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

I wish there was one in game and buttons which you could use with leap motion. To be honest, I want VR but I am not touching until a method of typing is in game.

I imagine the galaxy map to be a right pain in the back side in VR at the moment.

I personally flip up my visor onto my forehead everytime I need to search a system. It’s annoying for sure. Not enough to not play in VR though, too fantastic a sight not to.
 
So how do you set it up, I’m curious to try?

Currently using a T1600M, X52 throttle, Saitek Pedals. Configured so I essentially fly the galaxy map with the flight controls. Mouse or trigger button can be used for selection. Voice attack can auto type for me, touch controller to use the virtual keyboard.

Below are my galmap bindings.

25s9ctw.jpg
 
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Hi Lynx, what issues do you have with the built in Oculus virtual keyboard? Agree that is makes sense for the devs to include a built in keyboard, however the devs probably wouldn't bother since the oculus keyboard does the job (via dash) You can place the keyboard anywhere on the bridge of the ship (along with any app or web browser)

Does Vive have something similar to Dash?

I use Voice attack in VR, combined with my HOTAS, rarely touch the vr keyboard unless I am browsing the web from inside my ship.

The Keyboard is not shown in this video, but it works as effortlessly as everything else in Dash.

I am on Vive not on Oculus. No keyboard I can pull up and enter data into the game. A built in softkeyboard within the game would be something that is bound to the game not the hardware/platform. They already have this keyboard/support for this keyboard type in the console versions of Elite. It just happens to be a quality of life thing I would like to see. So all of the VR users would have the option and as mentioned previously, even have it be a toggle option for all players so they never NEED to use the keyboard for communication or galaxy map searches. Right now I am busy training VoiceAttack to do dictation but it is pretty terrible for it. I love Voice Attack for everything else though, so not knocking VA. A softkeyboard would solve a lot of problems and only serve to improve the quality of life for the elite players. If someone does not want to use the keyboard, they don't have to. There are no stats to balance as there is no inherent advantage. It is all in the interest of making the user experience better.
 
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Currently, Elite Dangerous has a software keyboard for console players. Some like it, some don't BUT as a feature for the VR players this is perfect. We cannot see our keyboards. This makes searching for systems and even communicating in chat rather clunky if you are not a touch typist.

In my mind, It would look like the current soft keyboard used in the console versions of the game, I would be able to move the "cursor" to the keys to be pressed via the HOTAS (like mapping it to the hat on the HOTAS/Controller) making it so I don't have to remove the headset just to type in a system to route, rely on VoiceAttack for mediocre dictation or precanned responses and preserves the VR immersion.

I do hope this finds it's way to a dev, as I believe this would be a GIGANTIC quality of life improvement for VR players.

o7 CMDRs, fly right and see you in the black.

I do believe there are various options for windows out there for VR users.

So it already exists.

The general reason why the games themselves do not do this, is because the keyboard is generally an OS thing.

It isn't Elite's keyboard on consoles, it the consoles own method of entry.
But this should work in VR and on PC as well as long as you install the software.
 
I do believe there are various options for windows out there for VR users.

So it already exists.

The general reason why the games themselves do not do this, is because the keyboard is generally an OS thing.

It isn't Elite's keyboard on consoles, it the consoles own method of entry.
But this should work in VR and on PC as well as long as you install the software.

First things first, tons of games have software keyboard inputs in some form or another. Few games rely on OS rendered soft-input.

Show me the software keyboard overlay for VR that isn't the built in Oculus keyboard. Don't worry, I'll wait.
 
Currently using a T1600M, X52 throttle, Saitek Pedals. Configured so I essentially fly the galaxy map with the flight controls. Mouse or trigger button can be used for selection. Voice attack can auto type for me, touch controller to use the virtual keyboard.

This is probably the best solution available at the moment for anyone who doesn’t want to use a keyboard.

Three things bring it down for me though.

