PassthroughForge Mixed Reality — Cut your real cockpit into VR. Open beta now.
✈️ PassthroughForge — Cut your real cockpit into VR. Open beta now.
Tired of flipping the headset up every time you reach for a switch? I'm building a VR mixed-reality tool that lets you cut custom-shaped windows into your VR view — exactly where your real HOTAS, keyboard, kneeboard, throttle quadrant, mug or mouse actually sits. Everything else stays fully VR. One profile per cockpit, one click to switch when you swap aircraft.
🎬 30-second trailer: https://youtu.be/_1FUPOAzdH8
🎯 The problem it solves
You know the moment: mid-flight, you need to flip a switch on the HOTAS or peek at a keybind on the keyboard, and the only options are (a) lift the headset and break immersion, (b) hunt blindly by feel, or (c) memorize voice macros for everything. Pancake mode trades VR for visibility. PassthroughForge removes the trade-off — your real hardware shows through exactly where it is, the rest of the cockpit stays immersive.
🛠️ What it does — by feature
🟪 Cockpit-shaped masks. Draw any polygon, paint with brush/eraser, mirror left/right, import 2D references or 3D meshes (STL/FBX) and project them flat. ▶ https://youtu.be/3AKRFcz9GWM (draw live in VR) · ▶ https://youtu.be/-pHa4rN_5o0 (trace from a screenshot)
📋 Mask Locker — bind any mask to your Quest controller. Clip a chart, kneeboard, or approach plate onto a controller, drop it into your physical cockpit, and it stays locked there in 6DoF. Keep-alive pulses prevent the controller from going to sleep mid-flight. ▶ https://youtu.be/Br4ecuzftP0
🪟 Live window mirroring. Mirror an external Windows window into a mask — Little Navmap, SimBrief, OBS, Discord, anything. Updates in real time on its own floating panel.
📡 DCS Messages on a virtual kneeboard. Stream the in-game DCS message feed (9-line, BRC, JTAC, AI radio) onto an A4 kneeboard floating wherever you want. ▶ https://youtu.be/OZFY1mfCw4k
🧭 One-keystroke recenter. When VD or the runtime nudges your playspace, Ctrl+Del rotates the whole mask group rigidly back to your forward bearing. Pixel-exact relative spacing, zero profile changes. ▶ https://youtu.be/GUm_E3KvHi8
⚡ Keyboard / Stream Deck shortcuts for fast positioning, scaling, and snap-to-view. Bundled Stream Deck profile included. ▶ https://youtu.be/IrNUfpEWI_Q
📁 Profiles per aircraft. Switch from F-16 to A-10 to UH-1 cockpit cutouts in one click.
💪 Why I think it's worth a look
- Built specifically for mixed reality. Not a kneeboard tool with a passthrough afterthought — it's a dedicated OpenXR API layer + editor, no overlay hacks, no game-hooking shenanigans.
- Stable Mask Locker. Verified over multi-minute stillness with a full-stack diagnostic loop. The mask doesn't drift if you don't touch the controller for 20+ minutes (with proximity sensor taped — there's a tip in the manual).
- Real workflow tools, not toys. Bezier polygons, undo/redo, mirror, 3D import, live reference images. You can build a clean cockpit profile in 20 minutes.
- Profile-driven. Save once, switch in a click. Profiles are portable directories — share them with squadmates.
🧪 Hardware support — beta scope
The beta is Quest 3 + Virtual Desktop only. That's the only combo I currently test against end-to-end, and chroma-key passthrough behaves consistently on it. Other headsets (Quest Pro, Pico, Reverb, Index, Varjo, PSVR2) are not supported yet and will not run the current build.
Once we leave beta, broader support is on the roadmap: native passthrough extensions for Quest Link / Pico, XR_FB_passthrough and ALPHA_BLEND paths for Varjo and SteamVR runtimes.
🚀 How to join the open beta
Sign up at 👉 https://www.passthroughforge.com
You'll get an automatic confirmation, then I approve manually (usually within a day) and send you a download link with the installer and a 15-minute first-time walkthrough. The walkthrough covers the required Virtual Desktop settings and one underrated tip (tape the proximity sensor — yes, really) that saves an hour of confusion.
📖 Full manual: https://www.passthroughforge.com/manual.html
📜 Changelog: https://www.passthroughforge.com/changelog.html
💬 Looking for feedback
This is genuinely a beta — expect rough edges, the odd glitch, and features still being polished. What would really help:
- 🐛 Bug reports — what crashed, what looked weird, what didn't work in your sim
- 💡 Feature requests — what's missing for your cockpit / sim / workflow
- 🎮 Aircraft profiles — share what you build, help others get started
Best place to talk to me and the rest of the testers is the Discord:
I'm most active in the dedicated channels there. The community shapes where this goes next.
Cheers, and clear skies. 🛩️