Working With the Immersive System Assistant

In this task, you will learn how to access and use the Immersive System Assistant workbench in order to configure your Virtual Reality devices and display system.

Within this workbench, the various elements (screens, trackers, etc.) any reality center hardware installation is made of are graphically represented and this visual feedback enables you to create, edit and delete very easily the necessary data.

These data will then be used to generate automatically an XML configuration file via a command provided by the Immersive System Assistant workbench, thus avoiding a "painful" manual edition.
All drivers and brokers supported by Version 5 are threaded which means that there is no need to run external processes anymore.
In addition to that, all the necessary MPK display configuration data (including those related to the threaded brokers and drivers) are now grouped together into a single configuration file saved in XML format. These data will then be used when starting up your Version 5 session to run the broker and the driver automatically with the appropriate configuration.

However, note that you can still run drivers and brokers manually as before if needed, for instance when using external drivers or when running a driver on a remote computer.
 
Real Time Rendering 2 (RTR) users can access and use the Immersive System Assistant workbench. However, a P3 license is required to be able to use tracking stations and trackers. 

  1. Access the Immersive System Assistant workbench by selecting the Start > Infrastructure > Immersive System Assistant . The Immersive System Assistant workbench opens:

    This workbench lets you create and manipulate several types of objects:
    • graphic board (or IG for "image generator")
    • window
    • view (either screen or camera)
    • head
    • hand picking device
    • tracking station
    • tracker.

    Note that the head, the hand picking device and the trackers are automatically managed and thus, cannot be deleted.

  2. Click New IG to create a graphic board (you can modify the default name by entering a new name in the Display box):

  3. Click Toggle the plan view on to display the graphic board symbol in the current window.

    You can then hide the graphic board by clicking again this icon.

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to create another graphic board and display it in the current window. The geometry area now looks like this:

  5. You are now going to create a rendering specification using New View . This opens the View Properties dialog box which lets you define the type of view you wish to use as well as its properties:

    You can choose between a screen view or a camera view:
    • screen: use it when the viewpoint to render is defined by the user moving in front of a fixed screen
    • camera: use it when the viewpoint to render is attached to the head of the user, like a camera (such as a head-mounted display).
    Screen View
    1. Click the tab you will use to set the screen properties, either:
    • Screen Corners
      Enter the coordinates of three screen corners (upper left corner,
      lower left corner and lower right corner)
    • Field of view

    The H fov and V fov boxes represent the horizontal and vertical field of view (in degrees), respectively.
    The H shift and V shift boxes let you translate the screen horizontally and vertically.
    The Head box defines the horizontal rotation of the screen around the head.
    The Pitch box defines the vertical rotation of the screen around the head.
    The Distance box defines the distance (in millimeters) to the head.
    • Screen size

    The Width and Height boxes correspond to the screen width and height, respectively.
    The Head box defines the horizontal rotation of the screen around the head.
    The Pitch box defines the vertical rotation of the screen around the head.
    The Center area lets you set the coordinates of the screen center.
    Once you entered values in a tab, the values of the two other tabs are automatically updated accordingly. You can then pass from one tab to another very easily.
    Camera View

    1. Click the Frustum tab:

    "Frustum" is a truncated pyramid representing the angular definition of the field of view for a distance equal to 1. Enter the desired values in millimeters for Left, Right, Top and Bottom.
    2. Click the Field of view tab:

    The H fov and V fov boxes represent the horizontal and vertical field of view (in degrees), respectively.
    The H shift and V Shift boxes let you translate the screen horizontally and vertically.

  6. Click OK when satisfied with your screen definition.

  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to create another screen view.

    You can modify the screen properties at anytime by double-clicking the screen in the geometry area or in the specification tree.
    The result looks something like this (depending on the values you enter): 

  8. Click Snap to snap one of the screens to the other. To to so, select an edge of the screen to be snapped then an edge of the other screen:

    You can also snap the 3D compass to a screen view to manipulate it very easily as shown below:
    Note that the compass cannot be snapped to camera views.

    The next step is to render the specifications in a window.

    A window can be defined as an OpenGL rendering zone for a defined viewpoint and is located in the graphic board frame buffer. The specification of the viewpoint to render in a window is called a "view". As a consequence, each window points to a view, either a screen view or a camera view depending on the viewpoint to render.

