Do the Valve Knuckles controllers work with the Oculus Rift?
This was a frequently asked question on our latest Valve Knuckles video as you can see
here...
So I decided to find out if it is possible.
The short answer to this is yes, but there is a catch.
Getting them to work with the Rift might not be as easy as it sounds since the Valve Knuckles
uses SteamVR and the HTC VIVE base stations.
However, I figured out how to make this work using a couple of things, which Iíll explain
in this video.
If you are just here to know if it could work, then you already have your answer.
However, if you want to know how to make this work, if it works as it should and if itís
worth it, then stay tuned.
This is a DIVE INTO VR episode where we share our excitement about interesting VR technology
and news.
Subscribe if you havenít yet to see more of these types of videos.
A special shout out goes to Vince & Valve for sending the equipment needed to make this
work!
Thank you so much <3
And now, letís get started.
As you can see we are in the Knuckles tech demo.
Moondust.
And Iím wearing the Oculus Rift with the Knuckles controllers.
And as you can see all the finger gestures work like intended.
All of them ;)
Yeah..
It works pretty well!
Letís see if we can grab stuff as well.
Yes... yes...
Squeeze!
Squeezing works!
This is absolutely great news of course for Oculus Rift users.
Oh!
The rocket is going.
But if you want to see truly what the Knuckles is capable of I recommend watching our previous
Knuckles video where we showed off everything what the Knuckles can do.
I am not going to do that in this video, but Iíll link that video in the description below.
Right now Iím just testing it with the Oculus Rift to see if it works like it should.
Letís go in here.
Woop.
But how do you make this work?
First of all, let me start by saying that these are the Valve Knuckles DV, the dev-kit
version.
This is a version after the EV3 prototypes.
Since this is NOT the consumer version, this guide MIGHT change, so be aware of that.
This video is just to inform you what is possible, but maybe it wonít change and then youíll
be able to use this video as a guide to get started with the Knuckles on your Rift, once
it is released.
So letís talk about the catch.
Since the Knuckles work with SteamVR, SteamVR tracking needs to be in place.
This means that in order to make this work, you need two HTC VIVE Base Stations, which
goes for 134 dollars each.
And then you also need something to pair the controllers with.
Any HTC VIVE headset has the wireless controller dongles inside, so the controllers' pair
with them out of the box.
However, other headsets like the Pimax or Oculus Rift need separate dongles.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this.
You can get two Steam Controller Dongles which you can get for 13 dollars each.
However, those do not work straight out of the box with the Knuckles, you will need to
update the firmware for it to work.
The update itself is free.
Iíll show you how to do that later in this video.
And then, there are a couple of steps on your computer that you need to do to make sure
that everything works.
Like installing the Knuckles drivers and getting Oculus Rift equipment to work with the Base
Stations.
So letís summarize what you need to make this work.
Hardware that you need: 2x HTC VIVE Base Stations
2x Steam Controller Dongles And of course, your Oculus Rift with its Touch
controllers and its sensors.
In this guide, I only use 2 sensors, because thatís all you need.
Software that you need: Steam + SteamVR
Knuckles drivers OpenVR SpaceCalibrator
The good news is that all of this software is free.
And Iím linking everything down below as well.
Now, Iím going to take you with me on what I did to make the Oculus work with the Knuckles.
By showing you the setup I hope to help your decision on whether you think getting the
Knuckles is worth it if you own the Oculus Rift.
This is also probably also the same process if you need the Knuckles to work with other
VR headsets that are not the HTC VIVE headsets.
After the set up Iíll show you more gameplay on the Rift with the Knuckles, and whether
this works with Oculus Home games.
And lastly, Iíll let you know if I think itís worth doing this for the Oculus Rift.
While you are watching this video, please leave a like if you find this video helpful
so far!
Letís continue...
The first step is to download and install Steam if you havenít yet.
I wonít explain how to do that, but Iíll link Steam down in our description.
The next step is to get your SteamVR setup ready.
So you need to connect your base stations.
They do not need to be connected to your PC in any way, they simply need to be plugged
into an electrical socket.
We already have HTC basestations setup as you might know.
We recommend placing them in opposite corners of your room, placed high up facing down.
They have to be able to see each other.
Then, one of them needs to be on channel b and one of them on channel c.
You do this by pressig the button on the back to cycle through the channels.
