Today's update separates the Dashboard functionality into a separate app (called Virtual Desktop Dashboard) which will now appear under Tools in Steam. This will solve the issue of Virtual Desktop always appearing as running in Steam, failing to start or being prompted to choose what mode to start it in. This change also gets rid of the launch dialog when starting Virtual Desktop. Note that if you need to run the Environment Editor, you can find it in the installation directory and launch it manually from there.

I've also reduced the GPU Usage when Virtual Desktop is in the background and another VR app is running.

- Fixed mouse lag when watching 360 videos/photos
- Intersecting the Open dialog while playing a video will keep the UI visible

Thanks!

Today's update separates the Dashboard functionality into a separate app (called Virtual Desktop Dashboard) which will now appear under Tools in Steam. This will solve the issue of Virtual Desktop always appearing as running in Steam, failing to start or being prompted to choose what mode to start it in. This change also gets rid of the launch dialog when starting Virtual Desktop. Note that if you need to run the Environment Editor, you can find it in the installation directory and launch it manually from there.

I've also reduced the GPU Usage when Virtual Desktop is in the background and another VR app is running.

- Fixed mouse lag when watching 360 videos/photos
- Intersecting the Open dialog while playing a video will keep the UI visible

Thanks!

Starting with version 1.8, new updates will now be announced and pushed to the Beta branch for a few days before making it to the public branch. This will allow you to revert to a working state in case something isn't working as expected and give me time to fix any issues I might have missed.

Now onto the new features in this release!

The latest Oculus SDK added new layers that lets us draw user interfaces at a higher quality. The screen in Virtual Desktop now uses this new feature which improves image clarity. The Mip Mapping option has been split into 2 different options: one for the screen and one for the environment. This gives you better anti-aliasing control.

Windows Mixed Reality headsets are now officially supported. You can configure button mappings in the Bindings tab. The Win + Y banner will now disappear when Virtual Desktop starts up. Make sure to install the latest Windows updates to fix stability issues.

The video player now features a compact mode toggle which will reduce the size of the window when playing videos. Elapsed and remaining times have also been added.


Anaglyph is now a supported 3D mode. This is useful to play 3D games using Nvidia 3D Vision configured to use Discover glasses.

Virtual Desktop now supports English, French, German and Japanese. This includes displayed text, messages, voice commands and vocal feedback. You can change the language with the small flag button in the upper right corner. Other languages will be added in the future.


When trying different options it is always nice to see how it impacts the performance of your system. If you have the latest Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you'll see a new GPU Utilization indicator at the bottom of the window. This lets you know how much GPU Virtual Desktop is currently using.

• Fixed issue where controller clicks would sometimes stop working
  
• Mouse clicks and wheel scrolls now keep the overlay active
  
• Fixed fake Dash monitor appearing when Multi-Monitor was enabled on Rift
  
• Fixed performance drop introduced in the 1.7 update
  
• Fixed environment sounds not stopping when switching environment
  
• Fixed controller interaction with screen to be more accurate and work with the Head Lock feature
  
• Fixed laser pointers orientation to be more natural with WMR, Vive and Rift headsets
  
• Fixed errors at startup on some systems
  
• Removed Allow Injection option on Windows 10 since it is now obsolete
  
• Removed SBS Direct modes since they no longer worked with recent SDKs
  

Starting with version 1.8, new updates will now be announced and pushed to the Beta branch for a few days before making it to the public branch. This will allow you to revert to a working state in case something isn't working as expected and give me time to fix any issues I might have missed.

Now onto the new features in this release!

The latest Oculus SDK added new layers that lets us draw user interfaces at a higher quality. The screen in Virtual Desktop now uses this new feature which improves image clarity. The Mip Mapping option has been split into 2 different options: one for the screen and one for the environment. This gives you better anti-aliasing control.

Windows Mixed Reality headsets are now officially supported. You can configure button mappings in the Bindings tab. The Win + Y banner will now disappear when Virtual Desktop starts up. Make sure to install the latest Windows updates to fix stability issues.

The video player now features a compact mode toggle which will reduce the size of the window when playing videos. Elapsed and remaining times have also been added.


Anaglyph is now a supported 3D mode. This is useful to play 3D games using Nvidia 3D Vision configured to use Discover glasses.

Virtual Desktop now supports English, French, German and Japanese. This includes displayed text, messages, voice commands and vocal feedback. You can change the language with the small flag button in the upper right corner. Other languages will be added in the future.


When trying different options it is always nice to see how it impacts the performance of your system. If you have the latest Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you'll see a new GPU Utilization indicator at the bottom of the window. This lets you know how much GPU Virtual Desktop is currently using.

• Fixed issue where controller clicks would sometimes stop working
  
• Mouse clicks and wheel scrolls now keep the overlay active
  
• Fixed fake Dash monitor appearing when Multi-Monitor was enabled on Rift
  
• Fixed performance drop introduced in the 1.7 update
  
• Fixed environment sounds not stopping when switching environment
  
• Fixed controller interaction with screen to be more accurate and work with the Head Lock feature
  
• Fixed laser pointers orientation to be more natural with WMR, Vive and Rift headsets
  
• Fixed errors at startup on some systems
  
• Removed Allow Injection option on Windows 10 since it is now obsolete
  
• Removed SBS Direct modes since they no longer worked with recent SDKs
  

There are a couple issues with the new WMR headsets that prevent Virtual Desktop from being a worthwhile experience. Mainly controller interaction with the desktop and stability. This announcement is to let you know that those issues are being looked into. I am working with Microsoft to have those resolved as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

There are a couple issues with the new WMR headsets that prevent Virtual Desktop from being a worthwhile experience. Mainly controller interaction with the desktop and stability. This announcement is to let you know that those issues are being looked into. I am working with Microsoft to have those resolved as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

You can now remap controller buttons in the Bindings tab. With Rift you can also remap Xbox controller bindings; just make sure to enable Xbox Controller in the headset options and ensure you Xbox controller is paired.


