UC Davis DataLab Vroom!

Installing DataLab VR Software

The following instructions describe the simplified installation procedure for DataLab-developed VR software, using PullPackage, a simple custom package management tool.

Prerequisites

DataLab's VR software runs on the Linux operating system, and requires that operating system to run on a real computer, in other words, not on a virtual machine. While DataLab's VR software runs on any Linux distribution, PullPackage, DataLab's package manager, currently only works with two large families of Linux distributions: RedHat (RedHat Linux, CentOS, Fedora, ...) and Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, ...). Furthermore, running DataLab's VR software effectively requires that the computer has a discrete graphics card, and has the drivers for that graphics card installed.

In detail, the prerequisite installation steps are as follows:

  1. Install a compatible (RedHat- or Ubuntu-based) Linux version on a real computer (not a virtual machine), either as sole operating system or in a dual-boot configuration.
  2. Install the proper driver for the computer's discrete graphics card. For Nvidia graphics cards, this must be the vendor-supplied nvidia driver, not the open-source nouveau driver.

Install PullPackage

To install the PullPackage package manager, copy the command from the following box into a terminal window and press the Enter key:
curl https://vroom.library.ucdavis.edu/PullPackage | bash
  

To copy the installation command in its entirety, simply click the "Copy Command" button. To paste the command into a terminal window, either right-click on the window and select "Paste" from the context menu, or left-click on the window and then press Shift+Ctrl+V.

At some point during installation, the terminal window will ask you to enter your user password. This is required to create files in several system locations. Specifically, those locations are:

Later on, PullPackage may ask for your user password again to install packages such as Vrui or SARndbox. Generally, software packages installed by PullPackage end up inside the /opt directory, and may create files in /usr/local/bin and inside the /etc directory.

If the terminal responds with an error message like "bash: curl: command not found", please copy and run the following alternative command:
wget -O - https://vroom.library.ucdavis.edu/PullPackage | bash
  

If either of the two commands above succeed, you are ready to install DataLab VR software.

Install the AR Sandbox

After PullPackage has been installed successfully, the AR Sandbox can be installed by entering the following commands into a terminal window in the shown order:

PullPackage Vrui
  
Vrui is a software development toolkit for interactive virtual reality applications. It is also the foundation of the AR Sandbox.
PullPackage Kinect
  
The Kinect package contains drivers for several types of 3D cameras that are used by the AR Sandbox, including two versions of the original Microsoft Kinect camera.
PullPackage SARndbox
  
The SARndbox package contains the actual AR Sandbox application.

Alternatively, the following command will install all three packages required for the AR Sandbox in one go:
PullPackage Vrui && PullPackage Kinect && PullPackage SARndbox
  

Install Support for SteamVR Headsets (HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Valve Index...)

In order to use SteamVR-compatible commodity VR headsets with Vrui VR software, install the SteamVR package before installing the Vrui package:
PullPackage SteamVR
  
Note: The SteamVR package is not a complete Steam and/or SteamVR installation. It only contains the low-level drivers required to connect Vrui VR software to SteamVR headsets. To avoid compatibility issues, we strongly recommend that you install this package even if you already have Steam and/or SteamVR installed on your computer.

Install Other Vrui VR Applications

To install other Vrui VR applications such as 3D Visualizer, LiDAR Viewer, VR ProtoShop, etc., first install the Vrui package (and optionally the SteamVR package before it), then install the package(s) for the desired Vrui application(s).

List of Currently Hosted Vrui VR Applications

3DVisualizer
The 3D Visualizer application to analyze volumetric 3D gridded data.
LidarViewer
The LiDAR Viewer application to visualize and measure very large 3D point cloud data.