  9. Click New Window  to open the Window Properties dialog box:

  10. Give a name to the new window (or leave the default name) and set is as your referenced window by clicking the Main Window option.

    The main window is the window which is always visible in Version 5 (the other windows being created "on the fly" when you run View > Full Screen).

  11. Select the associated graphic board in the geometry area or in the specification tree. The IG box ise automatically updated accordingly.

  12. Select the view the window will point to. The View box will be automatically updated accordingly.

  13. In the Viewport area, indicate the portion of the graphic board you are going to use. To do so, enter the desired coordinates in the Left, Top, Width and Height boxes.

    "0.00"  means the view is located in top left corner
    "1.00"  means the view is located in bottom right corner.

    Default window

    Left = 0.00
    Top = 0.00
    Width = 1.00
    Height = 1.00

    		 User-defined window

    Left = 0.33
    Top = 0.15
    Width = 0.57
    Height = 0.68

  14. Specify the Rendering Mode:

    • Mono: only the cyclop viewpoint is rendered

    • Left and Right eye: these modes are used for passive stereo display systems in which left eye and right eye images are displayed simultaneously on the screen. Image separation is performed by filtering glasses using polarized light, for instance

    • Active Stereo: left eye and right eye images are alternatively displayed on the screen at twice the refresh rate. An active pair of glasses with two shutters working in synchronization with the images is needed. Synchronization is often achieved using an infrared emitter: the left eye shutter is closed when the right eye image is displayed, and reciprocally.

  15. Use the Mirror Mode box if you want to create a symmetry and define the axis with respect to which the reflected image should be inverted.

    Note that you can also create a symmetry using the projector.

  16. Click Apply then OK to validate and close the dialog box.

    Now let's go to modifying the head properties!

  17. Double-click either the head in the geometry area or the Head item in the specification tree to open the Head edition dialog box:

    • indicate the distance (in millimeters) between left eye and right eye in the Inter pupillary distance box
    • the Type box is relevant only when working with devices such as trackers
    • define the Head position (in millimeters) along X, Y and V axes
    • define the head orientation in the Heading box
    • set the vertical rotation of the head in the Pitch box
    • set the horizontal rotation of the head in the Roll box.

    The head position and orientation you define in this dialog box correspond to the default head position and orientation relative to the screens when the head is not tracked.

  18. Click OK to validate.

    If you do not use trackers, it is now time to generate your configuration file.

    For those who use trackers, a few additional operations need to be carried out before generating the configuration file. Skip the steps below and jump to step 24. 

  19. Click Configure VR System . The following dialog box appears:

    The Generate VR Configuration dialog box lets you:
    • choose the directory in which the configuration file will be saved. You can either enter a path directly in the box or click Browse then navigate to the desired directory using the Select VR Configuration dialog box
    Note that if you set the DLName document environment as your current environment via Tools > Options > General > Document (by selecting DLName in the Document Environment column then clicking Allowed and Current), clicking Browse opens the DLName dialog box instead of the usual Select VR Configuration dialog box:
    The DLName dialog box displays the list of DLNames that have been defined in the Document tab.
    You just need to select the DLName to be used to store your configuration file then click OK to validate.
    Refer to "Defining DLNames" in the Document tab detailed in the Customizing section of the Infrastructure User's Guide.
    • set the configuration as the current one by clicking the Set as current VR Configuration option: this means that this configuration will be used to run the driver and the broker when restarting your session
    • add the configuration to the list of configurations displayed in Tools > Options > General > Devices and Virtual Reality > Devices.

    Note that the configuration name cannot be modified in this dialog box. To modify the name, double-click the configuration in the specification tree then, in the VR Configuration Properties dialog box, replace the default name "Config" with the new name before clicking OK:

  20. Click OK to validate and close the Generate VR Configuration dialog box.

    The XML file is generated and saved in the directory you specified. A warning message informs you that you need to restart your session to take this modification into account.

  21. Exit your Version 5 session.

  22. Restart a Version 5 session which is now correctly configured.

  23. Switch to Full Screen mode by selecting View > Full Screen.

    You are now ready to start!

