Sending inputs from a networked device to another network device?

Hello all,

I apologise if I’m putting this in the wrong place but this is such a strange question that I honestly don’t know where else to post it.

For my PhD work I’m building an augmented reality project with the Microsoft HoloLens, and I’m trying to implement a Leap Motion controller with it to improve the control system. I have everything working in the Unity Editor and it’s great, but I have absolutely no idea how to get it working post-deployment. Here is my diagram and my dilemma:

The Problem:
The HoloLens has no means of installing the drivers for the Leap Motion, nor any physical way of connecting the two devices together. This is intended to be a fully mobile solution; the user should have unlimited mobility without having cables stretching across the floor to the connect them to the hardware.

The Proposed Solution:
My compromise was to use a micro pc to act as a middle ground. The idea was simple: the Leap Motion connects to a micro PC which then wirelessly forwards the inputs to the HoloLens across the local network. If this theoretical setup works, then the user can fully explore the augmented reality scene without needing to remain within proximity to a desktop machine (and no major health-and-safety risks of the user tripping over the cable).

The Unfortunate Reality:
Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. When I test it in the editor from my desktop development machine, it works great. As soon as I release the build to the HoloLens, it no longer accepts any inputs from anything BUT the HoloLens. I honestly thought running the solution from within Visual Studio would continue to deploy inputs from the machine deploying it, but it turns out I am gravely mistaken. The MicroPC isn’t powerfull enough to run the Unity Editor constantly without taking major framerate hits so I really need it to just act as a parser.

Does this sound possible? Is there any way I can set up the Unity build to receive the Leap Motion inputs from across the network? Someone on the Discord mentioned that I might need some kind of API but I’m not really sure what to look for nor how I might go about integrating it into my project.

If anyone can suggest any content or resources that might help me, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for your time!

-J

I would recommend having a look at Mirror which is a high level open source networking API for Unity to see if this can help you overcome your challenge.