The Complete Guide to Passthrough on SLR

25.11.2022

Alex Novak

Passthrough is a revolutionary new feature available in the latest update of the SLR app and . One even said “Passthrough feels like discovering VR porn all over again for the first time. Very exciting.” Here’s our comprehensive guide to what passthrough is and how to get the best out of it in SLR.

What Is Passthrough?

Passthrough is an exciting feature that uses the AR function on your VR headset to make it feel like the performer is in your actual room in front of you. Now you can match up your body to the world’s best adult stars for an incredibly immersive experience. Watch this video from the SLR Labs team to get a clear idea of how impressive this tool can be: Quest Pro Color Passthrough video sample (on SLR) or .

Instructions:

First, you need a VR headset with a front-facing camera, such as the Quest 2 or Valve Index. Then follow these instructions:

If you haven’t already, update to the latest version of the SLR app. Go to Global Settings -> Personalize -> Under 'Virtual Environments' select 'Passthrough'.
If you use the Valve Index headset, make sure to enable Room View in SteamVR.
Now find a suitable video on SLR with a black or plain background. This Private Dance With Haley Spades scene is a good place to begin. There is a passthrough vr tag on SLR where you can find suitable scenes. Or you can get the list of passthrough videos by searching the category called “Passthrough”.
Also, SLR has started producing videos made specifically for passthrough, using a form of green-screen technology. You can see some of these above, including the popular ASMR Closeup starring Xxlayna.
Open your video and go into the Player Settings (right-hand side panel). You’ll see the ‘Passthrough’ section at the bottom. Toggle ‘Enable passthrough’ on.
Now you can adjust the settings to make the plain background fade to show your real surroundings while the main action appears in front of you. For scenes with black backgrounds, try adjusting the opacity/Falloff levels at first before tweaking the other settings.
If the scene has a single-colored background, use the chroma key wheel to choose the nearest color, then set the saturation and brightness bars to max, then move the Hue slider around. You might need to adjust the saturation and brightness levels until the chroma key box color matches the background colour of the video. Finally, adjust the Falloff/opacity level until only the background has disappeared. [See below for more info about the chroma key tool.]

Using the chroma key tool

Using the player, you can apply the chroma key algorithm to any video in real-time to make parts of a video transparent.

Use the chroma key wheel to choose the color closest to the background of the video
Use the sliders (Hue, Saturation and Brightness) to fine-tune the color so it closely matches the background and makes it transparent
The color range calculates the distance between pixel color and key color
- A low value means that pixel color must closely match the key color
- Higher values include more shades of key color. At the maximum value, it will make everything transparent
Falloff (previously 'opacity') defines how fast the transparency falls from opaque to transparent between a color that doesn't match the key color and the color closest to it
Adjust the color range and Falloff values until your image is clear and you see both your real-life surroundings and the model perfectly

Notes:

Keep in mind that black is not an ideal color for keying - all black/dark zones will be "erased" no matter where they are located on the image. For example, black hair, black clothes and eyes will become transparent
The algorithm is pretty simple for performance reasons and doesn't recognize objects at runtime
For best results, we recommend preparing the chroma key background in the video in the post-production/editing stage
Due to hardware limitations, passthrough is only supported on the SLR desktop app for the Valve Index, however, you can use passthrough on your standalone Quest or Pico headset using the DeoVR app or the SLR app sideloaded on your headset

Additionally, the v13.5 update of the SLR app has seen a number of improvements to the chroma key tool:

The color range slider is now less sensitive
The color box is now visible when dragging sliders
Improved performance when using the color wheel
An icon has been added to thumbnails on the hub so users can easily see which videos have passthrough configured

Valve Users

If you're having trouble getting Passthrough to work on Valve Index, try this: double-press the button on the bottom left of the headset. This enables the camera to work during the scene.

Useful Tips

Our users have also come up with some ideas and suggestions that can help you get the most out of this amazing new function:

It takes trial and error. Experiment with the opacity and saturation levels first to find out what works best for you and your surroundings, then try adjusting other settings.
Some users feel that white backgrounds (walls, bed sheets, etc) work better than dark backgrounds, as the white can act as a type of green screen.
Be aware of certain elements, such as underwear that matches the background (eg. white underwear on a white background) or shadows in scenes with dark backgrounds as the passthrough function will show them as see-through.
Play around with your position. For example, if the actress has her head in your lap, you can line it up so your penis matches up with the actor’s, making it feel like you’re actually there in the room. People have said that blowjobs and standing facials feel especially good in passthrough.
The settings work differently on different videos - one level of opacity will work well for a particular scene or studio, but not for another, so you may need to adjust it each time.
JOI (jerk-off instruction) videos have a lot of potential with this feature to enhance intimacy. Try some of the JOI playlists on SLR to see which will work best.
Some users feel it works better in low-light situations, so try turning the lights off in your room when trying this, to decrease the visibility of imperfections.

How is Passthrough different on the Valve, Quests and Pico headsets?

In brief, very different passthrough technology is used for each VR headset. Let's take a closer look at each of the major VR headset models.

Valve Index - Passthrough is achieved via the built-in RGB stereo camera mounted on the front of the headset panel. It provides a color stereo capture passthrough through a traditional two-camera setup and requires the user to activate a built-in feature on the SteamVR app called "Room View". We cannot force Passthrough to activate via the SLR or DeoVR app directly - it can only be activated through the SteamVR Room View software toggle button, or by double tapping the menu button on the controller. The process to achieve Passthrough on the Valve Index for our app is to ensure that the user first activates the room view, then toggles on the SLR/DeoVR app Passthrough button to enable color keying adjustments.

Quest - On the Meta Quest Pro, Passthrough is achieved via its built-in RGB stereo camera mounted on the front and assisted by three IR cameras (left, center and right). Meanwhile, the Quest 2 uses four IR cameras that stitch together to form the final stereo view. Both are capable of stereo-passthrough. The function to activate the hardware Passthrough is exposed on the API level and our awesome devs incorporated this into the SLR/DeoVR app. This enables us to toggle into Passthrough mode on-demand through our app while running it.

PICO - Passthrough for the PICO 4 is achieved via a single RGB camera that sits at the very center of the HMD front panel. It does provide color Passthrough but it is limited to a mono image feed. Whereas the PICO 3 uses the same tech as Quest 2 (four IR cameras) and does provide stereo passthrough. The difference between mono and stereo is largely related to the scale of a projected Passthrough scene in comparison to its projected 3D content. As mono does not provide any perceivable size (depth perception) the aspect ratio between the Passthrough feed and 3D content would be mismatched. Both PICO headsets come with API with on-demand Passthrough which means it can be accessed directly through the SLR/DeoVR app.

The only non-fully automatic Passthrough activation via the SLR/DeoVR app is the Valve Index headset. It requires Room View to be activated and this is what most people tend to forget about (although there is a clear note written next to the Passthrough switch in-app!).