Exploring the Grabber

Grabber Tool

Tools allow the user to interact with the environment and perform actions such as grabbing. Tools require input signals to trigger their actions and are linked to objects in the virtual world. For example, a grabber tool is triggered by controller inputs and linked to a presenter or attendee’s hand. Presentation Designer’s grabber tool features the ability to grab and move assets within a scene and is attached to either a presenter or an attendee.

There are two modes for the grabber tool: mid-air and inspect. In the mid-air mode, a presenter or attendee grabs and moves an asset in the air. When he or she releases the asset, it remains in the air and the asset can be interacted with again easily. Alternatively, while using a grabber in inspect mode, after the user releases the asset, it returns to its original position rather than floating in mid air.

Here is an example of how to use the grabber tool. In this example, a presenter and an attendee can grab and move each headset in mid-air or inspect mode.

Grabber Mode Setup

Let’s set up the mid-air mode with the left headset. First, left click the headset in the 3D view. Next, right click the headset and it will show you a context menu as shown below. Pressing Grabbable will add a component function of Grabbable on the right-hand side with mid-air for Default Tool. If you want to disable the grabber tool for this headset, you can uncheck the Enabledcheckbox. You can also remove it by pressing the trashcan button.

Now, let’s set up inspect mode with the right headset. The procedure is identical to the steps above except this time we will use inspect for Default Tool instead of mid-air. Once we set the inspectmode on the right headset, the headset should fly back to its original position on release.

Attendee having Default Tool Setup

To manipulate the virtual environment in a session, each attendee can use a variety of different tools: pencil, slide clicker, laser pointer, and grabber. In Presentation Designer, a Default Tool can be set up for attendees and presenters such that on entering the session, a tool is already selected for each user. This is a good option for setting up tools for attendees without requiring them to interact with the menu once the session has started.

To assign a default tool, drag the Attendee Standin from the Assets panel, and drop it in the 3D view. Left click the attendee standin and then right click on it for the context menu. Press Default Tool to add a component function of Default Tool to the right-hand side. Select Grabber from the Default Tool dropdown. You can remove it by pressing the trashcan button.

Of course, you can set a separate default tool for the presenter as well. To do that, you can use the Presenter Standin in the Assets panel and set a tool from the Default Tool dropdown. Here is an example of the Grabber tool for the presenter.

Difference between Presenter and Attendee

It is worthwhile to note that there is a big difference between presenter and attendee. That is, the presenter can control the default tool for the attendees. For example, if the presenter wants to demonstrate the grabber tool to the attendee, but he doesn’t want the attendee to grab any assets, then he can limit the attendee by not providing that attendee with a default tool. If the presenter would like the attendee to be able to grab objects later in the session, he can change to a slide that has a grabber tool for attendees.

To implement this scenario, simply create two separate slides: One with no default tool for the attendee, and the next with a default tool of grabber for the attendee. When the presenter is ready to allow grabbing, he can use the slide clicker tool to switch to the slide with a grabber as default.