LEAP Motion Controllers are working in SteamVR! How-To Guide
Updated Video 5/14/16
GET READY LEAP MOTION OWNERS! It’s now your time!
As I posted in a previous article, SteamVR has opened up their software package to allowing multiple third-party drivers to work within their system. This means that people owning controllers such as the Razer Hydra & LEAP Motion can now sync up and play (however oddly) their most anticipated games!
Of course support for these controllers can be finicky to say the least and you can never really expect them to perform as well as the proper hardware, still, it is better for those of us whom do not have any other choice. Simply put, anyone with a Leap Motion, and either a cell phone, OSVR, DK2, or even, CV1, can now walk around Valve’s “The Lab” and enjoy it’s beauty!
During my video demo I show off the Leap Motion driver in SteamVR playin “The Lab”, “Space Pirate Trainer”, “Hover Junkers”, & “Giant Cop”. I also spend time going through the basics on how-to install and setup the drivers. Once your ready to go it takes a few minutes to get used to the controls which I’ve also listed at the bottom of this article.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE
1. Make sure you have the most up-to-date Orion Beta (VR) installed using the LEAP Motion SDK download available through there website! – Leap Motion Orion SDK V3.1.2 – Page Link
2. Make sure you have installed SteamVR! This should be an easy step) SteamVR Page Link
3. Go to GitHub and download the most current Alpha Release – at this time it is #3 – (this includes button emulation)
If you plan on making your own modifications and would like the master files then follow the link below:
Here are the Leap Motion “Vive” controls from cbuchner on GitHub
Trigger:
- bending of the index finger maps to the trigger button, like you would fire a gun.
Grip:
- clenching the middle, ring, pinky finger to a fist maps to the grabbing buttons
Trackpad:
- the thumbpress gesture (just point the thumb in the direction of your palm) touches and clicks the trackpad, depending on the intensity of your gesture.
- pointing the index finger towards the are of the other hand’s palm will emulate the touchpad. To press the touchpad in the desired position use the tumbpress gesture simultaneously while pointing.
Menu buttons:
- Flat hand held in front of you, palm towards face is used for application menu button
- the Timeout pose (as used in sports), registers as the system menu button
By chance you own a multiple controller inputs steam vr will allow them to work together! Check out this gif image of myself using the Razer Hydra in tandem with the Leap Motion in SteamVR. I can imagine if you also owned a vive that those controllers would also show up as usable options as well!
Thanks a lot for checking out this article! I hope you found it interesting and informative! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments either below or on one of my social outlets! I really appreciate it. Also, if you think that you have something article worthy let me know! I love collaborating with the community! Thanks again!
of the VR Spies www.vrspies.com
Hi,
I have tried to get this working, I followed yours and the developers, identical instructions but still no controllers showing in steamvr ?
Any ideas? My leap works fine with my DK2 in other apps.
When I looked for the rgister_driver.cmd as mentioned by the develop, it did not exsist?
In the driver the folders the gesture checker works and tracks my every move but Steamvr does not see it 🙁
Do I need to change the install path perhaps?
Any ideas, much appreciated.
Keep up the good work of spreading the VR news…..
Hey Reine, Let’s see if we can’t figure this out!
Did you enable multiple drivers in the steamvr.vrsettings file? (Changing False to True) It is located here (https://youtu.be/_0fwxkL5lj0?t=997)
Basically if this is done, any driver added to the directory should then work)
Hope this helps!
I too have found no luck with this. The value was already set to “True” when I went into the steamvr.vrsettings file as well…
Hi,
Thanks for the response. Nope I didn’t enable multiple drivers (was this step mentioned?)
I’ll try again tonight and let you know how I get on.
Thanks again, Reine..
Hiya,
Unfortunately that line does not exist in my steamvr.vrsettings?
Should I add it?
Thanks,
Reine
Sweet…..
I deleted my vrsettigs restarted, no new settings? Opened settings and closed. New vrsettigs file appeared! Added the multiple river line and all’s good!!! Thanks for this ?
Everything works great for me using your instructions except that up to a certain point when playing any vive game the screen in my dk2 goes into that black loading screen with the hour glass and stays like that while on my computer screen it still shows I’m in game. Would you happen to know what might be causing this? I’m thinking it has nothing to do with the leap motion though I haven’t had the time to troubleshoot anything yet.
Either way this is really cool that you brought new life into the dk2. Thanks for sharing this.
Hey man, I noticed this happens when my PC seems to be running out of resources and or if I am out of tracking for too long. IDK exactly what the issue is, but I know that when I simply click out of the game using the STEAMVR menu I can just go right back into it without having to restart anything else.) Hope this helps, Thanks a lot for the comment man) Glad you are having some fun!!! 😀
When going to the driver page, it now shows #3. I’ve been on the page when it was as high as 6. 6 didn’t work at all. Trying 3 the controllers show up, but when trying to launch a steamvr game, it only shows up in a window (not the Rift CV1)
I installed the v3 driver, but can’t un-install it to use the new v8 (doesn’t show up on program removal list) ! ;—-;
Thanks! It’s certainly better than force closing steamvr lol. I figured that it had something to do with my hardware not being up to par. Gtx 970 but amd phenom ii 3.6ghz
Have you tried using OSVR and SteamVR Driver for OSVR instead? https://github.com/OSVR/SteamVR-OSVR
step 3 – Alpha release #8
this link will show the releases rather than forcing you to download #3
https://github.com/cbuchner1/driver_leap/releases
Hi.
i follow all the above steps .
my problem is when not connect oculus cv1. steam vr can find the controllers .
and when i plugin the cv1 , there ‘s only the controllers can’t auto find the cv1
after i reboot the steam vr ,it can find the cv1 ,but can ‘t find the controllers .
any one have meet the same problem ?
can the leap motion driver work with cv1 ?
Hope for helps!
i’ve find the error .
when i add the “activateMultipleDrivers” : true, i used a “，”,this cause the config file parse error .
i find this error by watch the log files as vrclient_Steam/vrserver
Hi,I follow your step to do but the controllers still not showing in steamvr.
I using the oculus rift cv1.
First,i install the Leap_Motion_Setup_Win_3.1.3,finally i install the alpha8 driver.
I try to copy the C:\Program Files\SteamVR Leap Motion driver/leap folder into the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\drivers folder
But still not showing the controllers in steam.
Is i miss any of step to do?
I, and sorry for my english.good guide but steamvr.vrsettings not exist in my stem config folder.:-( can i create it? When my dk2 is on leap motion controller don’t works, if i set off hmd the controller appears.I think the problem is enable multiple drivers in steam config but don’t have this line. Any help? Thanks a lot!!
Denis
You Can Now Play PC VR Games on Steam with PlayStation VR
Hi guys. Do you know if is possible to remap the leap gesture? Especially with gamepad buttons… Cos I think is a good idea using the leap only for hand position tacking and two minigamepad for buttons, triggers and other (like htc vive controller + station) thanks for the help
link for github indicates virus… Trojan? also I have never used or installed something from gitHub. how would I do that? Thanks