USB host on Pico- do we need a host controller chip ?

hi,
I am trying to input data to a pico from a USB barcode reader (in either HID or virtual com mode).
OTG is not required , USB would be a dedicated input.
Happy to dig deeper and get a logic analyser on the case but USB low level signalling is a new world for me. Searching the forums :

• Ive been able to move the repl to serial so that I can use the USB for connecting to the reader. And separate power supply sorted so not required to power via USB.
  
• I now understand that a straight USB.on("data" , function(d){...}) doesn’t respond to USB peripheral input.
  
• ive seen the forum answer that host mode is not supported. http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/­284427/
  
• Ive seen the threads that use an external USB controller shield. http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/­332374/#comment14698591
  https://www.hackster.io/gerrit-niezen/ad­ding-usb-host-support-to-espruino-2c494d­
  
• and I can see there is HID support to use the pico to send to a host.
  
  

So my questions here are:

• has anything moved on since the above conversations with USB peripheral input to the pico?
  
• is there any way forward to ustilise the USB host functionality of the STM32F401xD ?
  
• is an additional host controller chip/shield the only practical way to crack this? Seems a really unnecessary overhead if the STM.. can handle the host interface.
  
  

and any suggestions on investigations I could do to move this forward appreciated.

Thanks in Advance
Simon