thedrone

@C.T. Sorry for the delayed response, but yes that is the only feature that is currently missing that I would really like to see implemented at some point. When streaming, you might only need keyboard and mouse or a controller, and to be forced to have the controllers active and just lying around doing nothing is a real inconvenience for me (and I assume other users). I would be eternally gratefuly for a toggle!

@C.T. I really appreciated the continued support for the Focus 3, so thanks very much for that. I'm just gonna throw this suggestion out there one more time: please give us a toggle to enable/disable the controller prompts when streaming PCVR content. Maybe it's a niche request, I don't know, but it's the last remaining thing that bothers me about the headset. Over the years you fixed basically every little issue, so I just don't understand why we can't get this obvious quality of life improvement.

I don't think a single IR flashlight would sufficiently illuminate a moderately sized room, but I use two IR illuminators for my Focus 3 and can use it in pitch black darkness without any issues. The passthrough works and I can see my surroundings perfectly (grayscale), as long as I'm wearing the HMD. The XR Elite has color passthrough, so not sure how that would look, though.

I'm confused as to what was fixed exactly, as my controller (it's always the left one) continues to randomly wake from a powered off state. In fact, it seems to happen more frequently than it did before (although, that is anecdotal).

I wish to purchase Virtual Desktop from the Business App store for my Focus 3. It will be my first such purchase, as I've had no use for it before. The checkout forces compliance with the terms of use, which explicitly states the following: [...] If You are an individual accessing and using the AppStore and XR Products: (i) that Your access to and use is solely for commercial purposes (i.e., You are not acting as an individual consumer); [...] Does this mean that I am barred from purchasing content from the Vive Business App store? That would be quite disappointing.

Thanks for your thoughts! If comfort is the biggest issue, maybe you can look into some aftermarket top strap solution. I don't think there's one specifically for the XR Elite yet, but maybe there's one from these guys that could work (perhaps the one for PSVR2 or Q-Pro). Regarding the custom face shield, maybe you can approach this guy to see if he'd be willing to help you out. Good to hear that you're enjoying the optics, because I was a little put off by this video. Some early reports commented about wireless performance being bad, but I would assume that's mostly user error / poor network performance and your experience between the Focus 3 and XR Elite is identical? Any noticeable quality of life improvements in the software compared to the Focus 3? Can you disable the controller prompt, for example? I'm still somewhat considering an XR Elite myself, but I don't like having to purchase an extra set of controllers. I'd probably buy one if they offered just the HMD in a separate SKU.

I can't answer your question, but perhaps you'd be willing to share some of your thoughts on the Elite XR? You're one of the few Focus 3 users to switch and I'd be interested to find out how much of an improvement it is (if at all).

Can you expand a bit on what makes VD on Focus 3 amazing? I currently use VBS (Ultra mode), which gives me a stable connection, low latency and great image quality. I'm interested to find out what the increased value of VD is. I might buy it, but it's a hassle with the only payment option in the business store being a creditcard.

It's a pet peeve of mine, as well. Especially because it seems like such a minor thing for HTC to do and would clearly improve the experience for a lot of users. Having said that, feel free to try this workaround. 🙂 1. Enable kiosk mode and give kiosk mode access to VBS. 2. When the controller prompt appears, longpress the button on the left side of your headset. 3. Choose "restart kiosk mode". 4. Kiosk mode restarts and controller prompt is gone.

Hubs are unlikely to work because very few (if any) have a detachable USB cable. It's rare you'll find any dock with a cable longer than about 1 meter (and even that is uncommon). Your best bet is probably a PCI-E powered TB4 card such as this Asus model, which offers 100 watt charging. It only works on Asus motherboards, though. There might be some vendor specific alternatives available. The latest generation of AMD cards also offer USB-C, which might be powerful enough, but I haven't found much about what its specs are online. I think in general it's kind of moot though, because you can get just about the same experience with a Wifi 6E router and a powerbank.

It would be nice to get an update. So far I've read about two developers -one of whom being the developer of Virtual Desktop- saying their app will be ported to both the Focus 3 and the Elite XR. I don't know if this means it will be released on separate storefronts (Viveport for Elite XR and the business store for the Focus 3), or if these are going to be combined in some way. I think it would be kind of silly to keep this distinction in place. You can still offer enterprise solutions for both headsets.

Did this work for you? I followed the guide but I don't have the OpenXR option (it only shows SteamVR).

Good to see your issue is resolved! I recently upgraded my router to a 6E access point and the increased stability is shocking. It was pretty good before, but I can now play essentially without any meaningful interruption for as long as the battery is capable of providing juice. I assumed that having a not perfectly reliable connection was simply one of the drawbacks of playing wirelessly, but that's not the case.

