Since I first got my hands on the GearVR controller I've been enjoying the natural feel of point and click controls, first person shooting, flight simulator and even golf and sword controls. I was pleased to find some driving games that were compatible with the GearVR controller, but I found that one handed driving just didn't feel right. I've been trying to teach myself 3D modelling, using Autodesk Fusion 360, so I decided to design and build a steering wheel mount for the GearVR controller. Check out this awesome Instructable.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Steering-Wheel-for-GearVR-Controller

Autodesk Fusion 360 offers a full featured free trial. After the free trial is up, you can keep the modelling software for free as an educator, student or hobbyist.
My first step was to model a copy of the GearVR controller. I would need that layer to cutout a mold from the steering wheel mount at the end. Since I'm new to 3D modelling I tried to keep things as simple as possible.

Once the model was complete, I was able to select each part or body of the steering wheel mount and save each part as a separate .stl file. The .stl files are ready to be used by a 3D printing slicer program like Cura.

Cura is a free slicer program that does a great job generating .gcode tool path files for 3D printers. I use Octoprint to run my Anet A8 Prusa i3 clone 3D printer. My Octoprint has an older version of Cura built in and is capable of slicing .stl files internally, but I prefer to slice the files on my laptop and send the .gcode to Octoprint ready for printing.

If you own a 3D printer, I highly recommend Octoprint. Octoprint installs on a Raspberry Pi and allows you to control the printer wirelessly over your Wi-Fi network. Octoprint also comes ready to support many popular webcams to allow remote monitoring and recording of timelapse video of your prints.

I've tested VR Karts and Overtake so far. Both of those games work flawlessly with the Steering wheel mount control. I have seen a couple new games recently in the gallery apps section of the Oculus store, which I will be trying out soon. Below is a fast forward look at the design, build, and play steps.

A first look, review and guide to getting the Samsung Gear S3 Classic. #insidersgears3

I recieved my Samsung Gear S3 Classic, as one of 300 insiders tasked with putting the wearable through hands on testing. In the past few weeks I've been wearing the Gear S3 Classic everyday, for both business and for outdoor adventures in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Along the way I have been trying out as many apps and services as I can, in order to determine if the Gear S3 could provide enough functionality and convienence to make me feel compelled to wear a watch again. Wearing a watch takes me back 20 years and going into this I'm skeptical that I could be pursuaded by the technology.
My first impression, despite the impressive amount of technology inside of Samsung's hardware, the Gear S3 Classic has a stylish look and feel to it. There must be hundreds of watch faces available, but I prefer the clean look of the stock minimal watch face. Now let's explore some of the most useful built in features and some of the best apps, widgets and services available, to help me decide if this wearable tech will infiltrate my everyday wardrobe.

Apps can be downloaded directly from the Gear S3, but only the featured apps show up on the Gear's interface. You can choose the show on phone icon and Galaxy Apps will open on your phone. In Galaxy Apps, you can toggle between apps for your phone and apps for your Gear S3. There are hundreds of apps to browse through, so after exhausting the popular apps you'll want to use the filters available, in Galaxy Apps. My top ten apps include:
​

In order to enjoy all the cool features available with the Gear S3 you need an easy way to quickly access all of your installed apps. Below is a gif of the stock app launcher, Apps. It is linked to the bottom right home button, making it very convienent to access. However, each page holds only 8 apps, so as your library grows you need to scroll through multiple pages to find the app you're looking for. A minor inconvenience considering you can press the icon, on the upper left, that looks like a paint palette to jump to the next page. In addition to the built in quick access, the next best feature of this app launcher is the ability to rearrange the order of your apps, so you can customize each page.

Now let's explore some of the app manager options available from the Galaxy apps store. This app, called Launch Manager Circle Pro, organizes your apps in rings. only the apps on the outermost ring are selectable, but you can quickly scroll through the rings, using the bezel. This is a very quick way to access all the apps on your Gear S3. However, there is no way to customize the order. I would prefer to be able to arrange apps on rings.

The next app, called Launcher, is definitely the most visually stunning. It does not have an option to customize the order of apps, but the cool factor makes up for this shortcoming. just rotate the bezel to start the list spinning and rotate back to slow down the rotation to make a selection.

