Soft Keyboard for VR - Please... like, pretty please

lenna

lenna
Overall, I agree that an ED specific soft-keyboard would be a great idea. Not all VR solutions have a soft-keyboard implementation and 3rd party apps would feel very much a kludge IMO.

Proposed implementation:-
  1. Double menu activate pops the keyboard up when a text field has focus
  2. Keyboard navigated using the menu navigation controls
 

Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
It would be an amazing quality of life update for VR users. Just about every game I have played in VR that needs text input has a software keyboard implemented.
 

Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
Released on June 28th is OVR Toolkit. It looks like it has a virtual keyboard. I am going to try it BUT it is $11.99. Ugh... well, I could try it and if it doesn't work just refund it. I will report back, it would be a decent short term solution but the ideal solution would be to NOT have to spend additional money on software that may only get used with Elite given all the other games that require typing tend to have their own keyboards built in.
 

CMDR X

CMDR X
Excuse my ignorance as I don't have VR but wouldn't Windows built in Soft keyboard work?

Win7: Open On-Screen Keyboard by clicking the Start button The Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories,
clicking Ease of Access, and then clicking On-Screen Keyboard.

Win10: Press Windows+U to open the Ease of Access Center, and choose Start On-Screen Keyboard.
 

Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
X2611 said:
Excuse my ignorance as I don't have VR but wouldn't Windows built in Soft keyboard work?

Win7: Open On-Screen Keyboard by clicking the Start button The Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories,
clicking Ease of Access, and then clicking On-Screen Keyboard.

Win10: Press Windows+U to open the Ease of Access Center, and choose Start On-Screen Keyboard.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately this does not work in VR as it is not an overlay that displays within VR on top of your game. It also requires focus being taken off the window which kills game controller input on many games that require being the active window.

Not only that though, a software keyboard is a standard feature in VR games that require text input. We got a VR mode for E:D but it is clearly not finished. Providing a means of text input if text input is expected is damn near a "best coding practice" in VR development. Right now I use VoiceAttack for many things in game, so many buttons to map so few buttons to map to... VA is a god send, but using it to take dictation in chat or to type in system names barely works.
 
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Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
Jay Le Chardon said:
This has been asked for since, like, forever...

Onething I'd been wondering about, how do console players input text with their joypads?
Click to expand...

I am sure it has been asked for. There isn't a flat out "no" from devs so we should keep asking until they do it. This is not a gameplay changer at all and is simply a quality of life improvement.

Console users get a software keyboard and use their pads the way we would use arrow keys to move around the keyboard and select. If you play a VR game like Orbus VR for example, you have to input text and you just point and click/tap with your VR controller.

For me, this is mainly for inputting system names in search. I wouldn't try to have an entire conversation with it but to be able to give short and sweet answers like, "I am in VR, excuse my short responses". On the 28th it looks like a new overlay was released but it costs money. Gonna try it out today and see if it works, but a built in software keyboard would be leagues better.
 

Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
X2611 said:
I found this:

uxdesign.cc

Keyboard Input for Virtual Reality

Some virtual reality experiences partially rely on keyboard text input. This can be a difficult task for various reasons. The lack of…
uxdesign.cc uxdesign.cc
Click to expand...

That too is interesting. What I find now is that I have to have my HOTAS AND my VR controllers to do any of this.

If Frontier adds a keyboard, they can control the method of input, like using the hats on a HOTAS to navigate the keyboard. I mean, yeah I do what I have to do for now, but they REALLY should add this feature.

UPDATE:: Upon further checking, I see I was under the impression this would be an overlay. It is a demo of code that I can add to my projects for a keyboard. So I can take the open source code and add it to Elite if I were an elite dev. lol.
 
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VR Jay Le Chardon

VR Jay Le Chardon
Lynx Savage said:
I am sure it has been asked for. There isn't a flat out "no" from devs so we should keep asking until they do it. This is not a gameplay changer at all and is simply a quality of life improvement.

Console users get a software keyboard and use their pads the way we would use arrow keys to move around the keyboard and select. If you play a VR game like Orbus VR for example, you have to input text and you just point and click/tap with your VR controller.

For me, this is mainly for inputting system names in search. I wouldn't try to have an entire conversation with it but to be able to give short and sweet answers like, "I am in VR, excuse my short responses". On the 28th it looks like a new overlay was released but it costs money. Gonna try it out today and see if it works, but a built in software keyboard would be leagues better.
Click to expand...

Couldn't tell you about the new overlay, as I am still recovering from an eye injury a couple of months ago, and very photosensitive in the injured eye - which snookers me for wearing a vr headset. Would be interested to see how you get on with the new oculus overlay? I'd really like something that didn't require me to use the touch controllers for text input, as I fly with twinsticks so the oculus touch controllers would just get in my way.
 

Lynx Savage

Lynx Savage
I am on a Vive not oculus.

I just tested OVRToolkit and it is garbage. The windows float, the only way to edit was to use the keyboard, you have to use the VR controllers, the overlays on the controllers float in Z axis and the software keyboard does not work as input with Elite Dangerous. The search continues until Frontier comes through and add this quality of life improvement which would have zero impact on the game itself but make life tons better for VR players.
 
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