Instructions to setup the VR HTC Vive and eDrawing

Accounts

To be able to run the VR you need two accounts, one for Steam and one for Vive.
Both can be created cost-free, as are the software that needs to be installed to run the VR.
Here is the website for Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/
And here is the one for Vive: https://www.vive.com/eu/
You create your Steam account on the website listed above. To setup your Vive account, you first need to install VivePort.

Software to install

Steam
When you have logged in to Steam, go to Store and in the search field, write “steamVR” and then install the one that is called just that. There is also a software called “SteamVR Performance test” that you can install and run to see if the computer can handle the VR.

VivePort
Here you don’t have to install anything but you need it so the VR headset can connect to your computer. This only needs to be done once.

Setup

VR
To be able to use the VR with room scale, you need a space that is minimum 2m x 1,5m. We recommended additional space, however. You can use VR without room scale. In this case, you move the controllers only, not yourself. This requires no more space than the chair you are sitting in.

Start with charging your controllers, so they are fully powered when you need them.

Follow the manual on how to connect all the wires to the computer, headset and base stations.

When all the wires are connected, you need to do a room setup. This is performed, so the VR knows how much space you are going to use. When you start to get close to the edge of your space, a wall will appear in the graphic environment to warn you.

Start the SteamVR and at the bottom of your screen, press the small arrow next to the SteamVR xxx (xxx=steamVR version) and then press “Run Room Setup”.

Follow the instructions on how to set up the room.

In the picture above, you can see that the headset, controllers, and base stations are all green. All of these icons need to be green to be able to start the room setup.

eDrawings
https://plmgroup.eu/products/software/edrawings/
The section on how to activate the VR function is taken from our blog on the Danish PLM Group site and is written by Lennart Tinndahl.

When you have installed eDrawings 2019 SP1, there are a few steps to activate the VR function.

Because this is still a beta function, it is not available if you make a standard installation of eDrawings. However, you must enable Virtual Reality add in first. Here´s how to do it:

Press the “windows” button.
Search for “variables” and click on “Edit the system environment variables”.

3. Click on “Enviroment variables”.

4. Click on “New System Variable” and add the following text in either name or value:

ED_RS_ENABLE_VR

true

NOTE! Do NOT make any changes in upper and lower case, otherwise it will not work.

Now the VR function in eDrawings is active.

When you start eDrawings and press File -> Open in VR (Beta), the file will open and a window should appear stating that eDrawings could not find any material. Although there is a link in this window that you can click to download material.

The material is not like the material in SolidWorks. Instead it is available for you to build the world you are about to enter.

Download the material and unzip to a folder on your computer. Bear in mind that you need to add the path from the material folder to eDrawings.

Go to Options -> Import and enter the path at the bottom.

To make sure that SteamVR and eDrawings do not run on the integrated graphics card, you need to edit a few settings. The new settings can be changed in the options menu, and will be set to a more powerful graphics card. Here’s how to do it for NVIDIA.

Right click on your desktop and choose -> NVIDIA Control Panel