Cable Management

KatePlayItVR

Cable management has been a pain in the butt for us :peach: Since we opened in February we have had to replace all 6 of our 3-in-1 cables. This is partly due to the size and shape of the room our stations occupy, as we don't have much option of where the cable goes - it has to go straight up into the ceiling where the PCs are.

We're always on the look out for improvements, plus I'm probably the most annoying customer myself as I have a small and wrongly shaped head for the Vive. I can irritated with it moving or being in the wrong place while I'm trying to beat my previous score on Crab Rave on Beat Saber! :crab:

We have tried plastic cable ties, rubber bands, retractable cords (not metal to start with), carabiner clips and split rings. We recently added velcro cable ties to to the collection and this is a revelation! They are soft both for the cable movement, headset and person in it, they easily stick to the inside of the foam pads with the in-built velcro on the Vive, are soft if a customer touches and are black so aren't that noticeable! You can wrap one around the cable and then use another to attach it to something, either the headset or a split ring in the photos below. We have put split rings at spaces on the cable going up and can then vary the length for the different heights of the customers.

I have also included a photo of my specially made pad insert to pad out the bottom part of the headset near the neck, this makes it feel secure and that it's not pulling off if I bend down. I can velcro it to the headset. Also it looks like a crab :joy::joy::joy:

thevrclub

Interesting setup @KatePlayItVR ! Mine is somewhat similar, though I'm interested to see your neck pad insert in position on someone's head. How does that work exactly?

One thing I don't like about my current setup is that when tall people with small heads bend over to grab a virtual object on the floor the headset can pop off their head completely.

KatePlayItVR

thevrclub

@thevrclub I'm in by myself so will get someone else to take a photo of it on my head when I can. Have just attached it and taken a couple, one from the outside, one from the inside.

I've have often found when putting a headset on a customer with a flat back of their head :raising_hand_woman: (like me), you can often fit a finger underneath the bottom part of the headset. If that's the case I think it's much more likely to move or come off.

I always teach staff to get customers to hold the front of the headset with lenses in and to put it into their face and hold it there as they nearly always get it in the right place for their eyes. Then while fastening it on, the far bottom piece of the headset wants to go as far down the to neck as you can get. For those with a head that isn't flat, to go below the sticky-outy bit. I think this balances the weight and seems to fit more securely. For some reason staff always want to attach it much higher up the head to start with!

vrcorner

Thank you @KatePlayItVR for the suggestion. Just bought online to try it out.

allaroundgamerz

The truth is, HTC Vive 3-in-1 cables are pretty crap build quality. In the past 1.5 years we have gone through several dozen of them (!), multiple changed every single month. Have tried making a number of improvements with the cable suspension system to make it less stressful on the cords and pay extra attention to players twisting themselves up etc... still lucky to get more than a month or so of daily active usage per cord before it dies.

On the other hand, we have had one Oculus Rift station for over a year now, not once has the cord ever needed replacement. Same cable suspension system, same size play area and everything. Sure it technically doesn't get played as often as the Vive, but 0 cord replacements in 12+ months and still works perfectly. Not sure what the physical difference between the two is that makes Oculus cords so much more durable. If I had to guess, the way that the HTC cord comes out of the headset at a 90 degree angle probably doesn't help.

When HTC cords die it is almost always the HDMI portion of it as well. One trick you can do is run a secondary HDMI into the headset and just tie it to the other cord. This actually tend to last longer, but finding a quality HDMI cable with a thin enough end piece to fit exactly into the Vive is a whole other issue.

gameovr

allaroundgamerz

Haha same for us. We have had 1 oculus for 2 years now still on the original cable, and the vive ones were replaced constantly. Htc actually lowered the gauge of the wires in its cables about a year and 1/2 ago. We noticed they had gotten thinner so we cut it open and they dropped down every wire in their 3in1 to a smalller size which of course makes them more brittle and prone to breaking, but im sure htc saved .05 cents on each $50 cable! One of the main reasons we went wireless.

EdgeVRArcade

I use a similar system, but recently changed to using bungees instead of velcro straps to attached to the cable. Makes cable changes much quicker and still allows for quick adjustments!

Can you provide a link to the pulleys you are using? Always looking for better options with those.

Also I've had better cable durability with these 3rd party cables. These last much longer than the OEM 3-in-1s. The OEM cables would last about a month. Some of these are still going strong after 3 months. They handle twisting much better. https://www.amazon.com/Skywin-HTC-Vive-Compatible-Cable/dp/B07GZZG2PQ

KatePlayItVR

EdgeVRArcade

@EdgeVRArcade

OOO, thanks for the cables tip! I didn't think there was any other option than HTC!! Although being in the UK, I think the shipping cost might end up out weighing any benefits. I will have to keep an eye out to see if we can get these from elsewhere :blush:

We bought these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071LFMPD8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. They are from Amazon UK, but I'm sure you could get the same or at least similar!

DigitalWorldsVR

KatePlayItVR

Hey Kate, I was actually just recently trying to improve my system. I get a lot of issues with the cables sliding through my plastic zip ties over time and it leads to the slack you see in this picture I took.

It boggles my mind that those Velcro zip ties can old themselves on the cable. I've got Vive Pro HMDs, those cables ain't cheap. I feel like a lot of my cables break sometimes because of how tight I pull the plastic zip ties. So, I'm very curious to try out these Velcro ones. I actually have a bunch of those Velcro ones on hand, so I'll give it a whirl.

KatePlayItVR

DigitalWorldsVR

@DigitalWorldsVR We have 2 pulleys clipped end to end then attached to a 360 swivel on the ceiling the other end on the cable near the headset, there is also a 3rd pulley from the ceiling above the head of the customer to the corner of the station. The end of the pulleys near the headset has velcro around it, it is slack enough (fluffy side to cable) to slide up and down for different heights of people, and tight enough to just keep the excess cable above the head of the customer so it's not in their way.