[Opensim-users] Branded opensim viewers

Wed Feb 19 18:53:16 UTC 2014

I have a related question... for a while simian provided a separate
"launcher" application could launch a viewer and embed in the login URI
your openid credentials (the launcher app when installed registered with
the internet browser as a handler for a URL scheme). It was pretty nice
because there was no need to set up login uris in the viewer at all (and
you didn't have to "login" if you had an authenticated OpenID). I still
have the code but it relied on the viewers supporting the command line
"--loginuri" switch so it stopped working when the viewers stopped
supporting that switch.

At this point... i'm interested in one of two login/startup options:

Option 1: provide a URL in a web page which, when clicked on, would launch
the viewer with the login uri embedded (obviously supporting an openid
authentication would be nice too).

Option 2: provide a URL for a hypergrid link which, when clicked on, would
log you into your home grid with the startup region a hypergridded region.

I kind of prefer the second option because it doesn't require account
creation... but either one would help us with the login uri configuration
problem.

--mic

On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 8:49 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
> LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/rameshramloll>, DeepSemaphore LLC<http://www.deepsemaphore.com>,
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>
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