Once the light at the top of the basestations turns green you are ready to move on to the
next steps.
Step number 2.
Connect the Oculus Rift and the Oculus Sensors to your PC.
We only used 2 sensors for this to work.
You donít need the 3rd sensor to get 360 tracking with this method.
Step number 3.
Install SteamVR, start it and finish the tutorial if necessary.
Not going to explain how to install SteamVR, since itís pretty straight forward.
I did link it in the description.
If you have started SteamVR and donít see anything working yet, donít worry, thatís
correct.
The basestations will NOT show up on SteamVR until something is paired, turned on, and
tracking in your play area.
Step number 4.
Opt-in for the BETA of SteamVR like this.
Then install the Knuckles drivers, you can manually install these drivers by downloading
them from the ìToolsî section of the Steam Library.
They are called the ìSteamVR Knuckles Driverî.
Close SteamVR for now.
Step number 5.
Now we are going to update the Steam Controller Dongles.
We are converting them to Watchman Dongles which is what we need to pair the Knuckles
controllers.
After youíve done this, you can also use the dongle to pair other things like the HTC
VIVE trackers to get full body tracking on the Rift for example.
Please be aware that I donít know how to convert them back to Steam Controller Dongles.
So if you are using an actual Steam Controller with your Dongle, you might not want to do
this and get an extra dongle for this purpose instead.
So to update them, you need the latest watchman update which is available in the SteamVR Tracking
Hardware Developer Kit (or HDK).
You can probably get the watchman dongle update in another way as well, but this is how I
did it.
So to get it, you will have to apply on Steam as a developer, which is fairly easy to do.
I did it myself as well with my Steam account.
Visit partner.steamgames.com and login with your Steam account.
Click on Sign up for the SteamVR Tracking License
Read all the text, and if you accept, continue by entering your information until you reach
the page confirming that you are a SteamVR Tracking Licensee.
Now you can open Steam again and select Library > Software.
Now you can install the SteamVR Tracking HDK.
Make sure you do that.
Step number 7.
Now you can find the watchman_dongle firmware in your Steam folder under:
\steamapps\common\SteamVR Tracking HDK\firmware\dongle\watchman_dongle.bin
Plug-in ONE Steam Controller Dongle that you want to update.
Open command prompt.
And use this command.
This depends on where your Steam is installed.
Mine is installed in my C Drive, if yours is as well then your paths will most likely
be the same as mine and youíll be able to copy this command exactly.
Iíve also put it down below in the description.
Just make sure you use the lighthouse_watchman_update.exe and the watchman_dongle.bin files from the
HDK folders.
If you see this in the command prompt, then it means it worked!
Do this for both Steam Controller Dongles.
Now if you start SteamVR, you wonít notice that anything has changed.
This is because we now need to change some settings in SteamVR to allow the VIVE Base
Stations to work alongside with the Oculus Rift.
This is turned off by default.
To do this, open SteamVRís local directory.
Locate the following configuration file and open it with a text editor
The file is called default.vrsettings.
I use notepad++ to edit, but you can also use your regular notepad.
Press CTRL +F on your keyboard.
Search for the ìrequireHmdî key under ìsteamvrî, set the value of this key to ìfalseî.
Search for the ìactivateMultipleDriversî key under ìsteamvrî, set the value of this
key to ìtrueî.
In the description I linked a .vrsettings file that I am using here, so is tested as
functional.
Save this default.vrsettings file and close If SteamVR is running, close and restart it
When SteamVR restarts, you will see that it is now possible to connect a tracker or controller
without the HMD.
Step 8.
Plug one of the Steam Controller Dongles in.
Now Right-click SteamVR > Pair Controller > Now Pair Knuckles Controllers per instruction.
Do this with both Knuckles Controllers.
Now connect your Oculus Rift.
Restart SteamVR.
Turn on your Knuckles Controllers with the Steam Controller dongles plugged in.
You will now see that they are paired and showing up on the SteamVR window!
Including the Base Stations.
They all work together now.
Step number 9.
You will, however, see that your Oculus guardian system and the SteamVR chaperone system do
not get along very well.
So you will need to calibrate this to make it work.
The good news is that this is also the last step before you can get playing!
You can calibrate the guardian system using the free tool: OpenVR SpaceCalibrator.
