Using SteamVR Environments with SynthesisVR
To use the default environment (the branded SynthesisVR Holodeck), follow these steps: In the Access Point app of each station, go to Settings / SteamVR Settings / SteamVR Home Settings Inside of the SteamVR Home Settings, click on the Environment Subscription which will open the SynthesisVR Holodeck page. Click on Subscribe on that page. Note that if the Steam app doe not open to that page, please go to the Steam / Exit menu, reopen Steam, and then click on the Environment Subscription button again in the Access Point and the Steam app should now open to that page. Once subscribed, check the “Enable SteamVR Home” box in the Access Point. The new SteamVR home environment will be downloaded by Steam and should refresh into it. Using a Different SteamVR Home Environment If you want to use a different SteamVR home environment, you first need to locate the URL of the environment. If you haven’t already phone the environment, head to either of the following URLs in a web browser (they will give you different results if you want to browse through them): https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=250820&requiredtags[]=Environment or https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=250820&requiredtags[]=Destination Browse through the available options and once you’ve found the environment you want to use, not the number in the URL: Before the next step, you will need to go through and log into each of your store’s Steam accounts via browser, head to the full URL of the environment and subscribe to it. This is necessary for the environment to be downloaded to your stations. Once all stations are subscribed, go to the Branding and Voice Prompts settings in your SynthesisVR dashboard: In the Branding tab, enter the number you took from the URL of the environment and put it into the SteamVR Environment ID field. Click on Save Changes and then refresh your Access Point apps in the method of your choice. Once your stations are refreshed (and the Enable SteamVR Home box is checked as per the initial instructions above), you and your customers will now be standing in the SteamVR Home environment.
Install SteamVR off Steam
SteamVR is one of the core components for every LBVR business and as such, it has to be kept in a good state. As the stock SteamVR version (the one installed via Steam) is a subject of numerous updates in the course of a single month, every update brings the risk of an important component to start malfunctioning or get removed. As of the current date, SteamVR got updated to version 1.9.13, which removed the possibility to brand the environment, leading to not that aesthetically pleasant first time VR experience for your customers. Another negative is the possibility to get a SteamVR update in the middle of your 3 hours long / 30 kids party – and you can’t opt-out from the Steam’s auto-updates for SteamVR. This made it mandatory for SynthesisVR to come up with an option that will mitigate the negatives and provide a more reliable deployment for SteamVR. As of SynthesisVR version 3.12.8, you have the option to install a SteamVR version off Steam. To do that, go to your SynthesisVR Access Point application, click the Settings button, then the “SteamVR Settings” button and select your desired version from the dropdown menu. This will trigger the download of the specific version. Once the download is completed, the Access Point needs another ~30 seconds to install it. Things to consider before installing a fixed SteamVR version: 1. The static SteamVR versions are installed under: %localappdata%\SynthesisVR\app\Resources\SteamVR\<VERSION>\ Your existing SteamVR settings would not be copied over. To avoid going through the Room Setup after the installation, please consider using the SynthesisVR Chaperones Manager to migrate your VR boundaries between the versions. 2. If you are using KATVR or other hardware that requires custom SteamVR drivers, you’ll have to re-install those drivers under the directory mention above. 3. If you are happy with the stock SteamVR version – you are NOT obligated to install a custom version through Synthesis. By default, Synthesis is using your Steam installation of SteamVR and no extra actions are needed.
Mirroring Audio To a Monitor
From SteamVR, click on the drop down menu: Choose settings: From the SteamVR settings menu, choose Audio from the left side: Change the “Mirror audio device” to whatever your TV/Monitor is and be sure that “Set Playback device to” is set to your Vive HDMI audio: