Viscape dialog boxes


Active Viewpoints dialog box


Lists the preset viewpoints that have been setup in the world by the world designer. When you click a viewpoint, the viewpoint in the world changes to the new position immediately.

Each world can have up to 100 preset viewpoints that can be static, follow predefined paths, or attached to objects to create controlled objects which you can steer around the world.


Mouse Buttons and Movement dialog box


Specifies that the mouse button would cause movement in the axes defined below.


Specifies that the mouse button would act as it does in mouse selection mode, where moving the mouse pointer around the screen simply does that—clicking the left mouse button activates objects and the right button displays the history menu in most editors.


Lists the available sideways movements and rotations for each axis for the current mouse action. To assign movement or rotation to this mouse action, click on one of the available options from the drop-down list. These options are only available if the mouse is in Move mode.


Lists the available forwards and backwards movements and rotations for each axis for the current mouse action. To assign movement or rotation to this mouse action, click on one of the available options from the drop-down list. These options are only available if the mouse is in Move mode.


Specifies that the distance of the mouse pointer from the home position determines the speed of rotation or movement. This option is only available if the mouse is in Move mode.


Specifies that the distance of the mouse from the home position determines the absolute orientation or position of the viewpoint. This option is only available if the mouse is in Move mode.


Resets all the movement options to their default settings.


Viscape Setup dialog box


Devices tab (Viscape Setup dialog box)


Lists all the devices that Viscape supports, their type (for example, proportional) and their current state (for example, enabled).


Enables the selected device.


Disables the selected device.


Resets the selected device to its default settings.


Adds a device to the list. Displays the Open File dialog box.


Specifies that you will be prompted to save the changes you have made in the preferences file (.CFG) when you exit the dialog box.


Devices: Mouse Movement


Specifies how you switch between mouse selection mode and movement mode. This can be done in one of three ways:

•	Keyboard - pressing SPACEBAR.

•	Key and Center Button - using the center mouse button on a three button mouse.

•	Center Button (Hold) - the center mouse button can be set so that holding it down switches into movement mode. When released, the mouse returns to selection mode.

In selection mode, moving the mouse pointer around the screen simply does that—clicking the left mouse button activates objects and the right button displays the history menu in most editors. In movement mode, moving the mouse around the screen causes the viewpoint or controlled object to move in the virtual world. Pressing the left and right mouse buttons modifies the movement to use different axes.


Click this to set the axes for mouse movement. Displays the Mouse Buttons and Movement dialog box.


Specifies that the mouse home position is visible.


Specifies where the mouse must be in order to cause no movement. Floating sets the home position to the point where the mouse is clicked in the viewing area; Center sets the center of the screen is used as the home position.


Specifies how fast you move in the world as you move the mouse further from its home position. The further the slider is to the right, the faster you move in the world with the minimum mouse movement.

When the slider is at the left end of the scale, the distance of the mouse from its home position is used directly to determine how fast to move; the further from home position the faster you move. When the slider is at the right hand end, the mouse position is scaled more for large values than small. This means that while small mouse movements may still cause relatively small movements in the virtual world, large mouse movements cause progressively larger world movements.


Specifies how fast you rotate in the world as you move the mouse further from its home position. The further the slider is to the right, the faster you rotate in the world with the minimum mouse movement.

When the slider is at the left end of the scale, the distance of the mouse from its home position is used directly to determine how fast to rotate; the further from home position the faster you move. When the slider is at the right hand end, the mouse position is scaled more for large values than small. This means that while small mouse movements may still cause relatively small movements in the virtual world, large mouse movements cause progressively larger world movements.


Devices: Joystick


Specifies that the button would cause movement in the axes defined below.


Specifies that the button would act as it does in selection mode.


Lists the available sideways movements and rotations for each axis for the current button option.To assign a movement or rotation, click on one of the available options from the drop-down list. These options are only available if the button is in Move mode.


Lists the available forwards and backwards movements and rotations for each axis for the current joystick option. To assign a movement or rotation, click on one of the available options from the drop-down list. These options are only available if the button is in Move mode.


Device: Spacemouse

The Spacemouse is the recommended input device for use with Viscape. The Spacemouse senses the amount of pressure or twist applied to the ‘cap’ in each of the six axes. Pushing it forward pushes the controlled object or viewpoint forward. Rotating the cap rotates the controlled object or viewpoint.


