Dive Tutorial

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This tutorial is primarily intended for novel users of Dive, but can also serve as an introduction to the system. The tutorial only introduces simple concepts, while more elaborate user interfaces can be found in the Dive data files in the release or in the Dive applications web site

The tutorial describes how to navigate, how to load objects, how to change worlds, and how to communicate with other participants. You can either just read the tutorial or you can start vishnu and do the operations that are described in the tutorial in parallel.

How to get and start DIVE

If you wish to fetch a Dive binary and run the tutorial in parallel, see the Dive distribution page, where you can fetch and start the default Dive browser, vishnu.

When you have vishnu, you start it in the tutorial world: 

./vishnu tutorial

The vishnu interface

When vishnu is started in the tutorial world, the user sees the above view of a street. The vishnu window consists of a header with a set of menubuttons with pull-down menus; a viewport displaying the 3D view of the world; and a statusbar.

Clicking on the "Help" menu button in the upper right corner of the vishnu window displays a number of help items, among them, a text-only version of this tutorial.

Navigation

Navigation is the process of moving the users body (avatar) in 3D. General navigation in 3D is difficult. Dive therefore offers a variety of mechanisms (vehicles to move the user's body in 3D. These vehicles can be accessed in the Navigate menu.

The simplest way is to move using the keyboard vehicle :

    <- Turn left.
    - Turn right.
    ^ Move forward.
    v Move backward.
    Home Align y-axis to world.
    +/- Zoom in or out.
    PgUp/PgDown Change speed.
A more elaborate vehicle is the mouse vehicle :

If you press and drag with the left mouse button on the upper triangle, you move forward or backward and rotate sideways. If you interact with the the box, you are translated up and sideways; while the lower icon pitches and rolls.

The Podium - Event-based behaviours

If you click on the "Go to the Podium" sign in the view shown at the beginning of this document, you will automatically be transported to the Podium:

There are two boxes, one sphere and two actors at the podium, each having simple associated event-based behaviours. For example, if you click on the red box, it rotates, the blue box moves upwards, the yellow sphere jumps up and down, while the blockie turns and faces you as you approach it.

This very simple event-based behaviour is implemented with the Dive/Tcl interface .

A slightly more elaborate behaviours example is the cartoon avatar:

By pressing the menus on the right, the cartoon figure changes its attributes and attitudes. These beviours are completely embedded in the cartoon body object and defined with the Dive/Tcl interface with Tk extensions.

The body-icon

In the virtual world, the user is represented by a body icon or avatar. By default, the view is seen from the avatar's "eye", as the avatar moves so does its eye. However, another view point can easily be selected in the Actor menu. For example, here, the view is seen from the "Rear view":

In this example, the user is represented by a blockie, but it can easily be changed. For example, by marking the cartoon body with "shift-click", and selecting Change body from the Actor menu, the body-icon is switched to the cartoon body:

You can undo this change by selecting Undo change body. You can also load in any body by selecting Load in the Actor menu. There are a variety of body-icons in the Dive data distribution usually beginning with "body_".

Loading objects

The Load command in the Object menu loads a .vr or vrml 1.0 object into the world. In the view below, AniHouse.wrl has been loaded

Any vrml or .vr file can be loaded, either as an url or as a regular file.

Marking and manipulating objects

Objects are moved by pressing the middle mouse button over the object and dragging the mouse.

Objects are rotated objects by pressing the right mouse button and moving the mouse.

Objects are marked by pressing the left mouse button and the shift button simultaneously.

Several operations can be performed on marked objects, including displaying the source of an object:

More operations can be found in the Objects menu.

Tools

In the "Tools" menu, a number of tools are available that helps the user have control of the environment and other users:
    * Viewpoints: displays all predefined camera positions.
    * Bookmarks: Allows you to save viewpoints to a personal file.
    * Worlds: Displays a list of all worlds that the user has entered.
    * Actors: Displays a list of all actors presently in the same world.
For example, if you select Viewpoints, you will get a list of the following pre-defined viewpoints:
    To SICS - In front of the "To SICS" roadsign.
    To Dive Town - In front of the "To DIVE Town" roadsign.
    Podium - View over the podium.
    Tutorial - In front of the tutorial roadsigns - the initial starting point.
By selecting one of the viewpoints and selecting the "Go to" button (or just double click on the viewpoint) takes you immediately to the viewpoint.

The other menus behave in a similar manner.

Changing worlds

In the tutorial world there are roadsigns to two other worlds (Sics and Dive Town). If you click on either of these, you will be transferred to these other worlds. The Sics world shown below with full textures, is a switching point to several other Dive worlds:

Near the podium, there is another type of gateway:

If you pass through this portal, you will come to Dive Town.

You can also change worlds by explicitly writing the name of an URL or file in the Load item in the World menu, or select an already visisted world in the "Worlds" or "Bookmarks" menu tool.

Multiple participants

Any number of other users on an Internet may simultaneously be present in the Dive worlds. With the "Actors" list menu tool you can monitor these actors. You can communicate with them by messages in the Messages menu or start the Audio tool from the File menu and communicate by audio.

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Anneli Avatari / anneli@sics.se
Olof Hagsand / olof@sics.se