Download and install OpenVR SpaceCalibrator with SteamVR closed.
Link down below of course.
Once installed, you can turn on SteamVR again and you will be able to open SPACE CAL from
within the SteamVR Overlay.
Donít turn on the Knuckles yet here.
Open SPACE CAL first and click ìCopy Chaperone Bounds to Profileî with your Oculus Touch
controller.
Now, turn on the first Knuckles controller that you want to calibrate.
It will show up in a completely different place than you would expect at this moment.
Donít worry, this is correct.
Open SPACE CAL within the SteamVR overlay and select the Oculus Touch controller that
you are using and the Knuckles controller.
Start the calibration by clicking this button while holding both selected devices in one
hand and move it around like an 8.
The Knuckles controller should snap into the correct place when the calibration is finished
and the calibration will be automatically saved.
So you only have to do this once!
The calibration will be applied to the other ones automatically.
So just turn on your other Knuckles controller and you are ready to go!
Once you got everything setup, it will work as you can see here.
Totally in love with this song, so letís do this one...
Iím playing Beat Saber here.
I actually really enjoy playing Beat Saber with the Knuckles controllers.
Iíve said it before, but I think it just feels right.
Plus the fact that you can let go of the controller without any trouble is just great.
It makes you feel more relaxed holding the controllers.
And the menu button is positioned just that far enough away to not make me mistakingly
hit it.
Beat Saber players will know.
So I also wanted to test out whether the Knuckles controllers work with Oculus exclusive games.
So I tried using ReVive to play Robo Recall.
Knuckles legacy defaults plus thumbstick for touchpad.
Letís try it out as the default.
Ok so, actually the grips when I squeeze it it presses the grips.
When I squeeze it super softly, it already presses it.
A. Okay, so the buttons are the same too.
Thumbstick works.
The touchpad is mapped a little bit differently.
Like Iím touching the touchpad on the Knuckles now and itís using the grip buttons with
the Oculus.
It is nice that I can see this though.
It is very nice.
I think Iím actually able to play this.
And it turns out ReVive has some bindings for the Knuckles controllers too.
This means that you can play any Oculus games with the Knuckles as long as it is supported
with ReVive.
If this isnít, you can try and rebind the keys yourself using SteamVRís built-in controller
configurator.
Of course, this doesnít bring the separate finger animations that you saw during the
Knuckles demo since developers of a game need to add to that their game themselves as a
feature.
However, I am pleased to see that I can use the Knuckles with the Rift with any Knuckles
supported VR games.
Right now, as said in the previous video, there arenít many games out yet that support
the Knuckles completely.
But I have no doubt that most developers will add support for the Knuckles once it is released
for consumers.
I donít think Oculus exclusive games will add this support though in the future.
So do I think it will be worth it to pay about 300 dollars more to play with the Knuckles
on the Rift without even counting the price that the Knuckles will cost?
I donít think itíll be worth it if you do NOT have the VIVE base stations yet and if
you donít have more reasons to get the VIVE base stations.
It might be worth it to think about this if you are looking to get the HTC VIVE trackers
for good full body tracking for example.
Since youíll need the same hardware if you want to use the VIVE trackers with the Rift.
The setup is the same too, and once youíve done it you can use the Steam controller dongles
for both purposes.
I also think itíll be only be worth it if you plan on playing a lot of VR games on Steam
too since I think the Knuckles will work the best with Steam VR games and maybe not so
much with Oculus Exclusives.
So if you have multiple reasons to get the VIVE base stations, then it might be worth
it to think about this option.
It might also be worth it If you already have the VIVE base stations.
Because then only for the price of the Steam controller dongles of 13 dollars each and
the still-to-be-announced price of the Knuckles, youíll get yourself a beautifully designed
controller for VR.
So what did you all think of the Knuckles with the Oculus Rift.
If it were you, would you get the Knuckles for your Oculus Rift even though you have
to buy the HTC VIVE base stations separately?
So you would have to put more money in just to play with the Knuckles?
Would you do it or not?
Let us know the reasons why down below because we are already curious to hearing your thoughts
as well.
This is also the end of this video.
Thank you all for watching because that is the biggest support that you can give us.
And a special shout out goes to artArmin, our right hand Patron.
Thank you so much for your support.
And a special shout out goes to his Patreon page as well.
And as always VR on!