Building a Lesson

Steps for Creating a New Lesson

Note: You can also choose Help- Getting Started to run a quick guided tutorial. Click "Show" to see an animated gif, Next or Back to go through the steps and Escape to Quit early. 

1. Click “New Project” to start a new lesson or double click to open an existing one. 

Additional lessons can also be accessed online by clicking the globe icon. This uses a shared Google Drive, or can be modified to point to your own collection in the config file (by clicking "Advanced - Open globalConfig" and modifying ADDITIONAL_LESSONS_URL) 

2. Give your new project a name and click "Create"

3. Add a Scene

Go to the Assets tab and either:

• Left-click and drag an asset into the Scenes/Sequence window or Preview window, or
  
  

• Right-click an asset and select Add to Project.
  
  

You can also use the Online Asset Browser to search for and import additional assets. (For more guidance, see [this page].)

Any files placed in the assets folder will appear after you click Refresh. Use Open Folder to quickly locate the directory and add new content.

Use the mouse to navigate the Preview window, or click the menu in the top-left corner to enable alternative controls, such as WASD walk mode or Hide Start Points  (note: if you don't see the options you may need to update to the latest version, click on Check for Updates and Download if one is available).

Use keyboard shortcuts as needed:

• Press R to reset the view.
  
  

• Hold Left Shift to lock or freeze the preview camera.

4. Edit the Scene

• Click the "Edit" button to open the scene in Inspector (or right  click and choose "edit")
  
  

• From here, you can:
  
  

  • Add objects and starting points
    
    

  • Add lights, sounds, or videos
    
    

  • Customize interactivity
    
    

For detailed editing instructions, see the [Inspector Guide].

You can also rename, duplicate, or delete scenes from the right-click menu. Clicking and dragging can re-order the scenes.

To Set Items as Grabbable, Target for Eye Tracking Objects of Interest or Visiblity, use the checkboxes on the right side

5. Run the Session

• When ready, click “Run Session” and select one of the following modes:

  • Single User

  • Instructor (For Multi-User sessions)

Adding Videos

Note: Videos are set to auto play on each slide by default, to not have them auto play, you can set AUTO_PLAY_VIDEOS = False, in the mediaConfig.py file. To control playback of the videos, see the "Controls" page. 

1. For Virtual TV Object:

1. • Add the TV_Stand.osgb object to your scene (can be found in "scene_objects")

   • Select the "Videos" tab on the Asset browser. Add a new video or use an existing one in the Asset library. Right click and select "Add to Scene" or drag into the preview window to add it to the currently selected scene (Choosing the "TV Screen" option)

2. For Large Screen:

1. • Videos on the large screen can be monoscopic or stereo.

   • Add any environment, but larger ones are better (recommended Theater_Large_stereo as one good option, but any scene with a good amount of space to place the Large Screen)

   • Select the Videos tab and add or use an existing video. 

   • Select a scene and then right click on the Video and select "Add to Scene" or drag into the preview window. You can then choose "Big Theater" and "mono" or "stereo"

1. • 1. Stereo by default for these videos is in the Side By Side (Left/Right) format. To change this to Top/Bottom change the line in the mediaConfigy.py file to STEREO_VIDEO_FORMAT = 'Top_Bottom'

3. For 360 Videos:

1. • Select the 360 Media tab in the Asset browser. Add new 360 media or use existing ones. Right click and select Add to Project or drag into the Sequence/Scenes window (or preview window) and choose from Mono or Stereo. 

Adding Images

1. Add the virtual TV object as before.

2. Select the Images tab in the Asset browser. Add new Images or use existing ones. Right click and select add to scene or drag into the preview window. 

Adding Audio

1. Select the Audio tab. Add new Audio or use existing ones. Right click and select add to scene or drag into the preview window. If an audio file has been added to a slide, you will also see it available on the right Scene Info panel. 

Augmented Reality Mode (Passthrough)

1. To enable the passthrough (AR) mode for an environment, right click on a scene and select "AR_Passhthrough or append the tag "_Passthrough" to the environment name.

Using Built-in Animations

• Built-in animations should play automatically but may vary based on how they were implemented.

Adding AI Assisted Instruction

See "AI Intelligent Agent" page

Screen Casting

• To cast from your desktop or a window to the virtual screen follow these steps:

• First, select a project and add or select a scene that either has the TV object (if casting to a virtual TV) or has enough space to add the virtual theater screen

• Go to the "Videos" tab and right click on the "Cast" icon or drag into the preview window and select "Cast to Scene"

Select Option

To change whether to cast entire desktop, from a specific window, a URL, as well as what window to cast change options on the options tab

If casting browser based content and using the cast window option, before starting, make sure you disable hardware acceleration in your browser (if using browser-based sources): 

Disable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome:

1. Open chrome://settings

2. Scroll to System

3. Toggle Use hardware acceleration when available → OFF

4. Restart Chrome