🛠️Hardware Setup

This section provides detailed guidelines for setting up the hardware environment required to develop with our Existent Unreal Engine plugin. It’s critical to adhere to these specifications to ensure compatibility and optimal performance. Please ensure each setup component meets or exceeds the following requirements:

PC Requirements

Hardware	Minimum requirements
Processor	Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 equivalent or better
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX 580 equivalent or better
Memory	8 GB RAM or more
Operating system	Windows 10 (64-bit) or later

If buying a recent GPU we recommend using NVIDIA over AMD as historically AMD has had driver issues in VR with new hardware.

When developing for VR it is important to remember that high frame rates make for a much better user experience. Targeting a high level of graphical fidelity will require a much more capable GPU than those listed above.

Supported Unreal Engine Versions

The development environment is designed to be compatible with Unreal Engine (UE) 5.3. Ensure that your development projects are set up to use that version.

Epic has a page with their VR project recommendation here:

Unreal Engine 5.3 Documentation | Epic Developer Community

Epic also has a page specifying their recommended hardware and software setup for general Unreal development here:

Hardware and Software Specifications | Epic Developer Community

Supported Head-Mounted Display (HMD) Devices

We currently support the following HMDs:

• Vive Focus 3

• Pico 4 Enterprise

In both cases, this is because they have a robust LBE mode. This is important because the headset’s inside-out tracking needs to consistently report its position and orientation with respect to the room it is in.

Tracking System Specifications

A supported tracking system is essential for accurate player motion tracking and spatial awareness. The system must include a minimum number of 2 trackers for each player. We currently support the following tracking systems:

• Optitrack (via LiveLink)

• Vicon (via LiveLink)

• Vive Ultimate Trackers

Networking and Software Configuration

The recommended headsets both stream wirelessly. To achieve this a good hardware and software setup must be implemented.

Streaming software must be installed on the desired PCs (Vive Business Streaming, PICO Business Streaming) to enable the wireless connection of the HMDs to SteamVR.

When it comes to wireless access points we have found that bandwidth is generally not an issue. Instead, we are looking to reduce latency whenever possible. One non-obvious source of this latency is having headsets share antennas. What we mean by this is that each headset is equipped with 2 wireless antennas. For optimum performance, these 2 antennas must have exclusive access to 2 antennas on the access point. So an access point with 4 antennas can support 2 headsets simultaneously. Having headsets share antennas can cause noticeable hitching, even when the other headset is not being actively used.

An example network:

Additional Recommendations

For an enhanced shared VR experience, it is recommended to configure the HMDs with a shared map. This setup promotes better spatial orientation and collaborative interaction within the virtual environment.

By adhering to these guidelines, developers can ensure a robust setup conducive to developing immersive VR applications and experiences. Ensure all hardware components and software configurations meet the specified requirements before proceeding with development activities.

Examples of Hardware Configurations

There’s an almost infinite combination of hardware configurations you can use via Existent but these are the most common along with some discussion of their features and primary use cases.

Entry Level Example

• Vive Focus 3 (LBE Mode) per player

• Up to 5 Vive Ultimate Trackers per player (2 mounted on wrists, optionally 2 mounted on ankles, rest used on props)

• 1 PC (using above specs) per player

This is an entry-level configuration which offers a significant amount of flexibility including full body tracking and reasonable finger tracking as well as a limited number of props. Vive’s LBE mode applied to all HMDs and trackers means that all the hardware shares the same origin by default so you can skip the alignment process. The limitation is that 5 trackers per play means that the number of props in your application is limited, especially if you want to support full body. Target use cases: Arcade-style gaming experiences, ultra-portable training experiences, expo floor.

Advanced Example

• Vive Focus 3s (LBE Mode)

• Optitrack Active Pucks (mounted on wrists and ankles)

• Props using passive or active trackers

• Performers wearing 30+ point mocap suits

• 1 PC (using above specs) per player

This configuration allows for an enormous amount of flexibility and a very large stage area with near-unlimited props and real time tracked performers. Target use-cases: High fidelity training, hyper-reality experiences, live performance, warehouse-scale archviz.