Understanding IPD - it might not mean what you think!..
Some people may be aware that I am part of a VR development team working on a space flight simulator here - https://www.facebook.com/GFLMercury
I wanted to share some clarification as it seems there is a LOT of confusion about what exactly IPD is in relation to VR gaming and how it works.
Before we start it's worth noting the the Oculus Config Tool is currently broken and has no effect on IPD adjustment. There is no point using it as no settings will carry across to Elite. If you would like to adjust your IPD (and Its really worth doing) you need to use this workaround - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213435
What is IPD?
Inter Pupilliary Distance is the distance between the center of the right eye to the center of the left eye.
First you need to understand how VR is rendered, unlike a normal game a VR game uses two "cameras" or viewpoints in the virtual world to represent each eye of the player. So for example in Elite there are two Cameras floating just above the empty collar of the pilot, one for the left eye, and one for the right.
Now if you are used to looking at the world out of eyes that are 62mm apart, but the game is showing you a view out of virtual eyes that are 57mm apart everything will look out of scale... however if someone who is used to looking out of eyes that are 57mm apart and they are shown a view out of virtual eyes that are also 57mm apart in the game world, everything will look normal to them. All people see things slightly differently and it's important to get the virtual eyes in the computer game to match what you are used to... otherwise, tiny (or massive) pilot!
What IPD adjustment does (when working)...
Adjusting the DK2's IPD setting has one effect, and only one effect. It simply increases the distance between these two virtual, in game cameras. The effect of this is to alter our perception of scale. That's the only effect, nothing else other than making objects appear smaller or larger.
What IPD adjustment DOES NOT do....
Contrary to myth IPD adjustment does not physically move the image on the screen of the headset, this would simply move the image out of sync with the lenses and would be pointless.
So there it is. It's really as simple as that, IPD adjustment moves the virtual eyes of your pilot apart (or it would if it worked) and nothing else.
Physical IPD vs Lens Distance - so what are lens separators for?
There is one other factor that creates more confusion - Lens separators. To get the best view out of a headset you need to have your eyes lined up fairly well with the lenses. If your eyes are too far out of sync with the lenses you will get more blurring as you are further from the "sweet spot" in the center.
EDIT - it seems that the physical position of the images on the headset screen can be altered via the firmware hack ( https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213435 ) which allows you to line them up with altered lenses.
Some people may be aware that I am part of a VR development team working on a space flight simulator here - https://www.facebook.com/GFLMercury
I wanted to share some clarification as it seems there is a LOT of confusion about what exactly IPD is in relation to VR gaming and how it works.
Before we start it's worth noting the the Oculus Config Tool is currently broken and has no effect on IPD adjustment. There is no point using it as no settings will carry across to Elite. If you would like to adjust your IPD (and Its really worth doing) you need to use this workaround - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213435
What is IPD?
Inter Pupilliary Distance is the distance between the center of the right eye to the center of the left eye.
First you need to understand how VR is rendered, unlike a normal game a VR game uses two "cameras" or viewpoints in the virtual world to represent each eye of the player. So for example in Elite there are two Cameras floating just above the empty collar of the pilot, one for the left eye, and one for the right.
Now if you are used to looking at the world out of eyes that are 62mm apart, but the game is showing you a view out of virtual eyes that are 57mm apart everything will look out of scale... however if someone who is used to looking out of eyes that are 57mm apart and they are shown a view out of virtual eyes that are also 57mm apart in the game world, everything will look normal to them. All people see things slightly differently and it's important to get the virtual eyes in the computer game to match what you are used to... otherwise, tiny (or massive) pilot!
What IPD adjustment does (when working)...
Adjusting the DK2's IPD setting has one effect, and only one effect. It simply increases the distance between these two virtual, in game cameras. The effect of this is to alter our perception of scale. That's the only effect, nothing else other than making objects appear smaller or larger.
What IPD adjustment DOES NOT do....
Contrary to myth IPD adjustment does not physically move the image on the screen of the headset, this would simply move the image out of sync with the lenses and would be pointless.
So there it is. It's really as simple as that, IPD adjustment moves the virtual eyes of your pilot apart (or it would if it worked) and nothing else.
Physical IPD vs Lens Distance - so what are lens separators for?
There is one other factor that creates more confusion - Lens separators. To get the best view out of a headset you need to have your eyes lined up fairly well with the lenses. If your eyes are too far out of sync with the lenses you will get more blurring as you are further from the "sweet spot" in the center.
EDIT - it seems that the physical position of the images on the headset screen can be altered via the firmware hack ( https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213435 ) which allows you to line them up with altered lenses.
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