Navigation in Apple iOS / Google Cardboard environment

carlfink

So I built a few VR tours in CVR that use a navigation metaphor, in which a fixed icon in the corner of the viewport takes you to a map page (in several variations) that can then take you anywhere in the tour.

As chronicled elsewhere in this discussion area, this has not been working in iOS browser environments. Thanks for ELB Engineering, I have a workaround while they fix the bug (if possible, if it isn't at Apple's end). However: in the Cardboard environment, "fixed" objects simply appear nowhere. It's my understanding that fixed objects should appear at an appropriate location in the scene's starting view, but remain "still" when you turn your head, instead of following the viewport. In this case, they just don't appear at all, meaning there's no way to navigate.

Can anyone confirm my understanding of expected behavior, and that in iOS/Cardboard/browser environments, objects set to "fixed" just don't appear?

Thank you.

johnb

Its likely not that its disappeared, its just that its out of the field of view, The field of view for a cardboard device is miniscule, as opposed to the field of view for a desktop browser or a VR headset. To support a fixed object in cardboard mode, it would need to be very close to the center of the view.

That being said, hotspots do appear to still be fixed in Cardboard mode making them inaccessible, they should lose their fixed attributes. We'll look at that, but if you plan on having cardboard as an option, you may want to look at navigation that is not fixed.

carlfink

Fixed navigation is incredibly convenient in every other case, and there's no current way to detect which platform you're on (he hinted). Anything non-fixed can be behind the viewpoint, which is inevitably going to confuse people.

I did a complete 360 horizontal scan while panning up and down. The two fixed hotspots are simply not there in Cardboard, at least in that scenario. Wait, wait ... thinking about what you wrote, you're implying that they're fixed and outside the field of view, meaning they are never actually going to be visible, even though they still exist (and will be completely un-selectable in Cardboard), right?

johnb

Correct. And you can determine the platform you're on. Fixed navigation is probably best not used for VR situations at all, so you can check the "Platform" Variable in CenarioVR. Just use the condition, if Platform equals VR (or not VR, that is the question!)

carlfink

Platform variable! Perfect. I will do just that. Hmm ... are the options VR and not VR? Because I need to give direction to the user on how to exit in Cardboard (remove phone from headset) and Oculus (tap Oculus button). Obviously I can just display both at the end, but that's not ideal.

Thank you.

By the way, for reasons I can't claim to understand, today the fixed objects are behaving as expected, appearing but not remaining fixed. The only change I made was to remove some apparently very challenging 3D models from my scenario and replace them with simple SVG drawings. Could over-complex modeling cause the issue?

In any case, problem solved.

hvaughan-2540

Thanks for the new platform variable. Could you add a new notification after logging into CVR to inform users of these new features.

johnb

@carlfink We fixed the issue on the fixed objects for cardboard mode on our last update.

carlfink

johnb said:

@carlfink We fixed the issue on the fixed objects for cardboard mode on our last update.

Um ... just today, as my boss was trying to present a CVR scenario to a global management team, we discovered that fixed objects in the Cardboard mode appeared 90 degrees to the right of where they appear in the non-immersive mode (on iOS). A problem, since it meant that items meant to be superimposed aren't even visible at the same time. (Navigation links are bizarrely misplaced.)

Scenario has lots of fixed objects, because it's a non-360 map used as a navigation interface.

carlfink

Additional: this particular scene is even worse in the Oculus CVR client. A beautiful map graphic with map pointers, text, etc. becomes ... an edge-on view of a blue rectangle. Would you like a copy?

johnb

As mentioned, fixed navigation is not a good UI design VR situations.

carlfink

I agree, but it's very useful for browser interfaces, and I can't force my audience to pick just one--not everyone has a headset, and those who do have one will want to use it. In any case, it shouldn't jumble things entirely like that.

hvaughan-2540

Create 2 sets of navigation and hide/show depending on the VR platform trigger.

carlfink

hvaughan-2540 said:

Create 2 sets of navigation and hide/show depending on the VR platform trigger.

No, because Fixed works in some VR situations (CVR app on Oculus) but not others (CVR app on iOS).