Select the serial port that the Spacemouse is attached to.


Device: Spaceball

The Spaceball is a common input device for use with the Viscape. The Spaceball senses the amount of pressure or twist applied to the ball in each of the six possible axes. Pushing the ball forward pushes the controlled object or viewpoint forward. Rotating the ball rotates the controlled object or viewpoint.


Select the serial port that the Spaceball is attached to.


Device: Flock of Birds

The Ascension Flock of Birds position tracker is a device that follows the motion of a small sensor (known as a Bird) in the real world, and communicates this position to the computer using a serial port.

The Bird is a small plastic device approximately one centimeter in size attached to a cable. Using the Bird merely consists of moving it in the real world. Up to three receivers may be used, so long as they are set up as a ‘standard flock’, where the first Flock of Birds unit has a receiver and a transmitter attached, and subsequent units have receivers only.


Select the serial port that the Flock of Birds is attached to.


Drag the slider to alter the delay between starting up the Flock of Birds and sending the initialization information. The range is from 1000 to 5000 milliseconds (1 to 5 seconds).


Specifies the axes of movement for the bird in the virtual world. To change the setup, click on a new X,Y, or Z option in the drop-down list of the axis you want to change.

The default setup should be fine for a horizontally mounted transmitter.


Specifies the axes of rotation for the bird in the virtual world. To change the setup, click on a new X,Y, or Z option in the drop-down list of the axis you want to change.

The default setup should be fine for a horizontally mounted transmitter.


Specifies that sudden changes in position are reported back to Viscape. If this check box is clear, then sudden changes are damped out by the Flock of Birds.


Specifies whether you wish to send your own sync pulse to the bird. If you want to use the sync pulse signal supplied with the bird, make sure this option is clear.


Specifies the number of birds that you are using.


Device: Polhemus FASTRAK

The Polhemus FASTRAK position tracker is a device that follows the motion of a small sensor in the real world, and communicates this position to the computer using a serial port.

The Tracker is a small plastic device approximately one centimeter in size attached to a cable. Using the Tracker merely consists of moving it in the real world. Up to three trackers may be attached to the FASTRAK (not four, due to the limitation of 18 axes). The one attached to the lowest numbered connector controls the first six axes, the next lowest controls the next six axes, and the third controls the final six axes. The number of trackers is sensed automatically by the software, and does not appear in the configuration information.


Select the serial port that the device is attached to.


Drag the slider to alter the delay between starting up the device and sending the initialization information. The range is from 1000 to 5000 milliseconds (1 to 5 seconds).


Specifies the axes of movement for the device in the virtual world. To change the setup, click on a new X,Y, or Z option in the drop-down list of the axis you want to change.

The default setup should be fine for a horizontally mounted transmitter.


Specifies the axes of rotation for the device in the virtual world. To change the setup, click on a new X,Y, or Z option in the drop-down list of the axis you want to change.

The default setup should be fine for a horizontally mounted transmitter.


Device: Virtual I-O i-glasses

The Virtual I-O i-glasses is a head mounted display (HMD) device that produces a stereoscopic display. You can only use the i-glasses with virtual worlds that have been specifically configured for stereoscopic HMDs—the layout of each world has two windows that display the same image and must be displayed in interlace mode in Viscape.

The i-glasses is an orientation tracker only, providing pitching and rolling information through the serial port. If you require positional information, you need to use a second device such as the keyboard or mouse.

If you are using Windows 95, make sure that you are using a monitor which runs at 50 or 60 Hz refresh rate in SVGA mode. See the Virtual I-O i-glasses documentation for further details.


Select the serial port that the i-glasses are attached to.


Device: Display


Lists the available display driver modes for your system. Which drivers are available depends on your hardware.

We recommend that you use the Auto Detect option (default) which checks your system everytime you start Viscape and selects the best match for it. If you have trouble with the selected driver, you may be able to solve the problem by switching to another.

For further information click the Menu icon on the movement bar, and choose Help>Display Options>To Change the Display Mode.


Device: Network

You can network up to twenty-five Viscapes together so that people can interact with each other in the same world in realtime. Windows Viscape uses NetBios to transport the information around the network of users. To install and configure NetBios we recommend that you contact your System Administrator.


Specifies the user number for the computer. Each user is allocated a different viewpoint on startup. On a multi-user system, user 1 starts on viewpoint 1, user 2 on viewpoint 2, and so on.


