I fly in VR with Charts running in an OpenKneeBoard tab and a Wacom tablet.
This works really well, with the tablet/stylus allowing me to move around the Charts UI while under the VR headset. However, I get stuck when I need to provide a keyboard entry. This happens for example when ATC amends my filed route, or changes my route in flight, or if I need to divert to an airport and need to type that airport code to get access to its info.
In the (iOS) mobile version, typing the route edit icon (the pencil) or the airport search field brings up the (iOS) virtual keyboard so I can use text entry. In the Desktop version that is mirrored into my OpenKneeBoard tab in VR, that doesn’t happen of course, so I’m unable to do any of those things.
Am I missing anything obvious to enable some kind of virtual keyboard? If this feature doesn’t exist, is there a workaround or another product that I can use to provide this virtual keyboard?
The desktop version does not have a virtual keyboard. There is no “normal” use case where this would be required, and Windows comes equipped with an on-screen keyboard by default so the app does not have one built-in. The in-game panel that we provide does have a virtual keyboard, since we anticipate that it will be used in a VR setting.
I am not familiar with your setup, and thus can’t determine if there is a way for you to add an OSK yourself, unfortunately.
Do you feel that this should be a setting in the desktop application as well? You’re more than welcome to post a topic on the Wishlist! You seem to have a good motivation behind your request already.
I’ve tried using Window 11’s OSK, and while it does work when not in VR, it just fails in VR. I think it’s because it performs like a separate floating window that is not captured by OpenKneeBoard, rather than a widget attached to the Navigraph Charts window. So it never appears in VR.
As for the in-game-panel, my understanding is that it is only for MSFS, correct? I use Charts with X-Plane 12, so I don’t think I have the option to have an in-game-panel there. Please let me know if I’m misunderstanding something.
Happy to post on the wishlist forum if it can help, but as far as I can tell this isn’t an edge case: it covers anyone who flies in VR on X-Plane. I don’t know what fraction of the market that is, but if it’s low it could simply be because people can’t enter data via keyboard in VR. I know it’s been a pain for me for IFR training and it has pushed me to look for alternatives even though I really like Charts.
Thank you again for your consideration. Please let me know what your thoughts are.
Correct. While we’d like to have a version for X-Plane, it is currently not a feasible project. Sorry for the inconvenience!
The reason I brought it up is that we did not anticipate anyone using the desktop app for VR in this way. I have forwarded your feedback to the team, but since we cannot do everything at once - we need to prioritize.
If you would like to put emphasis on this feature, especially on the fact that you are not alone in finding this potential feature useful, feel free to create a wishlist topic where others can show their interest by voting!
We currently have no other requests for this, which matches our expectations. We’re happy to be proven wrong!