Displays and Viewpoints

This section provides use case examples of displays and viewpoints in order to familiarize the user with how to set up these elements in their own configurations.

• Displays:
  • 3D Display extensions represent the physical layout of the monitors of a simulator seat.
  • These extensions are placed in the Setup document that will be used as the simulator configuration.
  • The positions and orientation are real-world measurements relative to the operator.
  • When a simulator configuration is loaded, it is the currently active Display Extensions that will create and manage the graphics windows on the physical monitors.
  • You should add the physical monitors that will show UI in the configuration of your physical simulator. This is done via the Qt Display extension.
• Viewpoints:
  • Viewpoint extensions represent operator points-of-view in the simulation scene.
  • These extensions are placed in Scene or Mechanism documents that will be loaded in simulation scenarios.
  • There may be multiple viewpoints in a simulation scene, typically each associated to a different role (representing different operator roles or vantage points).
  • When a role with an associated viewpoint is activated on a simulator seat, the displays associated to that seat will automatically be updated to show the scene as through the viewpoint.

For additional information, see Configuring Hardware Displays.

Use Case Examples

Example 1 - Single monitor set-up with a single viewpoint in a scene

1. Create a Setup configuration document:
   1. Add a Graphics Module and a 3D Display extension at the root of the document.
   2. Adjust the Physical Position input of the 3D Display extension so it corresponds to the real-world position of the center of the screen, relative to the head of operator.
   3. Set the 3D Display extension's Placement Mode input to Monitor 1 so it appears on the top-left-most monitor attached to the computer.
2. Create a Scene with some content and add a Viewpoint positioned where it can see the content.
3. Start Vortex® Studio Player with the above configuration and load the scene. It will open a Graphics window on the top-left-most monitor, showing the scene through the unique Viewpoint.

Example 2 - A three monitor set-up with multiple switchable viewpoints in a scene

1. Create a Setup configuration document:
   1. Add a Graphics Module and three 3D Display extensions.
   2. Place the 3D Display extensions as described in Example 1 so the position of the three displays is consistent with their real-world position.
   3. Set the Placement Mode inputs of the 3D Display extensions to Monitor 1, Monitor 2, Monitor 3 so they will each occupy one different monitor. The monitors are numbered top-to-bottom, left-to-right (i.e., top-left-mode) according to their position on the Windows desktop.
2. Create a Scene document:
   1. Add some content.
   2. Add three Viewpoints in showing different point of views, e.g., on the driver seat of a vehicle, on a human acting as a Signaler, in the middle of the scene, etc.
   3. Add three roles and add a viewpoint to each one.
   4. Name the roles to be consistent with the viewpoints attached to them, e.g., "Driver Role", "Signaler Role", "Scene Overview Role".
3. Start the Vortex Studio Player with the above configuration and load the scene. It will open Graphics windows on the corresponding monitors.
4. Selecting one of the three roles on the current seat will update the displays to show the scene from the associated viewpoints, with correct scene position and perspective adjustment to account for the configured physical position of the monitors.

Example 3 - A three monitor set-up with multiple viewpoints in a vehicle repeated in a scene

1. Create a Setup configuration document as described in Example 2.
2. Create a vehicle mechanism document:
   1. Add some content to the mechanism.
   2. Add two viewpoints: "Driver Viewpoint" and "Passenger Viewpoint".
   3. Add two roles: "Driver Role" and "Passenger Role" and associate them with their corresponding viewpoint.
3. Create a Scene document:
   1. Add the vehicle mechanism twice and name them "Vehicle A" and "Vehicle B".
4. Start Vortex Studio Player with the above configuration and load the scene. It will open Graphic windows.
5. There will be four roles to select from: "Vehicle A.Driver Role", "Vehicle A.Passenger Role", etc. Selecting a Role on the current seat will update the displays to show the scene from the associated viewpoint of the corresponding vehicle and role.

Example 4 - A three monitor set-up on two machines for a single seat

1. Create a Setup configuration document:
   1. Add two nodes: "Node A" and "Node B", representing the two machines.
   2. Add a Graphics Module under each of the two nodes.
   3. Add two 3D Display extensions under Node A, adjusting their position and placement mode as described in the previous examples.
   4. Add one 3D Display extension under Node B, adjusting its position and placement mode as described in the previous examples.
   5. Add other required extensions to complete a distributed simulator setup.
2. Start the distributed simulator configuration on the two node machines.
3. Load the scene described in example 2.
4. Selecting one of the three roles on the current seat will update the displays as in example 2, except that they are now running on multiple machines.

Example 5 - A set-up on two machines for two different seats with three monitors each

1. Create a Setup configuration document:
   1. Add two nodes: "Driver A Node" and "Passenger Node", representing the two machines.
   2. Add a Graphics Module under each of the two nodes.
   3. Add three 3D Display extensions under the first node, adjusting their position and placement mode as described in the previous examples.
   4. Add three 3D Display extensions under the second node, adjusting their position and placement mode as described in the previous examples.
   5. Add two Seats: "Driver Seat" and "Passenger Seat".
   6. Add the "Driver Node"'s Graphics Module to the "Driver Seat".
   7. Add the "Passenger Node"'s Graphics Module to the "Passenger Seat".
   8. Add other required extensions to complete a distributed simulator setup.
2. Start the distributed simulator configuration on the two node machines.
3. Load the scene described in example 3.
4. Select the "Vehicle A.Driver Role" on the "Driver Seat". The displays on the "Driver A Node"'s machine will update to show the scene from the corresponding viewpoint.
5. Select the "Vehicle A.Passenger Role" on the "Passenger Seat". The displays on the "Passenger A Node"'s machine will update to show the scene from the corresponding viewpoint.