BS Contact - Users Guide

Getting Started

This document is about Navigation. Navigation is the process of moving around in a virtual environment or view an object from different views.

To find out what a virtual environment - or VR scene - is, go to the overview page.

General

This is the main outline of how BS Contact works:

BS Contact is mainly operated with the mouse. You can:

left mouse button: move around in the VR scene.
right mouse button: open the BS Contact menu.

The scroll wheel has additional functionality:

turn it: adjust your point of view.
press it: open the navigation menu.

There is additional functionality available for advanced users,
but more on this later.

Moving around with the mouse:

Moving around with the Mouse in a VR scene is commonly refered to as navigation It works as follows:

First you click with the left mouse button into the VR scene and keep the mouse button pressed. Then you move the mouse away from the point you clicked. The amount how far you move the mouse away determines how fast you move in 3D. Move the mouse...

	...to the top and go forward.
...to the left and turn left.	move the mouse...	...to the right and turn right.
	...to the bottom and go backward.

In addition, the scroll wheel allows you to adjust the vertical viewing direction:

...forward
and look down.

scroll the wheel...

...backward
and look up.

Try:

You can try this out in the VR example cyberhood.

...Continuation:

Sometimes the mouse cursor assumes the shape of a hand. In this case it is located over an interactive object and clicking with the mouse means that you interact with that object. To navigate in such a situation, move the mouse cursor to a place where its shape becomes a cross again.
More on interaction...

Tip:

Got lost? Then press the ESC key.
(In Netscape: right click, then select Viewpoints → Reset)

Tip:

The PgUp and PgDown keys transport you to predefined positions.
More on view points...

Examining an Object:

The above describes how to move in the navigation mode called WALK Another important navigation mode is EXAMINE, which is described here. To learn about the other modes, read the section Navigation Modes.

The EXAMINE mode works similar than the WALK mode: you click on an object and drag the mouse while you keep the mouse button pressed. Mouse movements are directly translated to object movements: The object moves only when you move the mouse.

Additional functions:

To move the object on screen, press the CTRL key, click the object and drag it around.
To move the object closer or further away, use the mouse wheel.

Try:

Try with the car configurator.

Tip:

BS Contact helps you by softly aligning an object while you rotate it. If you want to perfectly align an object, move the mouse up-and-down or left-and-right for a few times.

Tip:

The PgUp, PgDown and ESC keys help you in almost every world.

Navigation Modes

There are several different styles of how your view into the VR scene is changed when you move the mouse. These are called navigation modes and fullfill the needs of different types of VR applications. An application can preset a navigation mode and the user can select another one.

To select a navigation mode:

middle click, or
right click and select Movement.

The following Navigatin modes are available in BS Contact:

WALK:
The WALK mode is active in most worlds. It allows one to walk around in a similar way as people do in real live.

go forward

turn left mouse turn right

go backward

look down

mouse wheel

look up

FLY:
The FLY mode behaves the same as the WALK mode, with the exception that it does not keep you on the ground. Therefore you can fly. Use the mouse wheel to rise or lower while moving forward, or press the CTRL key while draging the mouse to directly move up or down.

go forward

turn left mouse turn right

go backward

look down

mouse wheel

look up

EXAMINE:
The EXAMINE mode allows to rotate an object and examine it from different locations. It is active by default if a single object is viewd.

roll up

roll left mouse roll right

roll down

move closer

mouse wheel

move farther

The following modes are BS Contact extensions over the VRML standard.

PAN:
In the PAN mode the user can easily look around. Moving is still possible but requires to press the CTRL key while dragging the mouse.

look up

turn left mouse turn right

look down

go forward

mouse wheel

go backward

SLIDE:
This mode allows to move sidewards and forwards without changing the direction of where you look.

move up

move left mouse move right

move down

go forward

mouse wheel

go backward

GAME:
The GAME mode is an alternative to the WALK mode. You can control your movements similar to a Game:

change your direction of view with the mouse,
and move with the other hand on the keyboard.

More on the GAME mode...

look up

look left mouse look right

look down

get faster

mouse wheel

get slower

JUMP:
This is a special mode that allows you to click on an object and get moved there automatically.

Nevertheless can you move around by dragging the mouse like in WALK mode or in PAN mode. Which of those mode is active depends on whether gravity simulation is currently on or off.

PAN-like (gravity is on):

look up

look left mouse look right

look down

go forward

mouse wheel

go backward

WALK-like (gravity is off):

look up

look left mouse look right

look down

go forward

mouse wheel

go backward

This outline shows the options for more advanced users:

Advanced navigation controlls:

SHIFT key: move faster.
speed menu: controll the speed of movement.
CTRL key: alternative mouse directions.