Guidance seeking Full Immersion

[PixelNomad]

Hi guys,

I'm relatively new to VaM and the forum, but I'm steadily familiarizing myself with the program and its features. Got a few scenes configured and working with the aim of seeking the best possible immersion available at this moment. What I like about VaM is that the imagination of the human mind is almost endless (of course within a legal en sane framework). Using FaceGen also helps a lot for an optimal immersive experience.

Trackers
I currently have VaM running in VR and want to take the next step in immersion. I'm building DIY SlimeVR trackers for FBT and want to use the embody plugin to possess a male avatar in VR. I was also thinking about the possibility of strapping a tracker to my Fleshlight and mounting it to something. Maybe it would be possible to pair the tracker to a hip(?) node of a female, so you would see your 'recoil" in VR. Only challenge would be to pose the female avatar accordingly.
I have used a Kinect scanner together with the VaM plugin, but unfortunately tracking is limited to the front of my body. Maybe there still is a way to use the Kinect scanner for other porposes?

Haptics
That's something I miss most. Sure, 'touching' a female body using the Rift controllers is great, but emulating real haptics is something I would like to go after. For some time I've been playing with the idea of recreating the VaM models' body parts. I have already made an export of a female character model and 3d printed a body part to scale. The idea was to mold and cast it out of soft silicone and position it accordingly.
Another approach might be rigging mannequin body parts and attaching trackers to them. For example a mannequin leg with a tracker hinged to some kind of base to play around with. I've also come accross some idea's using a PVC pipe rig to attach a FleshLight to. I've drafted something in CAD that resembles this.

Character positioning
I've been experimenting with what might be the optimal position for the characters in VaM. Eg: kneeling, laying down, standing etc. Having a female character laying on her back and positioning yourself near her has proven to be a great experience, but I have a feeling there is more to be discovered. I'm open for suggestions.

Your thoughts
I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for fullest experience. That's why I would like to reach out to the community to exchange ideas and leave this post as future reference for people with the same objective. Please comment on my ideas and feel free to share your own!

My current resources:

• RiftS (upgrading to Quest 3 asap)
• 5x DIY SlimeVR trackers (emulates VIVE trackers)
• Embody plugin
• Fleshlight
• Kinect scanner
• 3d printer at my disposal
• OwoTrack
• FaceGen Artist Pro

DIY SlimeVR Tracker

Exported .obj of a VaM character

One of my FaceGen creations

CAD model of a PVC Pipe Fleshlight rig

Kinect motion capture skeleton

 

[Origin69]

Making gen textures of your own is one way to add alot of immersion.

 

[Clownmug]

For "haptics" I have a random idea based on an art project I did in college years ago. The project was basically a mannequin I made out of chicken wire and dressed up in sweatpants and a hoodie.

I imagine you could make a fairly cheap body with chicken wire and like spandex clothes or something. I think it should be rigid enough to mount trackers but also flexible enough to move limbs around a little bit. There are DIY videos/images for chicken wire ghosts as Halloween decorations you could look up for an example.

 

[RunRudolf]

I am sure that it will remain a dream to convincingly replace touch sensations in VR for quite some time. After being flashed by using VR for the first time, by the visuals and the immersion of being in the scene, it quickly gets kind of frustrating, because VR is unable to satisfy touch sensations on you. This will limit immersion to certain types of scenes, where this does not play much of a role, but the stuff within VAM does not really belong to this category. Even with more convincing graphics etc. this limit persists. Its also not only about you touching someting, but being touched by others which is completely missing and extremely difficult to simulate I guess. It's probably the same as with self driving cars - possible in theory, but not going to hit the roads as quickly as one would expect or wish. These are just my pessimistic conclusions - happy to be demonstrated that its the opposite!

 

[PixelNomad]

For "haptics" I have a random idea based on an art project I did in college years ago. The project was basically a mannequin I made out of chicken wire and dressed up in sweatpants and a hoodie.

I imagine you could make a fairly cheap body with chicken wire and like spandex clothes or something. I think it should be rigid enough to mount trackers but also flexible enough to move limbs around a little bit. There are DIY videos/images for chicken wire ghosts as Halloween decorations you could look up for an example.

Hey thanks for you contribution. That sounds like a feasible idea and something worth investigating!

 

[PixelNomad]

I am sure that it will remain a dream to convincingly replace touch sensations in VR for quite some time. After being flashed by using VR for the first time, by the visuals and the immersion of being in the scene, it quickly gets kind of frustrating, because VR is unable to satisfy touch sensations on you. This will limit immersion to certain types of scenes, where this does not play much of a role, but the stuff within VAM does not really belong to this category. Even with more convincing graphics etc. this limit persists. Its also not only about you touching someting, but being touched by others which is completely missing and extremely difficult to simulate I guess. It's probably the same as with self driving cars - possible in theory, but not going to hit the roads as quickly as one would expect or wish. These are just my pessimistic conclusions - happy to be demonstrated that its the opposite!

Many thanks for your open and critical thoughts.

I do agree that convincing haptics are still far away, but looking at what we've accomplished in VR in just 10y I have hope.
Of course the human touch/presence is a sensation that is hard to describe let alone simulate. But the human brain is also prone to tricks and illusions. That's a weakness I would like to exploit.
Think about somatogravic illusions which are commonly used in simulators or from another personal experience: Sightline Chair on the Oculus Rift DK1/2 back in the day.
You would sit on a swing which is a replica from the one in the actual game and you would hold your hands on two pieces of rope on either side of your body. Believe me if I tell you that my brain thought I was actually there. The 'swing' only moved in VR and only pitched in real life, producing the strange feeling in your stomache.
I was hoping we could utilize one of these illusions to trick our brain while using VaM in VR.

 

[PixelNomad]

Making gen textures of your own is one way to add alot of immersion.

Absolutely, good one!
Imagine placing a mirror in the scene and looking at yourself and the protagonist. Placing this one one my to-do-list.