Ezra Harris

Category: Technology

Posts that are tech related

  • Octoprint

    Over the year, I’ve used Octoprint for my 3d printers. Octoprint is a server that hosts on a Raspberry Pi (and now even an Android device), which then you connect to your printer, which you can connect using the local IP. Octoprint is mainly used for managing your prints since it’s a lot easier to upload the.GCODE files to a local server and have Octoprint start, stop, and pause the 3D print with a press of a button. Many other features make Octoprint one of the best companions for a 3D Printer.

    One of the other benefits is its plugins; since Octoprint is open-source, they fully support plugins by independent developers; Octoprint has been out for almost a decade now, there are many plugins in its library. Some of my favorites include:

    • PrintTimeGenuis. Which uses an algorithm that can accurately predict how long a print will take, I have used this many times, and after about a month of printing, the plugin can predict the exact time all the way down to the number of minutes a print will take.
    • Octolapse, Octolapse is a plugin that has a highly comprehensive way of taking time-lapses of your print; instead of just taking a video and speeding it up, it can tell the printer at each layer of plastic to move to a fixed point and take a picture, which ends up being similar to a stop-motion video. The amount of options you can change to take time-lapses is fantastic, and why it is a favorite of mine.

    Another valuable tool is Octoapp (android exclusive) Octoapp is a fantastic app by Chris Würthner, who made it work around Android OS. Like many other developers, Chris benefits from a subscription to the app in which the user gains more features, which with a small amount each month, is a great way to support the developer and get valuable upgrades to the app. Many plugins work inside the app, including PSUControl, MultiCam, Octoeverywhere, and many more. What I like is that the app is primarily bug-free when it comes to the interface and is definitely built with the user in mind, such as the quick switch option, pausing and canceling prints, having a swipe to confirm option.

    There are many really nifty and interesting plugins that have been made for every use case available below is a link to every plugin in Octoprint’s public repository, which is constantly being updated with new plugins.

    https://plugins.octoprint.org/by_author/

    Other links:

    Octoapp by Chris

    PrintTimeGenuis plugin by Eyal

    Octolapse plugin by Brad

    Octoprint.com

    Octoprint on Android

    The best Cura plugin for Octoprint

    Note: I am not a developer, nor am I affiliated with Octoprint by any means, just a Octoprint user who is grateful for the many developers who make 3D printing a better experience.

  • Getting Started on Unity with Meta Quest 2 in VR

    Recently I fell down another rabbit hole. And that hole is about using Unity (a game design engine) with VR. Unity by itself is very capable and also complicated for the beginning user. The way I got set up is I used a YouTuber by the name of Justin P Barnett. He made a significant update to one of his original tutorials on how to get started with Unity in VR. He has also, to this day, made excellent tutorials on other aspects of unity configuration with VR, which I highly recommend you watch as they are beneficial for beginners.

    In his video, he has you set up and install Unity and get the correct mods and assets you need to get it working with the Quest 2 controllers and headset. Overall the beginning setup progress is really relatively easy to get set up. Justin also has a free template for just automating the process of getting the quest 2 headsets to work with Unity, which he published here.

    The best way I’ve found is to use Unity with VR and not have to take off the headset every time I want to test the program. I use the oculus menu to open my desktop monitors and usually use my mouse and keyboard.

    I started a C# (pronounced “see sharp”) course on CodeCademy to get the basics of coding with Unity and took their beginner course on coding with C#. To be able to code in Unity, as it runs on C#. Then I can actually write scripts which then can be used to create interactive games.

    (please note I am a beginner with Unity and only have a couple of hours of experience as of writing this)

    And if you’re interested in getting started, a group of Youtubers (including Justin Barnett) created a game jam. A game jam is where you usually have a week or two and try to build a game based on the theme they set. Then the judges decide which game is the best based on the strongest attributes of the game, link to join below:

    https://itch.io/jam/vrjam2022

  • Meta Quest 2’s Hand Tracking Controllers

    I bought my first VR headset, the Meta Quest 2, in September 2021. ever since then, I’ve been amazed at the technology from one of the cheapest VR headsets with a lot of capability and elegant features for the price. One of the really amazing things when I first put on the headset was the controller hand tracking. At first, I was confused because it was tracking where my fingers were on the controller. The demo and actual games with full hands (which is most VR games) work well. And it shows how immersive it is to use your actual fingers in the “metaverse” to interact with virtual objects., This, combined with the vibration motors, play wonderfully, making it almost feel like you’re picking up an actual thing.

