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Selector Tool

Overview

The Selector Tool is designed for interacting with objects in a VR scene using a highlighter mechanism. This document outlines its functionality, implementation, and usage.

Default Controls

  • VR Mode:
  • Controller grip button (right or left): Turn on the selector (for Vive controllers, these are the Left and Right system buttons)
  • Trigger: Use the selector
  • Desktop Mode:
  • Right mouse button: Toggle the selector on/off
  • Left mouse button: Use the selector

Examples

Locate the following files in the ExampleScripts\Selector Tool directory (also in Multi User ExamplesScripts\Selector Tool):

Selector_Tool_GUI

  • Automatically targets objects tagged for interactions
  • Displays a window with the name of the highlighted object

Selector_Tool_GUI_Grab

  • Allows grabbing objects from a distance
  • Left click to select and move objects, left click again to place

Selector_Tool

  • A simple non-GUI example

Multi User

  • Example for Multiple Users

Implementation Guide

1. Add From Main Class

sightlab = sl.SightLab(highlighttool = True)

2. Next Steps

After (sightlab.startTrial() or yield viztask.waitEvent(TRIAL_START)

Set up global variables:

isConfirmingTarget = False
currentHighlightedObject = None

3. Define Target Objects

Manually:

soccerball = env.getChild('soccerball')
basketball = env.getChild('basketball')
target_objects = [basketball, soccerball]

for obj in target_objects:
    #Can also use enable = True to have it automatically on at the start
    sightlab.setHighlighter(mode = sl.highlighter.MODE_BOX, setItems = target_objects)

targetObject = basketball

Automatically from GUI:

target_names = list(sightlab.sceneObjects[GAZE_OBJECTS].keys())
target_objects = {}
object_name_map = {}

for name in target_names:
    obj = env.getChild(name)
    if obj:
        target_objects[name] = obj
        object_name_map[obj] = name

sightlab.setHighlighter(mode = sl.highlighter.MODE_BOX, setItems = (list(target_objects.values())))
targetObject = list(target_objects.values())

4. Define Callback Functions

(After "Action to Perform," place the action you want to happen when the target is clicked on.)

def confirmTarget(e):
    global isConfirmingTarget, currentHighlightedObject
    isConfirmingTarget = True

    if currentHighlightedObject == targetObject:
        # Action to perform
        print('Object is Targeted')
    isConfirmingTarget = False

def onHighlight(e):
    global currentHighlightedObject
    currentHighlightedObject = e.new

    if isConfirmingTarget and currentHighlightedObject == targetObject:
        print(f'{currentHighlightedObject} is highlighted')

5. Set Up Event Callbacks

viz.callback(viz.getEventID("triggerPress"), confirmTarget)
viz.callback(sl.highlighter.HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, onHighlight)

Multi User

For multi-user just add this code for the clients (not needed on the server)

sightlab = sl.SightLabClient(highlighttool = True)

Highlight and confirm events are then sent as network events and callbacks

def id(name):
    """Generate unique ID for use over viznet"""
    return f'viznet:{name}'

ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT = id('ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT')
ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT2 = id('ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT2')
CONFIRM_EVENT = id('CONFIRM_EVENT')
CONFIRM_EVENT2 = id('CONFIRM_EVENT2')
STOP_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT = id('STOP_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT')

target_objects = [targetObject]

for obj in target_objects:
   sightlab.setHighlighter(mode = sl.highlighter.MODE_BOX, setItems = target_objects)

#Global variables and key event handlers
global isConfirmingTarget, currentHighlightedObject
isConfirmingTarget = False
currentHighlightedObject = None

def confirmTarget(e):
    global isConfirmingTarget
    isConfirmingTarget = True
    if currentHighlightedObject == targetObject:
        print('targetObject is confirmed')
        viznet.client.sendAll(CONFIRM_EVENT, client=viz.net.getName())
    elif currentHighlightedObject == targetObject2:
        print('targetObject2 is confirmed')
        viznet.client.sendAll(CONFIRM_EVENT2, client=viz.net.getName())
    isConfirmingTarget = False

viz.callback(viz.getEventID('triggerPress'), confirmTarget)
viz.callback(viz.getEventID('triggerPressLeft'), confirmTarget)

def onHighlight(e):
    global currentHighlightedObject
    if e.new:  # Check if there's a new object being highlighted
        currentHighlightedObject = e.new
        if currentHighlightedObject == targetObject:
            print('This happens on highlight for target 1')
            viznet.client.sendAll(ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, client=viz.net.getName())
            if isConfirmingTarget:
                print(f'{targetObject} is highlighted')
        elif currentHighlightedObject == targetObject2:
            print('This happens on highlight for target 2')
            viznet.client.sendAll(ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT2, client=viz.net.getName())
            if isConfirmingTarget:
                print(f'{targetObject2} is highlighted')
    else:  # No object is highlighted, reset the alpha
        if currentHighlightedObject == targetObject:
            viznet.client.sendAll(STOP_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, client=viz.net.getName())
        elif currentHighlightedObject == targetObject2:
            viznet.client.sendAll(STOP_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, client=viz.net.getName())
        currentHighlightedObject = None

viz.callback(sl.highlighter.HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, onHighlight)

#Receive highlight or confirm from other clients and place on server script
def highlightAction(e):
    print('receive highlight action from other client for target 1')
viz.callback(ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, highlightAction)

def highlightAction2(e):
    print('receive highlight action from other client for target 2')
viz.callback(ON_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT2, highlightAction2)

def noHighlightAction(e):
    print('stop highlight actions')
viz.callback(STOP_HIGHLIGHT_EVENT, noHighlightAction)

def receiveConfirm1(e):
    print('received confirm from other client for target 1')
viz.callback(CONFIRM_EVENT, showInfo)

def receiveConfirm2(e):
    print('received confirm from other client for target 2')
viz.callback(CONFIRM_EVENT2, showInfo2)

For more information, see this page in the Vizard Documentation.

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