Learn about the settings and things displayed in the Collaboration module.

Interaction > Collaboration

The Collaboration module has two sides, along with an Icon Bar and Menu Bar. The left displays the names of all session participants, along with the model of VRED used, and room location. The right displays options for profile information, creating, joining, leaving, and ending a session, and model management.

Menu Bar

The Collaboration module contains one menu, the File menu. Use it to load, view, or save a session.

File Menu

Find options for creating, loading, and saving sessions.

• New - Use to create a session.

• Load Session - Use to load a previously saved collaboration config (.vrs) file.

• Save Session - Use to save the current session as a collaboration config (.vrs) file.

• Save Session As - Use to assign a different name to the current session and save it as a collaboration config (.vrs) file.

Participant Information

This pane lists all participants who have joined the session. It also indicates whether they have loaded the model. If a room location is supplied, it is also listed here, indicating the VR room(s) used in the session.

• Participants - Participants who have joined a session are listed by name and color. To modify these settings, see the My Profile section of Collaboration Preferences.

• Model - When a participant joins a session and has loaded a model, its information appears next to their name. If is displayed, the wrong model is loaded and you need to update your model.

  IMPORTANT All participants must load the same file to ensure everyone sees the same thing during the session.

• Room - Displays the name of the real-world VR room. To have the room name automatically filled in, see Collaboration Preferences.

Session Information

This pane contains three sections dealing with profile, session, and model management information.

My Profile

Enter information for setting up your profile.

• Name - Enter the name displayed in the Participant List and above your avatar. By default, your PC login is used.

• Room - (Only for participants using HMDs) Enter the name of the VR room you are in. This let VRED know where you are in the same real-world space to avoid collisions.

  Note:

  For HMD users, all PCs in the same real-world space MUST set the same Room name. This tells VRED to enable safety mechanisms for these PCs to help avoid collisions. See this section for how to set up a room.

• Color - Select a color from the drop-down menu. This will be used in the Participant List and for your desktop or VR 3D avatar.

  

Session

Enter information for setting up a collaboration session.

• Address - Enter an IP address or PC name for the server hosting the session. Use the Collaboration preferences to set this ahead of time.

  Important:

  This machine needs to be on the same network as the Cluster Service server to host. Ensure all participants can reach this server.

  For invitees, if you have received a session address, paste it here to join a session.

  • Secure - Opens the Create Secure Session ID dialog for entering a server IP and optional password to protect the session.
  • Delete - Deletes the address currently displayed.

• Invitation - Select an invitation option from the drop-down menu to choose the type of session invitation sent to participants.

  

  • Calendar - Opens a meeting in your default Windows calendar application with a VRED session file attachment.
  • Email - Opens an email in your default Windows email application with a VRED session file attachment.
  • Text - Opens a text dialog. Click Copy to Clipboard, then paste the content into a text app, such as Slack.

• Invite - Click create an invitation for this collaboration session. For meeting and email invitation, a VRED session file is attached. See Setting Up a Collaboration Session for instructions of replacing the ORGANIZER-TO-ADD content.

• Join - Click to join a collaboration session.

  Note:

  To join a session, you must have the same version of VRED as the session leader. The first participant to enter a session defines the VRED version for the session.

  Note:

  If your version of VRED doesn't match, you can leave the session, update your version, then return to the session or if all participants are in agreement, start a new session. See End for all for more information.

• Leave - Click to leave the session. The session will continue until all participants have left the session.

  As a participant, you might select this when running a version of VRED different from the session leaders. If you update your version, do NOT uninstall your current version.

• End for all - Click when the session needs to be cancelled for everyone.

  You might select this if most participants aren't using the same version of VRED as the session leader. The first participant to start the new session sets the version of VRED used.

Model Management

Join a session, then use Model Management to push the session scene to participants. Use these tools to help send and upload scenes to all participants.

• Send - Click and select one of the following options:

  • Current Scene to All - Send the opened scene to all participants.
  • Shared Network Scene to All - Send the path of a scene on the network drive to all participants. Ensure they can access the network.

• Upload - Upload the session scene from the session leader. If a participant joins a session after this upload has been initiated, they are asked if they want to download the scene. If they agree, they receive the download.

Audio

Join a session, then use the Audio parameters to control sound within a Collaboration session.

• Enable - Enable or disable sound within a session. When enabled, others audio parameters are accessible.
• Speaker - Control the volume level of the speaker.
• Microphone - Control the volume level of the microphone.
• 3D Audio - Enable or disable the use of spatial audio. When someone speaks, the sound will come from the position of participant in the virtual world.

Disabling Audio for a Collaboration Session

To disable the audio for a session, set the environment variable VRED_COLLABORATION_NO_AUDIO. This feature disables it in the session.

Icon Bar

The Icon Bar at the bottom of the module contains the following tools:

Join/Leave

Tap to quickly join or leave a session.

Spectator Mode

For desktop users, tap to see the viewpoint of the selected participant. While in this state, you cannot navigate within the view, as you are seeing the content through the eye of the other user. Tap the icon again to return to your view and take control.

Pointer

For desktop users, tap to enable or disable the Share Pointer to interact with VR participants within the scene. It is visible to all participants.

• Press Shift to change your cursor to a cross-hair to mark where your laser will hit.
• Shift-click for the cross-hair cursor and to fire your laser.

Microphone

Tap to enable or disable your microphone. Enable to speak to all participants.