All of the app launchers discussed above are missing the ability to live on your homescreen as a widget. They can be set up to open via a doubleclick of the home button, set to launch S Voice by default. otherwise you will want to use a widget to give you fast access to your app launcher of choice. Below, on the left, is the stock app widget. you can customize each of the four apps and you can setup more the one widget, letting you scroll through home pages using the bezel four apps at a time.
on the right is a app/widget called Launcher, that allows you to customize 14 of your favorite apps onto a single homescreen. Unlike the stock app widget, Launcher can only be set up for one widget.

Now that we have some great ways to navigate our apps let's look at some of the useful stock apps and widgets, starting with the calendar.
Sync your calendar from your phone with your Gear. There is a stock widget that lets you see either a monthly view or a list of events view. I prefer the monthly view because from that view a tap on the widget brings you into the event list view, so you get the best of both. I've been satisfied with the stock calendar, so I haven't tried any of the third party calendar apps. I was disappointed to find out that the calendar app does not support the addition of new events added from the Gear S3.

Although you cannot add events to your calendar, there is a reminders app and widget that lets you set reminders with notifications. The best part of reminders is the built in compatability with S Voice. By default, S Voice launches with a double click of the home button or by saying "Hi Gear". Once S Voice is open simply say create a reminder for 2 o'clock tomorrow. S Voice will prompt you to give the reminder a name and its done. Your reminders do not integrate into your calendar, but your list of reminders show up on the reminders widget and at 2:00 you will get a notification with your reminder name.

If you play music or videos on your phone you can use the built in Gear S3 music app as your remote control. I use this feature to play Amazon music through my car stereo. If you get a call, your music automatically pauses and you can answer the call right from the watch. This also works while streaming video to your tv from your phone with Chromecast.

Of course a wearable device is a great fit for tracking your activity. The Gear S3 keeps track of your sleep, steps and workouts and monitors your heart rate. The data is synced to the S Health app on your phone automatically. There is even a convienent widget for tracking your water intake.

Answer and make phone calls right from your watch. recieve text messages and send quick replies discreetly. You no longer need to have your phone on the table during meetings or at lunch, to be able to see text messages. now you can read your messages and send quick replies while your phone stays put away in your pocket.

One of the coolest built in features, is Samsung Pay. Simply connect a credit card to the mobile wallet and your ready to spend. I dont live in a big city, so I was skeptical how many places this would actually work at near me. I've been surprised to find that it actually works at most places. I did run into one convienence store where nothing happened when I held my watch to the card swiper, but so far everywhere else has worked, to the amazement of the cashiers.

Everything covered on this blog is really just the basics ofbthe Gear S3's amazing features. I'll follow up with an advanced features blog to show off some of this amazing devices hidden abilities. The Gear S3 has definitley become a don't leave home without it wearable for my daily routine.

My first VR headset was a Cardboard made from a Coca-Cola box and my first drone was a Hubsan X4. After experiencing both separately, it didn't take long before I wanted to combine the two technologies and fly a done using a VR headset for a first person view (FPV). Unfortunately, I am limited by my lack of android programming skills and by my budget.With a little research I found that with a little money I could make it happen.

My Hubsan X4 has a camera, but it doesn't have a way to transmit the video live. Since it also doesn't have the lift to carry the necessary hardware to add a transmitter, I knew I would need to upgrade my drone. After shopping around I settled on the MJX400. This drone had the live wifi transmitter I was looking for, with an android compatible app to view and record the live video, in side by side format, and all for a price I could deal with. $79.99 on Amazon for the DBPOWER MJX X400W FPV Drone with Wifi Camera Live Video

In the pictures above, I am running the MJX FPV app on my phone, which is mounted on the RC transmitter. You can also see the MJX400 drone's size next to my Samsung Galaxy Note 5. The most current MJX FPV app is not available in the Google Play app store, so in order to get this working I needed to download the app from the drone manufacturer's website.
​http://www.mjxtoys.com/down/70.html

Since the app wasn't downloaded from the Play app store, I had to change my security settings to allow installation of apps from unknown sources. The app runs good on my Note 5 and on my older S5. when the drone is powered on, it creates a wifi access point. Before starting the app, go to wifi settings and find the MJX wifi access point and connect. Once the phone connects to the MJX wifi you can startup the MJX FPV app. Then press monitor and you should see the live video. Finally, by pressing the 3D button the video stream is spit into a side by side view, for use in a VR headset.

