Creating Haptics For Cross Platform

However, some small changes to project settings/scene are necessary before building for different platforms.
Don’t worry it’s very simple and we got everything covered in this blog, the three main areas we’ll look at are:

1. Designing Haptics in Haptic Studio and integrating it in Unity with the Haptics SDK
   
   
2. Building for Quest devices and other PCVR headsets
   
   

• Emphasis: which is a short momentary haptic feedback. While the other parameter controls continuous vibration, emphasis lasts only for a 10th of a sec. The values of these also range from 0 to 1.
  

Now to create and design the haptics, we can start by importing audio files. But why audio files?
Because haptics are often paired with or inspired by sound effects and it also speeds up the design process.

• Importing files is as simple as dragging and dropping the audio files into Haptics Studio and it will automatically generate corresponding haptic effects.

• To test the Haptics, make sure your devices are paired → Put on your headset → select a haptic clip to play → press the UI play button or the B/Y buttons on your controllers.

Most of the time the design generated by the software can be used as is. However, if you want to edit or fine-tune the design, you can do so by adjusting the parameters in the Design tab.
You can learn more about it here.

• The HapticsDemo script is a Unity C# class that controls both audio playback and haptic feedback using the Oculus Haptics SDK package.
• It defines a list of HapticNAudio structs, each containing an audio clip and a corresponding haptic clip.
• The script sets up a haptic player for each clip and plays either the audio, the haptic feedback, or both based on user input.
• The SetupPlayer method initializes the audio source and haptic clip player for a specific clip.
• The Play, Stop, PlayNextClip, and PlayPreviousClip methods handle the playback and navigation of these clips.
• There are also boolean variables, leftController and rightController, that let the script determine which controller (left, right, or both) should receive the haptic feedback.
• Additionally, the script has toggle methods to update these controller preferences.
• The script interfaces with Unity’s AudioSource and Oculus haptic feedback system to synchronize the haptic sensations with audio.

The last few steps here is to Assigning UI Functions.

• Create an empty GameObject → name it Haptics Demo → add the HapticsDemo script to it.

• Import the Audio and Haptics Files and reference it inside the Haptics Demo component

• Add an Audio Source component and reference it inside the Haptics Demo component

• Navigate inside HapticPlayerUI → ButtonShelf → Buttons → select all the buttons → add an event to the On Click() event call back list → reference Haptics Demo gameobject.

• Now select each of the button individually and from the drop - down select haptics demo and assign the respective functions.

• Then navigate inside the other Button → select just the Left and Right Controller Toggle buttons → add an event to the On Value Click() event call back list →reference Haptics Demo gameobject.

• For the Left controller, from the drop-down select Haptics demo and select Toggle Left Controller. Similarly, for the right controller select Toggle Right Controller

Now to make sure that you can interact with this canvas,

• Right-click on your hierarchy → navigate inside UI → add Event System.
• Then click on add component and add the Pointable Canvas Module component
  

Make sure that your headset is connected to your computer using cable.

• Then navigate inside File → Build Settings → Add Open Scene → click on Build and Run.

• Create a new folder called as Builds → give your APK a name and click on save.

Once the app get’s successfully built onto your headset, test it by interacting with the UI buttons. I’m sure you’ll be able to feel the haptics on your controllers. It’s really amazing to see how well the audio and the haptic files are synced together

• First navigate inside Windows → Package Manager → select Unity Registry and scroll down till you find Oculus XR Plugin and remove it.

• Then, select Open XR Plugin and install this package
  During installation you'll get a popup asking if you want to enable The Meta XR Feature Set click on Cancel .

• Next, go to File → Build Settings → select Windows as the platform and switch the platform.

• Then navigate inside Player Settings → XR Plugin Management and select Open XR as the plugin provider.

• Select Open XR and add some of the interaction profiles like Oculus touch controller profile, Meta Quest Touch Pro Controller profile, HTC Vive controller profile and Valve Index Controller profile

• Then, go inside the project validation tool, there you’ll see some of the recommended settings and issues which you can fix by clicking on Fix All.

So with that we have set up our project for PCVR

Now to build and test the application,

• Make sure you have you PCVR connected and setup with SteamVR.
• Then navigate inside File → Build Settings → Add Open Scene → click on Build and Run.
• Create a new folder called as PCBuilds and select that folder as the build location.

Once it’s done building it’ll launch on your headset. You can test it by interacting with the UI buttons like before.

Also, as mentioned earlier, you’ll probably not feel the change in frequency but only the change in amplitude.