Download & Install

Use this page when you want the packaged Windows app instead of building the repo from source.

The current public package is Viscereality Companion. It is still centered on the Sussex University experiment mode workflow, but the packaged public line now uses the stable release package family instead of the older preview family.

The current packaged public release line is 0.1.79. It remains the normal path for the active legacy cohort.

The recommended path is the installed Windows package, not the portable zip. That gives operators one branded launcher entry, a cleaner update story, and immediate access to the bundled Sussex APK and bundled Windows liblsl runtime inside the app payload.

This release also expands the Sussex diagnostics used by the sequential guide and packaged CLI. Analyze Windows Environment checks local liblsl discovery health, a temporary local LSL outlet rediscovery path, active Windows adapter hazards, and duplicate expected-stream publishers. Probe Connection now inspects the Windows-side HRV_Biofeedback / HRV inventory directly, can auto-start the built-in companion TEST sender when no expected upstream stream is visible at all, and reports pinned Sussex APK match, pinned device profile state, headset Wi-Fi snapshot context, runtime inlet, quest_twin_state return path, and the Windows-visible Quest twin-state outlet source id in one place.

The release ships both install paths:

• a guided-setup helper EXE
• a manual certificate + App Installer path

Start with the guided setup helper on permissive lab machines. On machines with Smart App Control or other download-reputation policy, use the manual certificate + App Installer path first unless the helper has been re-signed with a publicly trusted Authenticode certificate. The manual path also remains useful on machines that disable the ms-appinstaller: browser protocol by requiring the downloaded .appinstaller file to be opened from disk instead.

The helper also refreshes the managed official Quest tooling cache under the current operator-data root (...\ViscerealityCompanion\tooling; for packaged installs usually %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\<package-family>\LocalCache\Local\ViscerealityCompanion\tooling) from Meta's published Windows hzdb package and Google's published Android platform-tools package. Those developer tools remain under their own upstream terms; this repo does not relicense them under MIT.

Sussex Fix Pilot

The Sussex Fix Pilot 0.1.80 is a separate, operator-assigned package for validating the participant-session fix. It does not update, replace, or move the public release feed. Use it only when the study owner has assigned the pilot workflow to you.

Direct Downloads

If you know exactly which file you want, use these direct links:

• Guided setup helper (ViscerealityCompanion-Setup.exe)
• App Installer file (ViscerealityCompanion.appinstaller)
• Windows package (ViscerealityCompanion.msix)
• Package signing certificate (ViscerealityCompanion.cer)
• Portable Windows zip (ViscerealityCompanion-win-x64.zip)
• CLI zip (viscereality-cli-win-x64.zip)
• Checksums (SHA256SUMS.txt)

What The Sussex Release Includes

• the Windows operator app
• the dedicated Sussex University experiment mode shell
• the bundled Sussex APK used by the public Sussex study workflow
• the bundled read-only Sussex visual profiles shipped in the release build
• the bundled read-only Sussex controller-breathing profiles, including Small Motion Mild and the pinned startup Small Motion Conservative
• the bundled Sussex condition library, including Current and Fixed Radius, No Orbit
• the bundled Windows x64 lsl.dll runtime used by the built-in TEST sender and live LSL monitor path
• the pinned Quest device profile and study-specific monitoring surface
• the install assets needed to put the Windows app on another machine
• the app-bundled CLI payload used to seed the current operator-data root under ...\ViscerealityCompanion\agent-workspace with viscereality.ps1, viscereality.cmd, the bundled workspace lsl.dll, and a ready-made local-agent prompt after first launch

Sussex operators should not need a separate APK download if they are using the packaged install.