    If you want to use trackers, here are the additional steps you need to follow:

  24. Click Create New Tracking Station to create the tracking station your trackers will be associated to and to define the type of tracker to be used.
    The Tracking Station Properties dialog box opens:

  25. Type a Name (or leave the default) then specify the Type of the driver you intend to use (either Polhemus or IS900), serial communication Port number the driver is connected to as well as the communication Baud Rate on the serial port.

    You can now choose a Flock of Birds or ART driver in the Type list.
    If you choose a Version 5 compatible driver of your own (i.e. a "Custom" type), a new box appears to the right asking you for the corresponding daemon name.

  26. Indicate the Position of the tracking station.

  27. Indicate the tracking station:

    • orientation in the Heading box
    • vertical rotation in the Pitch box
    • horizontal rotation in the Roll box.

  28. In the Trackers area, identify the trackers to be connected to the tracking station by checking the corresponding figure.

    Once you validated the tracking station definition, the tracking station and the trackers it is associated to are displayed in the geometry area.

    In our example, we created a tracking station with two trackers:

  29. Double-click the head in the geometry area or the Head item in the specification tree to open the Head edition dialog box then specify the head type.

    The next step is to edit the tracker. To do so:

  30. Double-click the tracker symbol in the geometry area or the number of the tracker you wish to edit in the specification tree. This opens the Tracker Edition dialog box:

  31. Select the Tracked Element from the pull-down list. The tracker may be attached to the head, the hand or another device. 

    When several trackers are associated to the tracked element, activate the Viewpoint Manager option to indicate which tracker will be used.
    For hand tracking, this option is named Picking Manager.
    A tracker may be set as Button Manager when this tracker can also be used as a button device (for instance the IS900 or the ART tracker). Checking this option means that the button device will be used by the VRCursor command.
    When the tracked element is selected, the tracker is attached to the corresponding element symbol in the geometry area and the color of the sphere changes according to the type of tracking:

    Hand tracking

    Head tracking

  32. If you are tracking hand or head, click the button to automatically generate the matrices and set the standard, i.e. right, position for the tracker depending on the type of tracking station and tracked element. 

    The tracker symbol may be grayed out and dotted if the matrices can be automatically calculated and if the information you entered does not match those we recommend.

    If you want to define by yourself the tracker position, jump to the next step.

  33. If you choose a "custom" tracker, the position and orientation data define the virtual tracker viewed by Version 5. These data correspond to the offset of the virtual tracker in relation to the physical tracker. 

    The button is activated to let you define the tracker position in the device as well as its orientation:

    • the Heading box lets you define the tracker orientation
    • the Pitch box lets you define the vertical rotation
    • the Roll box lets you define the horizontal rotation.

  34. Click New Button Device to access the Button Device Properties dialog box:

    Specify the following information:
    • enter the name of the button device in the Name box
    • select the device type in the Type list: CUSTOM, Mike, NeoWand or SpaceStick
    • indicate the Daemon name.
    • Button Manager: check this option if you want the button device to be used by the VRCursor command.
      This capability is relevant for hand button devices onto which a tracker has been fixed, such as the Fakespace Neowand, the Virtual Presence SpaceStick, the ICIDO Mike, etc. In that case, you need to define a button device independently from the tracker.

  35. Generate the configuration files by clicking Generate Configuration Files . For detailed information, refer to step 19 and repeat steps 19 to 22.

  36. The next step depends on the driver and broker you are using:

    • if you are using a non-threaded broker and driver, you need to run them manually using the generated XML configuration file. The broker must be run first then, the driver. For detailed information on the commands to run, refer to Head Tracking or Hand Tracking according to the type of tracking you want to perform.
      Then, you can restart a Version 5 session

    • if you are using a threaded broker and driver, you can directly restart a Version 5 session: the driver is automatically run with the appropriate configuration.

  37. In your Version 5 session, click Test viewpoint and VR cursor tracking to test either hand or head tracking, or even both if needed.

    The Test tracking window appears and indicates for which tracking the current session is configured.

  38. Specify the type of tracking you want to test (if your session is configured for both head and hand tracking) then click Start to validate.

    As you use your tracking device, the tracker representation will move accordingly on screen.