SightLab Dashboard
A browsable, searchable interface for creating, discovering, launching, and managing SightLab projects, example scripts, apps, and more.
Getting Started
Launching the Dashboard
 |
Double-click the executable at the workspace root: SightLab Dashboard.exe |
User Interface Overview
Header Bar
- Asset Browser — Opens the WorldViz Asset Browser
- SightLab GPT — Opens the SightLab VR Assistant chatbot
- Help Docs — Opens the SightLab documentation site
- Dark Mode — Toggle between light and dark themes (preference is saved)
Toolbar
- Search Bar — Filters cards across all tabs by title, description, tags, and category. When text is entered, tabs are replaced with a unified results grid. Clear the search to return to tabs.
- Card Size Slider — Adjusts card thumbnail size from 140px to 360px. Saved automatically.
- Refresh — Rescans the filesystem for new or modified examples and projects.
- Settings — Opens the Settings dialog.
Tabs
The main content is organized into category tabs:
| Tab | Contents |
|---|---|
| Projects | User projects scanned from the Projects folder (Can change directory) |
| Tools/Features | Tool and feature examples |
| Experiment Templates | Ready-made experiment scripts |
| How-To's | Guides and Sample Code |
| Additional Examples | Extra example scripts |
| Uncategorized | Items without an assigned category |
| Favorites | All items you've marked as favorites |
| Apps | Shortcuts to external applications (Vizard, Inspector, etc.) |
- Custom categories can be created by editing an item's category (see Editing Metadata).
Cards & Navigation
Card Grid
Cards display a thumbnail, title, and brief description in a responsive grid that reflows as the window resizes.
- Left-click an example card to open its Detail Page.
- Left-click a group card to navigate into it. A breadcrumb trail appears (e.g.,
ExampleScripts > How-To's > Video Processing) with clickable links to jump back to any level.
Card Context Menu (Right-Click)
Right-click any card for quick actions:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Run Primary Script | Launch the primary script in Vizard |
| Run: [name] | Launch an alternate or multi-user script |
| Replay | Run the session replay script |
| Edit Code | Open the primary script in the Vizard IDE |
| Open Folder | Open the folder in Windows Explorer |
| Make Copy | Copy the example folder to a destination |
| Copy Script Path | Copy the primary script's full path to the clipboard |
| Open Documentation | Open the example's documentation URL in a browser |
| Swap Thumbnail | Choose a new thumbnail image for this card |
Project cards have additional actions:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Rename | Rename the project folder |
| Duplicate | Create a copy of the project |
| Delete | Permanently delete the project |
Rename and Delete are not available for the built-in BlankProject and SampleProject templates.
Detail Page
Click a card to view its full detail page with a large thumbnail, metadata, and all available actions.
Metadata Fields
| Field | Editable | How to Edit |
|---|---|---|
| Title | No | Gets this value from what you initially name your project, or the folder name |
| Category | Yes | Click the ✏ button; select from dropdown or type a custom category |
| Folder Path | Yes | Click 📂 Locate Folder to point to a different directory |
| Description | Yes | Click the ✏ button; enter text in the dialog |
| Tags | Yes | Click the ✏ button; enter comma-separated tags |
| Favorite | Yes | Click the ❤/🤍 heart icon to toggle |
Available Actions
The action grid shows buttons for every operation available on the selected example:
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| ▶ Run: [name] | Launch the primary script in Vizard |
| ▶ [Alternate] | Run an alternate script variant |
| ⟲ Replay | Run the session replay script |
| ⚙ Config | Open the configuration file in the editor |
| ⬇ Download | Download a remote example archive |
| ✏ Edit Code | Open the primary script in the Vizard IDE |
| 📁 Open Folder | Open the folder in Windows Explorer |
| 📋 Make Copy | Copy the folder to a chosen destination |
| 🔗 Documentation | Open the online documentation page |
| 🎬 Video (Link) | Open an external video URL |
| 🎬 Video (Local) | Play a local video file |
| 📖 ReadMe | Open a readme/documentation file |
Managing Scripts
Right-click any script button in the action grid to:
- Set as Primary — Make this script the main "Run" action (the previous primary becomes an alternate).
- Hide — Remove this script from the action list. If the primary script is hidden, the next alternate is automatically promoted.
Hidden scripts and primary script selections persist across sessions.
Adding Videos, Documentation & ReadMe
Click the ✏ button on the "Available Actions" header to open the Edit Actions dialog:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Video URL | Paste an external video link (YouTube, etc.) |
| Video (Local) | Browse for a local video file (.mp4, .avi, .mkv, .mov, .wmv, .webm) |
| ReadMe | Browse for a readme file (.md, .txt, .html, .pdf, .rst) |
Enable each field with its checkbox, then click OK. Corresponding buttons will appear in the action grid.
Locate Folder
Click the 📂 button next to the folder path to assign or reassign the example's working directory. This is useful when an example's scripts live in a different location than expected. The path is saved as a relative path when possible.
