~ / cmdr2

• #freebird
• #vr
• #api

// Cross-posted from Freebird’s blog. Freebird v2.2.2 released. It now exposes the states/values of the VR buttons (as custom properties) in FB-Controller-Right and FB-Controller-Left (see: XR Tracking Objects). These values will be updated every frame, when VR is running. You can use these properties to drive shapekeys, or use them in other scripts: To drive a shapekey, please right-click a property, e.g. ’trigger’, and click Copy as New Driver. Then right-click on your shapekey value, and select Paste Driver. To use in a script, use the custom property directly. E.g. bpy.data.objects["FB-Controller-Right"]["trigger"]

• #vr
• #dom
• #webxr

Experimented with an idea for extending HTML/CSS/JS to define 3D scenes, treating a 3D scene as just a depth extension of the DOM model. This explores a syntax for defining a 3D scene in a web browser (especially for VR), without WebXR boilerplate and handling XR controller inputs as first-class browser events. I’ll explore a polyfill to support this on existing WebXR-compliant browsers. My previous attempt at this idea (back in 2014) didn’t go so well. At that point, I hadn’t built any VR experiences, and the syntax I came up with wasn’t very practical or productive (at creating anything beyond toy-sized scenes). I’m curious to see if I can do better this time, as most of my work since then has been about building VR experiences.

• #vr
• #ui
• #freebird

// Cross-posted from Freebird’s blog. Really need to figure out a way to render standard HTML elements (styled with CSS and modified with JS) in a 3D scene. Reinventing excellent libraries like PrimeVue again inside 3D (for rendering in VR) is just wasteful. There have been attempts, e.g. A-Frame, but we really need to view the webpage in 3D. Just regular HTML elements. The regular DOM renderer. The pieces feel like they’re there conceptually, but the implementation gap is probably big enough (that it hasn’t happened yet).

• #freebird
• #vr
• #ar
• #blender

// Cross-posted from Freebird’s blog. Freebird is finally out on sale - https://freebirdxr.com/buy It’s still called an Early Access version, since it needs more work to feel like a cohesive product. It’s already got quite a lot of features, and it’s definitely useful. But I think it’s still missing a few key features, and needs an overall “fine-tuning” of the user experience and interface. So yeah, lots more to do. But it feels good to get something out on sale after nearly 4 years of development. Freebird has already spent 2 years in free public beta, so quite a number of people have already used it.

• #ar
• #vr
• #xr
• #freebird
• #webxr
• #featured

// Cross-posted from Freebird’s blog. Wrote a WebXR drawing tool with passthrough (i.e. AR overlay), in order to draw lines over real-world surfaces. It’s pretty handy! Uploaded it as Freebird Lite. It proved itself useful yesterday, since I could sketch lines around the house to plan different fittings and show the ideas to others (using the headset). Since it’s just a website in a browser, it doesn’t require any installation. And it works on all the compatible 6 DoF headsets.