1. You still have to switch from your HOTAS to another input device.
2. The on-screen keyboard remains in your cockpit when you’re not in the galaxy map.
3. Every time you load up the game, you have to pin the keyboard in your ship, so it’s an additional step each time.

I don’t know if Frontier has any plans to address VR QoL in any of their coming small updates or the larger one in 2020, but VR doesn’t need too much, and even this little bit would go a long way, not to mention that it would also benefit all the non-VR players who’d rather use their preferred controller without switching to a keyboard.
 
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I do believe there are various options for windows out there for VR users.

So it already exists.

The general reason why the games themselves do not do this, is because the keyboard is generally an OS thing.

It isn't Elite's keyboard on consoles, it the consoles own method of entry.
But this should work in VR and on PC as well as long as you install the software.

Yes, the on-screen keyboards for consoles are available through the relevant SDKs I believe, which is why Frontier would need to develop their own. It’s still very trivial in terms of development though, and quite worth it in my opinion, as it can benefit all users, not just in VR.
 
My point exactly. When vr is a minority in any game, expecting the game maker to supply your needs is not going to happen.
Oculas and vive or whom ever need to have it included so game makers can tap into that.
Kinda like mac would not follow game standards so FD dropped catering to them. Pc, xbox , and ps did, and so are still on track.
So if it is a nothing development why are vr makers not on board?
I don't blame FD one bit for ignoring vr player wants in that regard.
I don't blame them either, but let's be realistic, as ED players we're going to ask FDev for a solution, not the dozens of VR tech companies that supply the hardware to various CMDRs.
 
Most VR games that require input, have easily made little VR keyboards that achieve that. FDev either just doesn't want to do this, essentially shafting VR users which there are many or we have to wait till the big upgrade, where maybe the engine will also be able to sort lists? Woah. And/or be able to retain your preferences so it always sorts by "online first" so I dont have to go set that every login. People should stop trying to convince folks this is hard stuff to do. Impossible with the current engine? Maybe. But if possible, not hard to do.

Rant over, back into the game, in VR.
 
Most VR games that require input, have easily made little VR keyboards that achieve that. FDev either just doesn't want to do this, essentially shafting VR users which there are many or we have to wait till the big upgrade, where maybe the engine will also be able to sort lists? Woah. And/or be able to retain your preferences so it always sorts by "online first" so I dont have to go set that every login. People should stop trying to convince folks this is hard stuff to do. Impossible with the current engine? Maybe. But if possible, not hard to do.

Rant over, back into the game, in VR.
VR is the ONLY way to play a game such as this. Please, please FDEV may we have a soft VR keyboard in-game???
 
So you are in Elite Dangerous using this to input data in VR? What is this app called? Looks like it was put together in Paint, given no links are cited and this screenshot is clearly not in Elite Dangerous in order to prove the point... I would have few other assumptions to make. Got a link for this app or some proof of it working in Elite Dangerous or even being available to the public? I would also like to know the release date because I made this comment back in April... it's June now.

Even stranger, when I drop this into google image search I get a bunch of results for computer keyboard clipart. Odd...
 
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So you are in Elite Dangerous using this to input data in VR?

No. I did not know the question was on a non- FDev, non- O/S virtual keyboard that would still have to work in ED specifically. I thought there was confusion on the existence of such 3rd party virtual keyboards in general:

Show me the software keyboard overlay for VR that isn't the built in Oculus keyboard. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Maybe the confusion was completely on my side, in which case I apologize. Happens sometimes since English is not my first language.

What is this app called? Looks like it was put together in Paint, given no links are cited and this screenshot is clearly not in Elite Dangerous in order to prove the point... I would have few other assumptions to make. Got a link for this app or some proof of it working in Elite Dangerous or even being available to the public? I would also like to know the release date because I made this comment back in April... it's June now.

Even stranger, when I drop this into google image search I get a bunch of results for computer keyboard clipart. Odd...

It's a business app I'm not advertising here.
 
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