    From what I’ve found online and actually seen when taking apart the controller, the controllers have a ring that goes around the main controls such as the thumb rest, joystick, a/b buttons, etc. At first, it seems like it used sensors inside that ring to sense where your fingers are, but after more research, I don’t believe it does. Although I’m not sure, the sensor-like parts in the ring are currently being used.

    matty_mac_21 on ifixit

    The Quest 2’s controllers instead have a simple way of handling the finger placement tracking. It uses capacitive controls for all of the buttons and the thumbstick. A lot of devices feature capacitive touch thumbsticks, as well as Meta’s competitor in the VR space, Steam’s Vive Headset, a user posted on Reddit about a cable coming from the main thumbstick cap:

    Posted by Lightcap- on Reddit.

    This was the primary response in the comments:

    Capacitive sensors touch work in a way that your own body is being used as an electrical charge conductor that the device can react to. Almost every smartphone uses this same technology for its touchscreen. (more info about it at the bottom)

    I also found another post about one of the original Oculus Touch controllers in which a user went into detail about how the tracking works on the controllers. I found this extremely informative. I recommend you read it. Link to the post here. They also attached an image with their reply showing different positions the quest’s controller can track your finger using the aforementioned capacitive touch sensors, which are represented by the marked blue spots on the controller:

    this is a separate design controller, but I believe Meta still used this same function with the Quest 2 controllers.

    Overall this is really fascinating to find out how different companies use capacitive touch sensors with various controllers to find where your finger is placed, which execute well to make the games more immersive.

    If you have comments about this post, let me know below. If I missed some vital information / or mistakenly wrote about Quest 2’s technology, let me know below. (I am not a professional in this tech space, but I am curious to learn more about it.)

    Reference and more info links:
    “Do Oculus touch controllers have finger tracking” in depth on how the capacitive sensors work on the original design touch controllers:

    Do touch controllers have finger tracking?
    byu/kallenl8 inoculus

    “Meta Quest 2 controller breakdown and guide” I found this extremely helpful in taking apart my controller:

    https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Oculus+Quest+2+Controller+Disassembly/147947

    “how touch sensors work” this explains how the capacitive touch sensors you see more often work:

    https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/how-touch-sensors-work

    “What purpose does this cable have?” Reddit post asking what the purpose of the cable is for on the Vive VR headset:

    What purpose does this cable have?
    byu/LightCap- inValveIndex

  • Xbox Kinect with ReconstructMe

    I recently found my old Xbox Kinect that came with the Xbox 360, and I wanted to see if the 3d scanning capabilities can still accurately pick up even twelve years later. I had tried this back in 2019 but had mixed results with the program I used (Skanect), which had a big paywall to download higher-resolution models of your scans.

    But today, I looked to see if there are any better free programs out there where I could get the highest quality that the Xbox Kinect provided. After some googling and trying about three different programs, I found my favorite: ReconstructMe, ReconstructMe I found the best to be for free since it has probably the most settings versus the competitors. Unfortunately, it supports only the old Kinect (V1) and a few other 3D scanners. With settings such as distance to the object and how big the thing will be, you won’t accidentally capture other items around the subject.

    After many attempts, through which I tried different ways of scanning my little sister, I found what worked best for me. Since I don’t have a fancy turntable, I used an old stool that she sat on while staying still in one pose. And since it was hard for her to keep her eyes still, I had her close her eyes. After scanning the entire body several times from up to down to get all of the corners, I realized that. And when doing the last scan around, thoroughly scan the face; thus, being the final image, it doesn’t have lighting on one side and not the other or noticeable color changes in the lighting. This so far is my best scan of my little sister:

    Sophie Test Kinect 3 by BillyBones on Sketchfab

    (please note the lighting done in the 3d model previewer does affect the model’s look. thus being is too much whiteness on her left side.)

    Learn how I took apart my Xbox 360 here: https://blog.ezraharris.com/taking-apart-an-xbox-360-phat-edition/

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