Swap Thumbnail
Right-click the thumbnail on the detail page (or use "Swap Thumbnail" from the card context menu) to choose a new image. Supported formats: PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, WEBP.
- For Projects: The image is copied into the project folder as
_thumbnail.[ext]. - For other examples: The image is copied to the dashboard assets folder and the path is saved in overrides.
Projects Tab
Creating a New Project
Click "New Project +" to create a new project:
- Enter a project name in the dialog.
- A copy of the BlankProject template is created in your projects folder.
- Python files are automatically renamed to match the project name.
In the details page you can right click on the thumbnail to swap it out and click the pencil icon to edit the description.
Sorting Projects
Use the Sort dropdown to order projects:
| Sort Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Alphabetical | A–Z by project name |
| Last Modified | Most recently modified first |
| Last Accessed | Most recently accessed first |
BlankProject and SampleProject are always pinned at the top.
Changing the Projects Folder
Open Settings and set a custom Projects Folder path, or click Browse to select a directory. Leave empty to use the default Projects/ folder. Changes take effect immediately with an automatic refresh.
Project Thumbnails & Descriptions
- Place a file named
_thumbnail.png(or any image extension) in a project folder to set its card image. - Place a file named
_description.txtin a project folder to set its description.
Favorites
Adding & Removing Favorites
- Click the ❤ heart icon on any detail page to toggle favorite status.
- Favorites appear in the Favorites tab at the top level.
Exporting Favorites
Click "Export Favorites" in the Favorites tab to save your favorites list as a JSON file. This can be shared or backed up.
Importing Favorites
Click "Import Favorites" to load a previously exported JSON file. This replaces all current favorites with the imported list.
Clearing All Favorites
Click "Clear All" to remove all favorites (with confirmation).
Apps Tab
The Apps tab provides quick-launch tiles for frequently used applications.
Built-in Shortcuts
| App | Description |
|---|---|
| Vizard | Opens the Vizard IDE |
| Inspector | Opens the SightLab Inspector tool |
| E-Learning Lab | Opens E-Learning Lab (only if the ELearning folder exists) |
Adding Custom Shortcuts
Click "Add Shortcut +" to add your own application:
- Enter a display name.
- Browse for the executable (.exe, .bat, or .py).
- Optionally browse for a custom icon.
Removing Custom Shortcuts
Right-click a custom shortcut tile and select "Remove Shortcut".
Multi-User Scripts
Scripts in the Multi User ExamplesScripts/ folder are automatically matched to corresponding single-user examples by folder name and appended as alternate actions with a "(Multi)" prefix. Server scripts are listed before client scripts.
Editing Metadata
Several metadata fields can be customized per-example and persist across sessions:
| What | How | Saved To |
|---|---|---|
| Category | ✏ button on detail page | overrides.json |
| Description | ✏ button on detail page | overrides.json (or _description.txt for projects) |
| Tags | ✏ button on detail page | overrides.json |
| Thumbnail | Right-click → Swap Thumbnail | overrides.json (or _thumbnail.* for projects) |
| Primary Script | Right-click script button → Set as Primary | overrides.json |
| Hidden Scripts | Right-click script button → Hide | overrides.json |
| Folder Location | 📂 Locate Folder button | overrides.json |
| Videos/ReadMe | ✏ button on Available Actions header | overrides.json |
| Favorites | ❤ heart icon | overrides.json |
| App Shortcuts | Add/Remove in Apps tab | overrides.json |
Downloadable Examples
Some examples are hosted remotely and appear with a ⬇ Download button instead of Run. When downloaded:
- The archive is extracted to
ExampleScripts/_downloaded/. - Click Refresh to rescan — the example will then have full Run/Edit/Open actions.
- Downloaded examples are treated like any other local example.
Settings
Click ⚙ Settings to configure:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Vizard Executable | Path to winviz.exe for running scripts |
| Vizard Editor | Path to Vizard.exe IDE for editing code |
| Projects Folder | Custom projects directory (empty = default Projects/ folder) |
| Copy Destination | Default folder for the "Make Copy" action |
Click Restore Defaults to reset all settings to factory values.
Adding Your Own Content
Example Scripts
Add folders to the ExampleScripts/ directory. They appear under "Uncategorized" by default — use the category editor on the detail page to assign them to a tab.
Projects
Add folders to the Projects/ directory (or your custom projects folder). They automatically appear in the Projects tab.
Script Detection
The dashboard automatically classifies Python files in each folder:
| Pattern | Classification |
|---|---|
| Named after parent folder | Primary script |
SightLab_VR.py |
Primary script |
| Contains "main" or "gui" | Primary script (ranked) |
| Contains "replay" | Replay action |
| Starts with "config" | Config action |
| Contains "readme" or "help" | ReadMe action |
| All others | Alternate scripts |