Welcome to Virtual Real Archery

The impact sensor is a small, Arduino-based component that is triggered whenever the target wall moves, i.e. after the impact of an arrow.

After an impact is detected, the sensor signals the TOXEVO core to start detecting the exact impact location using image processing.

Tips & Tricks

• The sensor is connected to the PC via USB.
• Make sure to use an active USB cable if you need to cover a distance of more than 5 meters.
• You can buy the sensor directly from Arduino or through one of their worldwide distributors (not all of them carry the Nano 33 IoT).
• Stick the sensor in your wall using the metal pins.
• The Arduino board is flashed automatically by the TOXEVO software. No extra Setup required.
• You can 3D-print a case for the sensor using this model on thingiverse.com.

The camera is pointed at the target wall. The captured images are processed on the TOXEVO core to determine the arrow's impact location.

Tips & Tricks

• TOXEVO will work with most Full-HD webcams.
• The camera has to support MJPEG compression.
• The camera has to support manual focus and manual gain settings.
• If you want that extra bit of detection accuracy, TOXEVO is also compatible with 4K-cameras.
• A 4K camera might add a few millimeters of precision to the arrow detection, but will also take a bit more CPU power (or add some delay to image processing).
• 4K cameras usually require a USB 3.0 or 3.1 connection.
• 60 fps are not required.
• The surface of your target wall is more important for detection accuracy than the camera resolution!
• The camera has to have the same orientation as your projector. If your projector is ceiling mounted, your camera has to be, too.
• Move your camera as close to the target wall as possible.
• We have verified TOXEVO to work with the following cams:
  • Logitech C615, a cheap but decent Full-HD cam.
  • Logitech BRIO, a mid-range 4K camera.
  • Dell UltraSharp 4K Webcam, a high-end 4K camera that performs particularly well in low-light settings.
  • You have another one that works? Please Let us know!

At the heart of TOXEVO is a "normal" PC. It runs the games and the image processing.
The software is built using the Unity Engine.

System Requirements

TOXEVO does not require too much power to run smoothly.
With the components listed here, you can enjoy the game in Full-HD resolution.
For lower resolutions, reduce the requirements accordingly.

• 3GHz quad-core CPU
• 8 GB RAM
• AMD RX 590 graphics card (oder vergleichbar)
• 2 GB disk space
• Windows 10 or 11
• You need a permanent internet connection to play.

A commercial-off-the-shelf projector to project the games onto the target wall.

Tips & Tricks

• Similar to the camera, TOXEVO should work with any commercial-off-the-shelf projector
• We recommend a native resolution of at least 720p.
• For the best effect, pick a model with a high light output.
• A projector with low input lag will speed up arrow detection even further and increase the detection accuracy.
• The projector has to have the same orientation as your camera. If your camera is ceiling mounted, your projector has to be, too.
• Make sure to turn OFF any features that automatically adapt the image, such as:
  • Automatic brightness control
  • Automatic color adjustments
  • Automatic contrast adjustments
  • Automatic keystone settings
  • ECO mode
  • Light-sensing technologies (e.g. ACER LumiSense™ and other similar technologies)
  • Any others that alter the projection automatically in any way

Standard archery targets are grouped together (e.g. with a tension belt) to form a wall to shoot at.

The wall's surface has to be projection and webcam friendly.

Tips & Tricks

• The wall can have any size. As long as you can project onto it and capture it with your webcam, feel free to go big.
• The wall has to fulfill three requirements, in order of importance:
  • Stop your arrows safely. The arrows have to stick solidly in the wall.
  • Offer a good, clean, unicolor surface for arrow detection.
  • Offer a good surface to be projected on.
• We recommend building a wall of two layers: a thick back layer to stop the arrows, and a thin front layer for arrow detection and projection
• The back layer can be made of target foam, straw, wood chips, etc. Whatever you are using now will work, as long as it is mostly flat. Keep in mind that you'll probably shoot from a shorter distance than usual.
• The thin front layer should ideally offer a white, as-flat-as-possible surface.
  • Try your best to build a wall with as few gaps as possible.
  • We highly recommend a thin (e.g. 2 centimeters) layer of white Ethafoam (or similar).
  • This gives you vivid colors for projection without having different-colored holes to irritating the camera.
  • For best results, glue this thin front to your back layer.
  • Once the thin surface layer is destroyed, you can just glue another layer of Ethafoam in front of it.
  • Shooting paper works as well, but has to be replaced much more often and might cause faults in the arrow detection.

For convenience, it is possible to control TOXEVO with a foot pedal instead of a mouse.
This model is tried and tested by us: https://www.elgato.com/de/stream-deck-pedal.
However, most other pedals should also work, as long as they have a mode to trigger a key press event.

Configuration

We recommend a foot pedal with three pedals. However, having fewer also works (but not as nicely).

• Configure your foot pedal to have the biggest pedal for the ENTER key.
  This key spawns new targets immediately and can be used to start a game from the menu.
• Another pedal should be configured for the ESC key.
  This key pauses the currently running game or goes one level back in the menu.
• Lastly, configure your third foot pedal to use the TAB key.
  You can use this to cycle through buttons in the UI.

TLDR; Here's a summary of everything you require to build your own arena:

• An Impact sensor: an Arduino Nano 33 IoT.
• The Core PC: A five year old gaming PC will do (see detailed Specs).
• A target wall: Something strong enough to hold your arrows, with a flat white surface. No size limit.
• A projector: Min resolution 720p. The brighter, the better. Anything else is up to your budget.
• A camera: FullHD or 4K required. Our recommendation: Logitech C615
• A foot pedal: Optional, but recommended. For example: Stream Deck Pedal