External chart viewer (tablet) in the VR cockpit

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I agree with this. It would also allow more flexibility than viewing “just the charts”. For example, I can look at and review my aircraft manifest and flight plan, I can create new flight plans and interact with online multiplayer sessions, and even watch youtube or netflix when I’m on a long haul

Another alternative would be to display your desktop, something that FlyInside did for their VR addon for FSX (Features). This might be harder though since it seems like FS2020 relies on the VR being the top window for mouse interaction

Navigraph are working on integrating their chart software into the FS2020 in-flight toolbar.

Also, they are bringing live weather METAR sources into their next release and VFR maps are in the works to complement their IFR offering.

Combine that with their recent acquisition of Simbrief, and the fact that you can already replace the FS2020 base sim nav data with Navigraph’s to ensure it’s up to date, and it’s looking quite promising. It might not be long before a navigraph subscription gets you a complete in-sim VR compatible package of flight planning, charts and weather.

I understand that this is a paid-for service, but I can’t imagine that the FS2020 team are not aware of the Navigraph roadmap and therefore that there will be a plug for this gap in the future.

Some will be sad that it’s not free, but the navigraph package could be worth the money IMO. Let’s see how it develops!

@NAVData may be able to expand on this / correct me where I have gone wrong!

This guy has some good VR panels including a PDF viewer which can be used to view charts:

https://www.rafaelsantos.es/web/index.php

Works pretty good for me, not a simple plug and play solution though, you’ll need to gather the maps, place them in a specific folder and run a small included webserver (click to start).

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I definitely hope Navigraph gets something really good out. I may also take a look at Rafael Santos’s page–if it works, it would be a good interim solution.

I do think this is a core function of the sim, however. Hopefully, something will be pretty easy to implement.

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If you need to consult any PDF you can use my PDF Viewer. It’s very easy and powerful at same time. You can use my Enhanced Map panel (with following of the aircraft) in combination with the PDF Viewer. With that it’s enough to do a good flight.

RafaelSantos.es - Ingamepanel PDF VIEWER for Flight Simulator v1.2

I’m working on the Navigraph integration too. I’m researching a lot about it and I could do a solution soon, if the Navigraph team help me a bit.

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I have a Valve Index and use OVR Toolkit ($12 on steam) with SteamVR to pin any application window into the VR view. I pin LittleNavMap, Discord, Vatsim/PE, and a kneeboard i can type into or use a mouse to draw on. You can place these windows wherever you want as well as set them to disappear when you are not looking at them. For example, ill place the kneeboard down on my “virtual” knee, discord up on the ceiling, and little nav map either i’ll size it to fit nicely on the dash or just place it in the passenger seat. Works decently well. You can also save various window placements and configurations into profiles, so you can build profiles for your commonly flown planes so that you dont have to readjust the panels all the time. Just load the profile and enjoy.

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Thank you to everyone for those suggestions. I’m particularly looking at your PDF viewier, and I think it’s a great start.

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Since VR launched, we have discussed adding a mechanism to view IFR charts in VR. The biggest discussion is here, and it currently has 111 votes (and made it onto the old snapshot):

Briefly, To properly fly in IFR, it’s essential to be able to review approach plates and similar materials. The old thread proposed a comprehensive set of tools as a formal chart viewer. All those tools would be great, but might take a lot of time to complete. The old snapshot listed that the release for a chart viewer had “Dependency (Charts).” I think this means that you are looking for something that would interface with a chart provider’s system and require licensing or something like that.

I suggest that there is a simpler approach that could be implemented very easily. These materials are usually widely available online. All that would really be required would be a simple VR web browser built directly into the sim. It could point to webpages or even to stored PDF files on our own machines. You could even brand it as Microsoft Edge. To really work well in VR, it could use some sort of virtual keyboard, but even that is not essential.

A more comprehensive solution as described in the other forum post would be great long term, but I would be very happy to see something more basic that could be rolled out quickly.

So for X-Plane there is currently MoveVR and Avitab, which allow you to move windows, like your pdf files (charts etc.) into the cockpit in VR. Avitab gives you a virtual tablet inside the cockpit also. Can we expect a similar feature for FS2020 when it comes out in VR? Really wanna preorder the Reverb G2 and the only thing holding me back right now is the fact that I won’t be able to see my charts/maps and vpilot (for VATSIM) inside VR. The tablet would also be very nice and if we could write on it with the VR controllers that would be really sweet for taking notes while talking to ATC for example. Hope these will be included in the VR release :slight_smile:

Avitab is so wonderfull !!! Best plugin ever !!!
The guy from navigraph mentioned it in his video regarding the charts, maybe he knows something we don’t

Now as VR is released, can you move this post to the VR main thread or react to the wishlist postings there?

I definitively support this request!

Hello Farbod1277

Is there any news on this?
I am on the same road, as I want to use Self Loading Cargo to run into the VR cockpit and don’t find any app to move it inside the VR.

Hi there, just FYI you can bring the desktop into the cockpit as an external window no problem in Windows Mixed Reality (Reverb G2 in my case). Not sure about Oculus (see my 2nd post May 25th).
When in WMR VR home, just activate one of your controllers, press the windows button, select “desktop” from the menu that appears. Then you can scale and move the desktop window using the trigger beam.
That’s how I use charts and Self Loading Cargo etc. in VR.
I assume this would work for all WMR headsets.
Happy flying! :v:

And for those of us without controller’s ?

