So here’s the thing , I would like to know if it is possible to use Unreal Engine 4 to make a virtual keyboard or UI that can send Virtual key codes to another window in focus not just another UE 4 Game instance . I have done an exhaustive Google search for virtual keyboards and came up with a bunch of options but i feel they are limited, I can not believe that more people are not working on this! I am at point where I believe user input on a mechanical keyboard at least for a power user/Artist has got to go bye bye .It’s silly when you think about it, if your a digital artist and your using 3 to 5 maybe more programs to build content on a daily or weekly basis Photoshop, Max/Maya, zbrush ,substance ,Unreal Engine 4 what ever else. That’s hundreds of standard shortcuts and custom shortcuts yeah right were talking thousands of short cuts.Don’t even get me started on Icons all programs should have the ability to toggle icons off and toggle on plain English for new users what it boils down to learning a new program is like learning a new language .
Its just silly that a new user has to spend more time learning how to interact with a program than actual interacting with it to do what they want. A fundamental rethink of how we in interact with ever increasing complexity in software needs to be addressed as far as I can tell Unreal Engine 4 is doing that.To be a power user and get stuff done fast you need to know your shortcuts plain and simple. Right now i’m doing a lot of 3d modeling. I like to keep one can on the mouse and one the keyboard after a full day trying to manipulate keyboard shorts with one hand it can get a little sore . I just think it would be super cool to have a touch enable interface that reacts to what ever your doing, hit a key and and it animates and changes to work with that tool maybe it changes color, plays a sound, animates, limit key interaction the main thing is that its intuitive and it almost guides you through each tool and command and here’s the kicker if you want Edge tools you just touch the Edge tool button and not Alt+Shift+q you just make a macro and have one button.I have a Space Pilot Pro and I love the the 6-dof control knob its great still not enough buttons and then there is this abortion that is coming soon https://www.keymouse.com/.My point is that there will never be a perfect mechanical solution for everyone.
We work in a digital dimension so why not interact digitally some people may still want that tactile feel that a keyboard offers, capacative buttons could be printed to offer that sense of touch.Almost every scifi movie made in the last 20 years envisions the future where people interact with touch enable screens you just have to think of Star Trek, Oblivion, most scifi block busters.I love Unreal Engine 4 and would like to think that it could be used to build these types of touch interfaces.
I should note that I am not programmer,but I get alone quite well with Blueprints.
The big questions now.
- Is there some kinda of security issue with Unreal engine 4 that would not allow sending input ie virtual key codes to another window/app ?
- Could Unreal hook into another app and receive data from said application ie Maya or vise versa bilateral communication ?
- Possible use of the Arduino plugin to act as go between to send data via serial or usb ?
- Can an Unreal “Game” run in a window with no border ?
- Can an Unreal “Game” window be set to always on top ?
- Can an Unreal “Game” window use transparency masking to allow custom shape windows ie virtual keyboard ?
- Use a Json ,xml ,or csv file for adding new keyboard layouts and customization ?
So those are just some of my thoughts on the matter, would love to hear what you guys think about this. Later !