This setup will work with a Google Cardboard or compatible VR headset. But for the best image quality from a mobile VR headset, it's hard to beat the Samsung Gear VR headset. Since the MJX FPV app is not setup for the Oculus mobile SDK, the Oculus service needs to be disabled, so that you can run the MJX FPV app from inside the Gear VR. For instructions on disabling the Oculus service, See my previous post.
​http://www.divideworks.com/projects/hack-your-gear-vr

With the Oculus service disabled, running the app, on the Gear VR, is the same as running it for Cardboard. Connect to the drone's wifi, startup the app and press monitor. when you have a lived video feed, press the 3D button to view in side by side VR mode. since there is only one camera, the FPV image is not 3D and the resolution isn't great, but you can see a live video feed, using your Gear VR, while you pilot a drone!
unfortunately, the MJX FPV app does not have a setting to adjust the display, to suit your headset. The result is that the Gear VR lenses zoom in on the image, providing a narrow field of view. I've found I get the best image, using a $15 Cardboard ready headset, from Walmart.

Just in time for Halloween, it's VR Car Zombies with a natural user interface. In a previous project I learned that a PS3 remote worked perfectly with my Android games when plugged into a USB OTG cable. So, when I found a PS3 steering wheel and pedals controller, for $5 at a garage sale, I hadhigh hopes that it would work the same way. Sure enough, the steering worked as an analog left & right controller and the gas & brake pedal worked as square & X buttons.

Once I had proved the controller worked with my old Samsung Galaxy S5 I needed a game that would be compatible with VR and with the controls. Since I have no Android programming skills, I needed to find a published game to use. I found several VR car driving games, but some don't use a 1st person view and others don't have controller support. I found some that gave you a view from the drivers seat and used a game controller, but the throttle and brake buttons were different than what I needed. I finally found what I was looking for in VR Car Zombies.

With a suitable app selected I decided I would build a platform for the steering wheel and pedals. My office chair at work had recently torn through the back. When I requested a new back to my chair, I recieved a whole new chair. Since it is impossible for me to throw anything away I stashed the busted chair in my garage until I could find a use for it. It looked like the chair was going to be revived as a virtual zombie escape vehicle. I would need to sew a new back for the chair, but I also needed to design a mount attached to the chair that could hold the steering wheel and pedals securely in place.

I had some 1-1/8" tubing laying around and I have a tubing bender, so I thought I would give it a work out. My goal was to make 90 degree bends as close as possible to each other to make a tight offset from the bottom of the chair down to the floor. I bent another piece of tubing to come up and carry the steering wheel. Once all the pieces were bent and notched to fit together, it was off to the Makerspace to be welded. I also welded some fence post tubing, which was just large enough to allow the 1-1/8" tubing to slide through it, to the bottom of the armrests. After fitting everything up, I found some sheet metal, to use for the floor pan. I decided to add a caster wheel to the front so that the frame sits just off the ground and can swivel. I formed a sheet metal panel for the front, just for looks. Now the frame needed a paint job.

With everything painted black it was time to breakout the sewing machine. I found some old vinyl material, from a pool table cover that my dogs had chewed up. The hardest part was be remembering where it's been stashed away for the last ten years.

This project was a fun build. Finding new ways to incorporate NUIs natural use interfaces for use with VR interests me. I find a NUI helps with the feeling of immersion. As VR continues to develope I'll be looking for new ways to interface with the technology in a natural user friendly way. Until then, I'll be running over zombies.

#insidersgear360
Click the image below to enter the 360 degree virtual tour of the Pikes Peak Makerspace. This tour was made using photos taken with my Samsung Gear360 and roundme.com
Look around and select the hotspots to move throughout the space. You can even use the menu button to switch to VR mode and view in your VR headset.