The current Sussex release also includes the updated Home/orientation shell, the sequential guide flow, the breathing-profiles tab, the conditions tab, participant locked mode, Windows-plus-Quest session snapshots, the LSL/runtime hardening changes, the controller-tracking calibration guards, and the refactored Sussex visual-profile workflow:

• the dedicated Experiment Session operator popout for real participant runs

• automatic Quest pullback into device-session-pull after normal participant recordings

• automatic session review PDFs for both validation captures and normal participant runs

• warning-only Quest backup pullback timeout reporting so a slow hzdb pull does not hide the saved Windows session folder or poison the whole recorder state as faulted

• host-visible packaged operator-data paths for session folders, screenshots, logs, tooling, and the exported local agent workspace

• the bundled Sussex baseline stays permanently available as a library profile

• the app can also ship additional bundled Sussex visual profiles from the release payload, listed ahead of the local writable profile library

• one saved profile can be pinned as the next-launch override

• the visual table edits only the runtime working draft until you explicitly save it as a new profile or overwrite a saved one

• Apply To Current Session now means runtime-only hotload, not profile mutation

• the simplified Sussex visual surface now includes tracer controls, sphere radius limits, and the particle-size-relative-to-radius toggle

• the Conditions tab combines one visual profile, one breathing profile, and an active flag; only active conditions appear in the Experiment Session dropdown

It also includes the dedicated Sussex breathing-driver controls with explicit controller-vs-automatic readback on the During session tab. The bundled Sussex APK in this package is 0.1.2 with SHA256 EF7DD259FF3ED9101505CEC936585E7B20213993890090BAB3D2DC78C2A30E79. Controller vibration is now scene-owned in Sussex and profile-driven for inhale, exhale, and tracked low-motion retention. Bad tracking and not-yet-calibrated controller breathing always mean no controller vibration. Start Recording preserves a calibration that the operator completed in the Experiment Session window before recording starts.

The refreshed Sussex shell layout now puts the operator's high-level checklist on Home, while During session keeps Quest screenshot capture and LSL clock alignment grouped with the live breathing, coherence, particle, and recenter checks.

Before You Start

• Windows 10 or later
• a Quest headset with developer mode enabled
• one USB cable for the first ADB trust step
• the Windows machine and Quest on the same Wi-Fi network if you want Wi-Fi ADB
• local admin approval for the package certificate trust step

If developer mode is not already enabled on the headset, fix that before expecting the companion to install or launch anything.

After Install

1. Launch Viscereality Companion from the Start menu.
2. Confirm it opens in Sussex University experiment mode.
3. Plug the Quest in once over USB and approve the USB debugging prompt in-headset.
4. Use the sequential guide for the full Sussex setup path.
5. Check the top app header for the opened-build badge. The installed package should identify itself as Published install 0.1.79.0; unpackaged local builds explicitly say Unpackaged build.

If you see the full app instead of Sussex mode, you are probably running an older build or a repo-local source build instead of the packaged Sussex release. If both Viscereality Companion and Viscereality Companion Preview appear in Start, use Viscereality Companion. The preview-family entry is legacy migration state only.

Continue with:

• First Session for the operator path
• Study Shells for what is bundled into Sussex mode
• Troubleshooting if the headset does not respond over USB or Wi-Fi ADB

Common First-Run Problems

What You Do Not Need Separately

For the packaged Sussex release you do not need:

• a separate runtime source checkout
• a second Sussex APK handoff by email or USB stick
• a separate device-profile file
• the full operator workspace if the Sussex study shell is the intended surface

If You Need A Portable Or Repo Build

Use the portable zip only if you need a no-installer build for a controlled lab machine:

• Portable Windows zip (ViscerealityCompanion-win-x64.zip)

Use the repo build only when you are validating or changing the source:

Use the repo build directly:

dotnet build ViscerealityCompanion.sln
dotnet run --project src/ViscerealityCompanion.Cli -- tooling install-official
dotnet run --project src/ViscerealityCompanion.App

If Windows Smart App Control blocks the unpackaged repo build, use:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tools\app\Start-Desktop-App.ps1

That source-build launcher also refreshes the canonical Desktop/Start Menu shortcut and removes stale repo-local ViscerealityCompanion.exe copies so Windows Search keeps pointing at the verified publish path.

Then continue with First Session.