jMonkeyEngine-wiki/docs/modules/core/pages/vr/virtualrealitycontrollers.adoc

= Virtual Reality Controllers
:revnumber: 1.0
:revdate: 2021/12/29

Having successfully seen a VR cube in the xref:vr/virtualreality.adoc[Virtual reality hello world] a common next step is to put hands in the world so players can start interacting.

== Where are we, what are we pointing at

Be aware that the controllers positions and rotations are in world coordinates, not relative to the camera

To get the number of controllers:

    vrAppState.getVRinput().getTrackedControllerCount(); //very likely to be 2, for the 2 hands but this is not guaranteed

To get the position of a controller:

    vrAppState.getVRinput().getFinalObserverPosition(i);
	
To get the orientation of the controller:

	vrAppState.getVRinput().getFinalObserverRotation(i)
	
It is also possible to get the controller pose, which is a combination of position and rotation.

== Buttons

To get the button press states with the following method:

    VRInputAPI vrInput = vrAppState.getVRinput();
    boolean grip = vrInput.isButtonDown(i, VRInputType.ViveGripButton); //<--Don't worry about the way it says "Vive", anything that supports SteamVR/OpenVR will work with this

The above assumes you are using SteamVR/OpenVR (aka set your settings as `settings.put(VRConstants.SETTING_VRAPI, VRConstants.SETTING_VRAPI_OPENVR_LWJGL_VALUE)` )

== Feedback

To make the controllers rumble:

    VRInputAPI vrInput = vrAppState.getVRinput();
    vrInput.triggerHapticPulse(i, 0.3f);

== Sample Application

[source,java]
----
public class Main extends SimpleApplication{

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        AppSettings settings = new AppSettings(true);
        settings.put(VRConstants.SETTING_VRAPI, VRConstants.SETTING_VRAPI_OPENVR_LWJGL_VALUE);

        VREnvironment env = new VREnvironment(settings);

        env.initialize();

        if (env.isInitialized()){
            VRAppState vrAppState = new VRAppState(settings, env);

            Main app = new Main(vrAppState);
            app.setLostFocusBehavior(LostFocusBehavior.Disabled);
            app.setSettings(settings);
            app.setShowSettings(false);
            app.start();
        }
    }

    public Main(AppState... appStates) {
        super(appStates);
    }

    @Override
    public void simpleInitApp() {
        Box b = new Box(1, 1, 1);
        Geometry geom = new Geometry("Box", b);

        Material mat = new Material(assetManager, "Common/MatDefs/Misc/Unshaded.j3md");
        mat.setColor("Color", ColorRGBA.Blue);
        geom.setMaterial(mat);

        rootNode.attachChild(geom);
    }

    List<Geometry> handGeometries = new ArrayList<>();

    @Override
    public void simpleUpdate(float tpf) {
        VRAppState vrAppState = getStateManager().getState(VRAppState.class);
        int numberOfControllers = vrAppState.getVRinput().getTrackedControllerCount(); //almost certainly 2, one for each hand

        //build as many geometries as hands, as markers for the demo (Will only tigger on first loop or if number of controllers changes)
        while(handGeometries.size()<numberOfControllers){
            Box b = new Box(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f);
            Geometry handMarker = new Geometry("hand", b);
            Material mat = new Material(assetManager, "Common/MatDefs/Misc/Unshaded.j3md");
            mat.setColor("Color", ColorRGBA.Red);
            handMarker.setMaterial(mat);
            rootNode.attachChild(handMarker);
            handGeometries.add(handMarker);
        }

        VRInputAPI vrInput = vrAppState.getVRinput();
        for(int i=0;i<numberOfControllers;i++){
            if (vrInput.isInputDeviceTracking(i)){ //might not be active currently, avoid NPE if that's the case
                Vector3f position = vrInput.getFinalObserverPosition(i);
                Quaternion rotation = vrInput.getFinalObserverRotation(i);

                Geometry geometry = handGeometries.get(i);
                geometry.setLocalTranslation(position);
                geometry.setLocalRotation(rotation);
                boolean grip = vrInput.isButtonDown(i, VRInputType.ViveGripButton); //<--Don't worry about the way it says "Vive", anything that supports SteamVR/OpenVR will work with this

                if (grip){
                    geometry.getMaterial().setColor("Color", ColorRGBA.Green);
                }else{
                    geometry.getMaterial().setColor("Color", ColorRGBA.Red);
                }

                boolean trigger = vrInput.wasButtonPressedSinceLastCall(i, VRInputType.ViveTriggerAxis);
                if (trigger){
                    vrInput.triggerHapticPulse(i, 0.3f);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
----