Specifies the total number of users sharing the virtual world. This number can be different from world to world, and does not need to be the number of users on the network.


Drag the slider to adjust the time to wait for the initial connection before stopping the program. The default setting is 30000 milliseconds.


Drag the slider to adjust the time to wait before timing out on each machine.  The default setting is 10 seconds.


Display tab (Viscape Setup dialog box)


Selects the crosshair or the mouse pointer as the selection tool. When the crosshair is set as the selection tool, you select items by moving the world until the item is under the crosshair and pressing the activation key. If you have a proportional device such as a Spacemouse, you can use a crosshair to select items.

Select Crosshair Visible to display the crosshair tool in the center of the screen.


Drag the slider or type a value in the space provided to set the movement step size for each time you press a key in the world. Movement step has a range of 0–100000.

Note that at present Movement Step has no effect in Viscape.


Drag the slider or type a value in the space provided to set the angular step rotation for each time you press a key in the world. Angular step has a range, in degrees, of 0.00–90.00

Note that at present Angular Step has no effect in Viscape.


Locks the viewpoint in the selected axes.


Drag the slider or type a value in the space provided to set the amount of detail shown on screen by globally changing the distances at which all replacements are applied. Details level has a range of -10 to +10, with 0 as its default. Negative values give less detail and replacement distances are brought closer to the view point. Positive values give more detail by placing replacement points further away from the viewpoint.


Drag the slider or type a value in the space provided to set the size of the ‘window’ on the virtual world. Zoom level has a range of 256 – 16384. Low values show more of the world in the screen and high values zoom in so that less of the world is visible on the screen.


Specifies whether the background display to is a solid background (Solid) or has a ground and sky (Horizon).

Each option has an additional No Redraw selection that instructs Viscape to use the previous option but not update the screen each frame. This may cause image trails to be left on the screen.


Proportional Control Type dialog box


List

Click the control type you want and click OK.


Proportional Device Setup dialog box


Displays the current control type. Click Select to choose a different configuration.

Viscape has 40 preset control type settings that you can use to control how the viewer sees worlds. These work within the six basic axes of movement (so that moving in the Z+ axis moves forwards and rotating in the Y+ axis spins clockwise). They comprise 10 basic settings each with four different levels of sensitivity and viewpoint as follows:

Car Cntl	Lets you control and ‘drive’ car type objects.

Fly Cntl	Provides total control over an object.

Fly No Z	Same as Fly Cntl but with no object tilt.

Man Cntl	Lets you control and ‘walk’ humanoid type objects.

Plane Cntl	Lets you control and ‘fly’ airplane type objects.

View Move	Provides total control over the viewpoint.

View No Z	Same as View Move but with no viewpoint tilt.

View Spin	Moves a viewpoint around an object.

View Stat	Allows control from a stationary viewpoint. It only has movement in the three rotational axes.

View Walk	Where vertical movement or tilt is not required.

Following the basic settings in each case is a number between one and six, which indicates that the device should take input from that number of different axes simultaneously, and either Hi or Lo, which refers to the sensitivity of the viewpoint.


Click this to choose a new control type. Displays the Proportional Control Type dialog box.


Specifies how many axes (1–6) the proportional device operates in simultaneously. When set to 1, only the axis with the greatest amount of force applied passes information to the world at any one time. This makes it easy to use the device to move the viewpoint or object in one direction without accidentally operating other axes. When the field is set to 6, information from all the axes affects the viewpoint or object. This increases operational speed but needs skill to accurately control the viewpoint or object.


Drag the sliders or type values in the boxes to set the sensitivity along and around each of the six basic axes of the control device. Sensitivity has a range of 0 (off) to 15 (maximum).

The higher the value (indicated by the number to the right of the slider), the more sensitive the device is to pressure in that axis, and the faster you will move or rotate in that axis.


Drag the sliders or type values in the boxes to specify the amount of force required before the device starts moving in the axis. A device’s translational and rotation deadzones are individually adjustable for the X, Y, Z axes in 64 steps (0 - 63).

The higher the value (indicated by the number to the right of the slider), the greater the input required to start the device operating in that axis. This can help to avoid accidentally moving a viewpoint or object with very small inputs from the device.


World Information dialog box


Displays the previous page of help text.


The world information for the current world. This text is read-only.


Displays the next page of help text.


Adds pages of help text


Deletes pages of help text.