I didn't see this, either. However, I did notice that the storefront downloaded a big update. Fingers crossed for some more XR2 games. 🙂

Sure, I used the IR illuminators by TONTON. Amazon US lists the manufacturer as LONNKY. Not sure if the link is allowed, but here it is. 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/LONNKY-Illuminator-Infrared-Security-Suitable/dp/B07MX63RX3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1FIWGNWNQAD1&keywords=tonton+IR&qid=1673001735&sprefix=tonton+ir%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-5

With the announcement of the Vive Elite XR (nice looking headset, btw) and its library of XR2 content, I'd be interested to learn if this means Focus 3 users will be able to access the same store. I can't imagine there'd be a very good technical reason to exclude Focus 3 users.

I resolved my issue by installing some IR illuminators and turning off all other lights. Tracking accuracy and reliability have improved considerably and I can now play in pitch black darkness without any light bleed. 🙂

I installed some new Hue lights in my room and now my Focus 3 won't track correctly when it's on. Is the tracking confused by certain wavelengths of light? The Hue lights allow for various shades and colors and it sort of works when I set it to the brightest white, but not reliably enough to be usable. During the day with enough outside light, tracking works as expected. It only started acting up when the ceiling lights were replaced. Is this a known issue?

GPU usage varies, but I've seen the percentage go up into the 90's, depending on the game. I've also seen it struggle to hit 90 FPS in titles that aren't very demanding at all. For example, in The Lab's Longbow, I can't get more than 80/81 FPS, even though my frametimes are really low and GPU usage is at 65% (on quality it maintains a perfect 90 FPS with slightly lower frametimes). In addition I've also encountered more stuttering, frametime peaks and quality dropouts. I would imagine that the Ultra setting pushes the encoder in my GPU a little too hard and I'm better off using quality. However, I'm still very happy that the Ultra option exists for when I inevitably upgrade to a a better GPU! It was nice to get a little taste. 🙂

Nice update, thanks! Can you tell us a little more about how the Ultra mode works? I tried it on my 2080 Ti (I'm an optimist) and I felt like the clarity was improved but FPSVR still showed the same 2048 * 2048 resolution. I checked the QualityPreset.json file and it appears the Ultra setting uses a 3072 x 3072 resolution. Maybe the Ultra setting didn't take on my GPU and it fell back to Quality? I can't edit my post for some reason, but I just tried again and the Ultra setting worked correctly (3072 x 3072). It looks much better and the difference is very clearly noticable. I wasn't expecting it to work as well as did did on my GPU, but surprisingly it does. Amazing update and I think it's the one many of us have been waiting for!

There is definitely something weird going on at an interval of 10 minutes. In my case, the first 10 minute blip is barely noticable, then there's a bigger blip at 20 minutes (which is sometimes enough to have to restart the session) and then these minor blips every 10 minutes. I don't think it's tracking related, because of how precise the interval is and also because these networking settings you suggested helped minimize the 'big blip at 20 minutes' issue (thanks!).

Interesting! I'm aware of the little config hack and I've tried it before on my 2080Ti. Image looked great, but it wasn't stable (presumably due to the encoder reaching its limits). It also felt a little laggier than I'd like. If the 4090 solves this, I might have to upgrade -begrudgingly- after all.

Hi, Do the next generation GPU's (4090, 7900XTX) offer sufficiently fast H.265 encoding to unlock native resolution streaming through Vive Business Streaming? And is the XR2 capable of decoding the signal quickly enough? If so, is this something we can look forward to in the near future or are we currently maxed out? I understand the XR2 doesn't offer AV1 encoding, which is unfortunate. Thanks!

Focus 3 is the most friction-free and high quality way to experience wireless PCVR currently on the market. Streaming has improved by leaps and bounds and controller compatibility seems to be at 100% now (there have been many improvements regarding OpenXR controller compatibility and Focus 3 specifically in the last couple of SteamVR updates). The only outlier (Boneworks), has been patched by the developer. A lightweight desktop app facilitates the wireless connection to the headset and the headset can be put in kiosk mode, with Vive Business Streaming as its only allowed content. This means I power on the headset, and I'm in SteamVR in seconds. I might have to re-do room setup (takes a few seconds) if lighting conditions have changed since the last time I played, but other than that it just works every time. Streaming is done at 2048x2048 and upscaled to the panels' resolution, so it's not native, but it's still very clear and detailed and text is easily readable. From a consumer point of view, its standalone features are very limited (a handful of games, but mostly business-oriented apps), but there's a built-in video player and movies do look great. If I had to buy another headset today and cost not being a factor, I'd choose the Focus 3 again. I prefer the wireless convenience, field of view and the geometric stability of the dual-element fresnel lenses over something like the Varjo Aero's clarity (which I've also owned, but sold because of quality of life issues I experienced with it). Honestly, I would never buy another wired headset again, no matter the specs.

Thanks for the suggestion. It actually ended up being something stupid; the headset was in kiosk mode with VBS running which caused the issue. It's resolved now.