[Opensim-users] Branded opensim viewers

Wed Feb 19 17:27:27 UTC 2014

Thanks Robert, Crista, great tips.

On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 11:49 AM, Diva Canto <diva at metaverseink.com> wrote:

>  I don't know about "branding" viewers, that's a whole other issue. But
> regarding the process to make these environments easily accessible to
> newcomers, I have some advice.
>
> A setup guide with painfully clear instructions works very well for people
> who have never used this system before. I'm making the one I wrote publicly
> available for non-commercial use, feel free to direct your users to it:
> http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lopes/opensim/SingularitySetupGuide.pdf
> I usually send this setup guide by email along with the two URLs that
> people need, one in step 1 and the other in step 4. In the email, I let
> them know that they will need those URLs in those steps.
>
> So far, I've had zero problems with people configuring things and login.
>
> Interacting while inside the world is another story, as these environments
> are extremely confusing for people who aren't used to them. For those of
> you designing educational settings in opensim, my recommendation is to
> design your environments so that people have a lot less degrees of freedom
> than what these viewers provide. For example, have people login to an
> environment with chairs/sits, and immediately have them click on a chair
> and sit down. The chairs should have scripts for controlling their cameras,
> so that they look at exactly the right thing, whatever that is.
>
> I wrote about some of these design issues here:
>
> http://tagide.com/blog/2013/03/design-and-implementation-of-a-virtual-collaboration-environment/
>
> I've made peace with the fact that we have a complicated client software
> that people need to install and configure. The way to mitigate the
> complexity for newcomers is threefold:
>
> (1) avoid the Grid Manager altogether and use the grid textbox for the
> login URL, which, thank god!, the Singularity developers already did;
>
> (2) provide setup guides that are as clear as possible (we're not the only
> ones doing this, btw; many web conferencing systems also require software
> installation and configuration); and
>
> (3) design your environments so that they are as simple as possible --
> these environments have too many degrees of freedom, but it's possible to
> reduce them.
>
>
> On 2/19/2014 7:45 AM, Dr Ramesh Ramloll wrote:
>
> Kay, I think there are a number of things that need tailoring in addition
> to the ability of adding a grid (which as diva pointed is available in
> singularity). For my user base, no one will ever be interested to do even
> that (no interest => will never learn). I was hoping for some configuration
> file that can contain the needed custom data e.g. list of names of regions,
> urls to pictures of various regions etc.. and once the user downloads the
> viewer+drop the custom config file in the same folder, the config file is
> read and all the important pieces set on application launch. So may be
> working with tpv developers can help .... I definitely think that the only
> things the casual user should know is how to navigate, click/touch, and
> voice chat. The rest is for us.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 9:41 AM, Diva Canto <diva at metaverseink.com> wrote:
>
>>  Singularity already has this.
>>
>> On 2/19/2014 4:42 AM, Kay McLennan wrote:
>>
>>  As an alternative to re-branding 3 different versions of a viewer (to
>> match 3 different operating systems) each time a viewer is upgraded, would
>> it be possible to develop viewers that utilize web browser-like addresses
>> (?).  What I have in mind is being able to type (or copy) a grid's login
>> URL directly into the "Grid" text box.  In this way, there is no need to:
>>  (1) re-brand viewers; or (2) go through all of the steps needed to add a
>> grid to a viewer via the "Grid Manager" feature.
>>
>>  Again, wouldn't it be easier to develop viewers that enable users to
>> simply type a grid URL into the grid name box (?).
>>
>> -- Kay
>>
>>
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>
>
>
>  --
>  'Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin.'
> *Rameshsharma Ramloll* PhD, CEO CTO DeepSemaphore LLC, Affiliate *Research
> Associate Professor*, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209 Tel:
> 208-240-0040
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-- 
'Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin.'
*Rameshsharma Ramloll* PhD, CEO CTO DeepSemaphore LLC, Affiliate *Research
Associate Professor*, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209 Tel:
208-240-0040
LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/rameshramloll>, DeepSemaphore
LLC<http://www.deepsemaphore.com>,
RezMela <http://www.rezmela.com>, Google+
profile<https://plus.google.com/103652369558830540272/about>
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