Sitrec VR

[Mick West]

Something I've been meaning to do for a while is get Stirec working in VR so you can see exactly what the observer would see from that vantage point. I've now got a basic system working, with a bunch of bugs, but already useful.

You just load Sitrec in your headset's browser (Here I'm using a Meta Quest 3), then click on "Enter VR". It will take your headset to the look camera position (i.e. the simulated viewpoint normally on the right of the screen).

The example above is a very simple reproduction of Fravor's encounter, based on his verbal description. You see the Tic-Tac about 20 seconds in, and a 300 ft patch of water

VR is good because it gives you the actual optical size of objects. The Tic-Tac is visible from 20,000 feet. But shape and details are not very clear. Unfortunately, it's limited by the resolution of the headset. An Apple Vision Pro would be better than the Meta Quest

I'll refine this over time. I need to figure out how to script/edit the motion of both objects to match the full narrative - and then maybe set it to his JRE interview audio.

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...aws.com/1/Fravor Encounter/20251129_005045.js

 

[jarlrmai]

Hi Mick will this only be for all in one headsets or will PC connected headsets like the Vive / index etc work?

 

[Mick West]

will PC connected headsets like the Vive / index etc work

In theory, any headset with a browser that supports WebXR should work.

In practice, I don't know. Do you (or anyone) have one?

 

[jarlrmai]

In theory, any headset with a browser that supports WebXR should work.

In practice, I don't know. Do you (or anyone) have one?

I have an old HTC Vive, but I've not got it setup at the moment and my office is currently full of gear for my trip.

But some googling says it should work

Your comment about resolution is the main issue VR recreation will have with a lot of UFO sightings, things will have often been very small to the human eye (otherwise they probably wouldn't be UFOs..) and a lot of earler/lower end VR devices do not have high enough resolution for it, this was a problem VR simmers had for things like DCS and racing games, there just wasn't enough resolution for them to see things well enough.

Been a while since I've read anything about VR so things may be better now.

 

[jimmyslippin]

Valve Index owner here.

I don't get an ENTER VR prompt at all.

I tried using the following browsers on Windows 10:
Chrome: 142.0.7444.176
Edge: 142.0.3595.94

I have no problem running any of the WebXR content here:
https://immersiveweb.dev/

 

[Mick West]

Valve Index owner here.

I don't get an ENTER VR prompt at all.

Oops, I had a rather restrictive check for VR browsers. Fixed. Refresh and try it now.

 

[jimmyslippin]

Oops, I had a rather restrictive check for VR browsers. Fixed. Refresh and try it now.

Yup, that fixed it.

Can confirm that it works with the Valve Index.

 

[Mick West]

Your comment about resolution is the main issue VR recreation will have with a lot of UFO sightings, things will have often been very small to the human eye (otherwise they probably wouldn't be UFOs..) and a lot of earler/lower end VR devices do not have high enough resolution for it, this was a problem VR simmers had for things like DCS and racing games, there just wasn't enough resolution for them to see things well enough.

You can see things, just not much detail. A good example is the Lake Michigan legacy sitch.
https://pro.x.com/i/decks/1692398562506850325

Here's the desktop view

Now this is obviously zoomed in with the phone video, but would have been something they saw with the naked eye first. In VR I could only just see it as a moving white dot. I recorded a video of me looking at it, and uploaded it to YouTube:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCVBdnF9WdA

Now, I can see the plane in the video I downloaded, but it's not visible in the above video. Here's a cropped zoom of the original.

 

[Mick West]

Yup, that fixed it.

Can confirm that it works with the Valve Index.

Excellent! If you load the Lake Michigan Sitch (Under the Sitrec/Legacy Sitches menu) can you see the plane (see above for where to look)

Menus are a bit fiddly.

 

[jimmyslippin]

Excellent! If you load the Lake Michigan Sitch (Under the Sitrec/Legacy Sitches menu) can you see the plane (see above for where to look)

Menus are a bit fiddly.

I'm on it. Will update my comment in a bit with my findings.

Edit: Yup, I can see it. It's actually pretty noticeable so I am curious as to why it didn't show up in the video. It's very small, but bright and also has a scintillating appearance. That may be a result of the low resolution of the Valve Index (1440 x 1600 per eye). FPS was pretty solid between 100-120.

I'd capture a video of what I can see but WebXR content just launches straight in the headset and I'm not immediately sure on how to record it.

 

[Mick West]

Edit: Yup, I can see it. It's actually pretty noticeable so I am curious as to why it didn't show up in the video. It's very small, but bright and also has a scintillating appearance. That may be a result of the low resolution of the Valve Index (1440 x 1600 per eye). FPS was pretty solid between 100-120.

Nice, thanks. Yeah, the resolution can make things scintillate. It actually makes the stars look kind of realistic sometimes. (When they render the right size - lots of quirky bugs with VR)

 

[jimmyslippin]

Nice, thanks.

No problem. Just flick me a request if you need something tested in the future, always happy to help out.