Hi Mar, thanks for the reply

I did not get how to do this, I actually have Quest2 headset, is this also possible with Oculus Quest headsets? You mean there is a windows button on the controller?

Can you actually interact with those windows using the mouse & keyboard while in the game? That didn’t work for me. Also I have an impression it hurts the frame rate a lot.

@nomancs69: When @ WMR home, just make sure mouse focus is on WMR by pressing Windows key + Y. Then, you can press the Windows key on the keyboard to pull up the WMR menu. Here you can select the desktop option to open the desired window. Drag and scale using mouse.

@SteveVojacek: Unfortunately this only works in Windows Mixed Realty. Yes, there is a Windows button on WMR controllers. I used to have a Rift S, but am not aware of a similar option in the Oculus program. But that’s a couple months back, maybe they’ve introduced such a thing in the meantime?! Quite the omission not to have that option in VR really, whether for work or play (Update: see my 2nd post May 25th).

@lkowgli: Yes, I can. The problem though is that when the MFSF window is active, the mouse is confined to that window. The workaround: pressing the windows key + TAB, which will free up the mouse cursor and let you choose between any open window on your desktop.
Since I prefer not to use the keyboard at all for better VR immersion, I use a voice activation program called “VoiceAttack” that I already had anyways and use for many of my VR apps. It’s like15 buck or so, I believe. Real life saver in VR. I say “switch” (for example) and the program emulates the win+TAB input. So I switch between taxi, SID, STAR, ILS, taxi, parking gates charts as needed. I can also click, zoom, scroll, etc. All while using voice commands to play cabin announcements and such from a simple windows media player playlist. Takes some input at first, but works out nicely.
Anyways, you’ll probably want to play in windowed mode and make the Window as small as possible in order to see more of your deskop. Here, you have to be careful to not accidentally close the MSFS program while in VR. See below for a workaround.
Did not notice a drop in framerate really, but that’s just an impression. I have not compared statistics. Using a HP G2 on fairly high settings, so I’m always struggling with framerates anyways. Haha

Hope some of that helped. Cheers


Workaround for MSFS windowed mode accidental shutdown:

Hi folks, just a quick fix for anyone having this issue while using windowed mode in VR:

the combination of the mouse cursor movement in VR being on a different scale compared to the one on the flatscreen window and the cursor being confined to however big the window is, will inevitably lead to you clicking the “close window” box on the top right corner of the flatscreen MSFS window unbeknownst while in VR, especially when clicking objects on the overhead panel (airliners) like lights, APU, etc. This closes the entire sim without further questions, and certainly without a crash report. :smile:

Not my brightest or proudest moment, but it took me 2 or 3 “crashes” to desktop to realize it. :sweat_smile:

FYI I fixed the issue using a tiny program called “NoClose” that allows you to disable the “close window” button on any selected window with the push of a button. Just Google it, not hard to find. The “minimize” button ,however, stays active, which can be annoying.

A borderless window option as seen in other games would solve the issue.

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Does anyone know if this works for SkyPark?

Hey @SteveVojacek, I had a quick look out of curiosity, and found this:

To open an Oculus Desktop window in VR:

  • Open the Oculus app on your computer and put on your headset.
  • Open Dash by selecting the Oculus button on your right Touch controller.
  • Select Oculus Desktop from the right section of your Dash belt to open a Desktop window.

Since I no longer own an Oculus headset I havent been able to try it myself. Don’t know if the window would show up in running VR apps such as MSFS. Worth a shot tho! Good luck with that.

Yes, I can. The problem though is that when the MFSF window is active, the mouse is confined to that window. The workaround: pressing the windows key + TAB, which will free up the mouse cursor and let you choose between any open window on your desktop.
Since I prefer not to use the keyboard at all for better VR immersion, I use a voice activation program called “VoiceAttack” that I already had anyways and use for many of my VR apps. It’s like15 buck or so, I believe. Real life saver in VR. I say “switch” (for example) and the program emulates the win+TAB input. So I switch between taxi, SID, STAR, ILS, taxi, parking gates charts as needed. I can also click, zoom, scroll, etc. All while using voice commands to play cabin announcements and such from a simple windows media player playlist. Takes some input at first, but works out nicely.
Anyways, you’ll probably want to play in windowed mode and make the Window as small as possible in order to see more of your deskop. Here, you have to be careful to not accidentally close the MSFS program while in VR. See below for a workaround.
Did not notice a drop in framerate really, but that’s just an impression. I have not compared statistics. Using a HP G2 on fairly high settings, so I’m always struggling with framerates anyways. Haha

Hope some of that helped. Cheers


Workaround for MSFS windowed mode accidental shutdown:

Hi folks, just a quick fix for anyone having this issue while using windowed mode in VR:

the combination of the mouse cursor movement in VR being on a different scale compared to the one on the flatscreen window and the cursor being confined to however big the window is, will inevitably lead to you clicking the “close window” box on the top right corner of the flatscreen MSFS window unbeknownst while in VR, especially when clicking objects on the overhead panel (airliners) like lights, APU, etc. This closes the entire sim without further questions, and certainly without a crash report. :smile:

Not my brightest or proudest moment, but it took me 2 or 3 “crashes” to desktop to realize it. :sweat_smile:

FYI I fixed the issue using a tiny program called “NoClose” that allows you to disable the “close window” button on any selected window with the push of a button. Just Google it, not hard to find. The “minimize” button ,however, stays active, which can be annoying.

A borderless window option as seen in other games would solve the issue.