When you go into the Virtual Desktop SteamVR Dashboard, you now have a button that lets you launch the main app if it isn't started already. This allows you to switch between the two interfaces easily.

You can now create and use stereo panorama environments. These can be created from Ansel 360 stereo screenshots of your favorite games. In addition, stereo cubemaps and stereo panoramas can use HDR images. 48bits PNGs are recommended.

Version 1.7 uses Oculus SDK 1.20 with Rift and is now compatible with Oculus Dash; It will allow Dash overlays to show up within your environment and have the proper depth cues. Work is being done to integrate the new timewarp layers (cylindrical, cubemap) which will help increase image accuracy. This will be part of a future update.

• Now detecting corrupt service installations and fixing them automatically
  
• Support for keyboard media keys in video player
  
• Fixed the "Unable to query monitors" error
  
• Fixed audio glitches on some machines
  
• Fixed performance drop with Mip Mapping on Rift
  
• Fixed Oculus Touch controller tilt when using SteamVR
  
• Stability improvements

As always, let me know if you experience any issues.
Enjoy!

You can now remap controller buttons in the Bindings tab. With Rift you can also remap Xbox controller bindings; just make sure to enable Xbox Controller in the headset options and ensure you Xbox controller is paired.


When you go into the Virtual Desktop SteamVR Dashboard, you now have a button that lets you launch the main app if it isn't started already. This allows you to switch between the two interfaces easily.

You can now create and use stereo panorama environments. These can be created from Ansel 360 stereo screenshots of your favorite games. In addition, stereo cubemaps and stereo panoramas can use HDR images. 48bits PNGs are recommended.

Version 1.7 uses Oculus SDK 1.20 with Rift and is now compatible with Oculus Dash; It will allow Dash overlays to show up within your environment and have the proper depth cues. Work is being done to integrate the new timewarp layers (cylindrical, cubemap) which will help increase image accuracy. This will be part of a future update.

• Now detecting corrupt service installations and fixing them automatically
  
• Support for keyboard media keys in video player
  
• Fixed the "Unable to query monitors" error
  
• Fixed audio glitches on some machines
  
• Fixed performance drop with Mip Mapping on Rift
  
• Fixed Oculus Touch controller tilt when using SteamVR
  
• Stability improvements

As always, let me know if you experience any issues.
Enjoy!

The Virtual Desktop Dashboard replaces the original SteamVR Desktop Dashboard. It renders your monitors at full framerate, allows interaction with Touch gestures (swipe to scroll, pinch to zoom, etc.) and lets you to cycle through each monitor (using the left AppMenu button with Vive or Y with Rift). In addition, one of your monitor can be detached (hold grip), resized (hold both grips) and remain as an overlay in any of your favorite SteamVR games. This will work with Vive, OSVR, Pimax and WMR headsets. To use SteamVR with Rift, use the /ForceOpenVR command line argument when starting Virtual Desktop with Steam.



Part of this release is a re-architected capture engine which allows you to see and interact with UAC prompts and lock screens in VR. Monitors can now be added or removed without requiring to restart Virtual Desktop. HDR monitors with their full color gamut are now supported.

360 Photos taken with your Android phone can now be viewed in Virtual Desktop’s Photos tab. Embedded audio tracks are also supported.


The video player now features a Playback Rate setting which allows you to slow down or speed up your videos. In addition, the Fisheye projection has been improved (it is now a proper fisheye projection).


Environment sounds now support MP3, AAC and other common formats in addition to Wav files.

• Fixed controller interaction issue where clicks would sometimes stop working
  
• The Oculus Store window will no longer open when using a Vive or running with /ForceOpenVR
  
• The On-Screen keyboard is now configured to work with Virtual Desktop automatically
  
• The context menus and message boxes are now themed appropriately
  
• Removed Platform Update requirement on Windows 7
  
• Added initial status message when downloading videos
  
• Improved application startup speed

As always, let me know if you experience any issues or have suggestions!

The Virtual Desktop Dashboard replaces the original SteamVR Desktop Dashboard. It renders your monitors at full framerate, allows interaction with Touch gestures (swipe to scroll, pinch to zoom, etc.) and lets you to cycle through each monitor (using the left AppMenu button with Vive or Y with Rift). In addition, one of your monitor can be detached (hold grip), resized (hold both grips) and remain as an overlay in any of your favorite SteamVR games. This will work with Vive, OSVR, Pimax and WMR headsets. To use SteamVR with Rift, use the /ForceOpenVR command line argument when starting Virtual Desktop with Steam.



Part of this release is a re-architected capture engine which allows you to see and interact with UAC prompts and lock screens in VR. Monitors can now be added or removed without requiring to restart Virtual Desktop. HDR monitors with their full color gamut are now supported.

360 Photos taken with your Android phone can now be viewed in Virtual Desktop’s Photos tab. Embedded audio tracks are also supported.


The video player now features a Playback Rate setting which allows you to slow down or speed up your videos. In addition, the Fisheye projection has been improved (it is now a proper fisheye projection).


Environment sounds now support MP3, AAC and other common formats in addition to Wav files.

• Fixed controller interaction issue where clicks would sometimes stop working
  
• The Oculus Store window will no longer open when using a Vive or running with /ForceOpenVR
  
• The On-Screen keyboard is now configured to work with Virtual Desktop automatically
  
• The context menus and message boxes are now themed appropriately
  
• Removed Platform Update requirement on Windows 7
  
• Added initial status message when downloading videos
  
• Improved application startup speed

As always, let me know if you experience any issues or have suggestions!