Specifying Method(s) of Navigation

Overview
Required Files
Tutorial

Overview

In VRML you can control the way in which users navigate your scene with the NavigationInfo node. It also allows you to specify how the user is represented in the Synthetic Environment. This representation is known as an Avatar which is a term borrowed (rightly or wrongly?) from Hinduism meaning "the descent of a god to earth in bodily form". In standard, single-user, VRML your avatar is not visible in the world but some VRML plug-ins also support multi-user capability in which many people can experience a world together and see each others' avatars. Multi-user is not standard VRML but a proprietary extension developed by plug-in manufacturers such as Blaxxun and ParallelGraphics.

The NavigationInfo node allows you to modify the following properties:

Navigation Style
	Walk	User affected by gravity
	Fly	No gravity
	Examine	Rotate scene around
	None	No navigation controls - good for banner ads or if you are creating your own controls
	Any	User may choose any navigation they wish
Headlight		On or Off - if you've created your own lights then it's best to turn off the headlight
Avatar Dimensions
	Collision Radius	The width of the avatar. If the avatar is too wide the user won't be able to walk through doors, down hallways, along escalators etc
	Height	If the avatar is too tall for the world the user will collide with low hanging objects like lights and door frames etc
	Stepping Height	Dictates what objects a user can walk over or climb up (like stairs, curbs, fences and hills etc)
	Vision Limit	Used for large, detailed worlds. Anything beyond the Vision Limit is not drawn in order to increase performance. Works great in conjunction with the Fog node. Default is 0 (unlimited vision)
	Speed	Dictates how fast the user moves in metres/second

Required Files

Download and unzip the following file (using WinZip) into the relevant folder of your working directory.

camera_scripted.zip (49.3Kb)

This file contains:

camera_scripted.wrl

Tutorial

Launch Cosmo Worlds and Open the file camera_scripted.wrl
Create a new NavigationInfo and ensure it is selected in the Outline Editor.
In the Property Inspector set the Navigation Style to Examine and the Headlight to Off. Now our lighting should be more realistic and the user should be able to rotate the scene around.
Take a look at the Avatar Dimensions tab For our Synthetic Environment, avatar dimensions aren't really applicable so just leave them as is. If we were developing a place (like a building) rather than a small product then it would be wise to experiment with these values.
Save your work.
Preview in Cosmo Player.