have the letter “c” on them.
If there is the letter “A” on one of them, it will not sync properly (If you don’t know what this is please don’t do it. Give someone a call)
To change the letter on the front of the light house press the button on the back
Remember there can only be one “b” and one “c”
You do not need to plug in the USB cables into the back of the lighthouse boxes. They sync themselves to the headset wirelessly.
When you take it out of the box be careful. Check the cord for any damages or knots. If there is any damage, make a note of it and tell someone immediately.
There should be a small box that the headset plugs into. That small box should have a mini Display port, usb port, and a power port. Plug all the wires into the ports on the small box.
Plug the power port into the wall outlet or powerstrip.
On the side of the computer, plug the USB cord into the computer
On the back of the computer, plug the mini Display port.
The Vive Pro Headset can now be plugged in. The front of the box has a weird looking port that looks like a small trapezoid.
Line up the cord and the box correctly. There is a small marker on the cable and the box. Make sure they are facing the same way when plugging it in.
Go slowly with it. These pins are small and very delicate. DO NOT FORCE IT IN! IF YOU NEED HELP CALL SOMEONE!
Remember to make sure the line is straight and there are no knots or twists in the cord. The person will not see this and it can pull the computer off the table or pull it off their face.
Hit the power button on the box. It’s a small blue dot that doesn’t look like anything but if that isn’t pressed everything won’t work. A green LED should light up on the top center when the power is on.
Set up controllers
Take out boxes 1C and 1D
Take out the HTC Vive controllers.
After Steam VR is launched, press the bottom button on the controllers. A blue led will appear letting you know they are on.
When the software is launched and the controllers are connected, the blue led will change to green.
Open the box. The computer is right in the center while the charger is in a smaller box closer to the back of the main box.
Take out the computer and the charger from the box.
Plug in the charger to the back of the computer
Plug the other end of the charger into a wall outlet or powerstrip
Open the computer’s screen
Turn on the computer with the Alien head button on the top right of the computer, above the keyboard.
Log into HCCC using credentials
Double click on the steam program on the desktop.
Click the Library tab on the top left of the screen
Click on the search bar on the left hand side of the screen with the magnifying glass in it and type “SteamVR”
Double click on SteamVR text below the search bar.
A screen should pop up on the bottom of your screen near the center of it. It should have 5 Icons on it. Each one of those represents the VR set up and if it is connected or not. If they are connected, they should be shaded in blue. If there is a problem follow this guide.
If the screen gives you a prompt that says headset is not connected,
Check to see if you turned on the headset with the blue button on the box with all the wires you plugged into it.
Check all your cables and make sure they are all properly plugged in. Maybe something is loose.
Retry both previous steps again. You will not need to restart the launcher to get these to show up.
Close steam and on the bottom right of the taskbar right click on the steam icon and click exit . This is usually a last resort.
If this doesn’t work something is broken and consult someone from the library staff that knows how to use this.
If the second and third icons are grayed out, that means that the controllers are not connected.
Please turn them on. Press the button on the bottom of the controllers and make sure a green light is on. If the lights do not go on, they need to be charged.
If the light is blue and not green, make sure they are in front of the Vive Pro headset.
If this doesn’t work something is broken and consult someone from the library staff that knows how to use this.
Software setup is completed. You now need to calibrate the area that you are playing in in order to run the games safely.
Every time you set this up, you will need to calibrate everything. The VR set up needs to know what the play space is and calibrate the sensors to their different positions. Do not skip this!!! This sets a virtual grid to allow the VR user to stop when they are about to hit something. If the sensors are in different spots and the setup is not run the virtual grid will not be in the same space and people could run into things.
After you launch Steam VR, there should be a tab in games that says run VR Setup. This will help you calibrate the sensors for the room.
A screen will pop up. It will ask you if you want to have room-scale or standing only. Click Room-Scale.
It will ask you to make shure there is a 6.5 feet by 5 feet play room. Once you clear the play space click next.
The next step is it will see if your controllers and Vive Pro headset are connected. If they are they should all appear in green. If they do not return to the previous set up, Software set up. Then press the Next button
On the next screen, you will calibrate the center of your play area. Stand in the center of your play space. Look at the pc, put your arms out towards the pc, and press and hold both of the triggers of the controllers. A bar on the bottom right of the screen will fill up . Once the bar is full the Next button Icon will light up and you can click it.
The next step is to calibrate the floor. Put the controllers on the floor. Make sure they are visible to both the Vive Pro VR headset and the light houses. Click and hold the calibrate floor button. The button should light up on one side and move to the right. Once the Next Button lights up let go of the click. Click on the Next button.
A new screen should appear prompting you about creating boundaries. Click next.
A new screen will appear for calibrating the play area. There are images on the screen indicating the two lighthouses, controllers and the headset.
Press and hold down the triggers of both controllers and walk around the perimeter of the area that is usable. Try and get as close to walls and objects but try not to go over obstacles as the virtual grid will not alert the players fast enough that there is something in front of them.
Once you are done, let go of the triggers and the shape of the outline will appear. Then click next.
If everything was done correctly and have a big enough play space selected, you will be greeted with a green square inside the area you had selected.Then click next.
If you have been presented with a red square, your play space is too small. You need to hit back and try selecting the area again following steps 10 and 11.
The SteamVR Setup has finished, you are ready to play your game. Click Done.
On the back of the headset, there is a round adjustment knob. Remember to loosen it up for the next person and tighten it around them so it doesn’t come off
When a user puts on the VR mask, they might say it is fuzzy or out of focus. On the front of the VR headset, there are two buttons to fix this issue.
The one on the right you press in and the whole front of the mask slides up and down. Have the user press it down and adjust the front of it while looking inside it against their face.
The one on the left just turns. It makes minor adjustments to the front of the headset.
Once the Vive Pro headset is on, hand them the controllers. Make sure they put the wrist straps on. This will prevent them from accidentally dropping or throwing the controllers.
The games will already pop up with a screen, showing what the person can see. Maximize the screen if at all possible so people can see what’s going on and get interested in the game. If at all possible hook it up to the projector
Remember to make a list of who’s next. Most of the time I’ve seen our students be good about this and they usually know who’s next.
If you see someone trying to play around with the person wearing the VR set up, tell them to please stop. It is for their safety as well as the safety of the person wearing the set up.
Last most important thing HAVE FUN!!! People see you working there and if you’re interested in the games they will be too!!
