Austin Tate's Blog

Subscribe to Austin Tate's Blog feed Austin Tate's Blog
Individual Blog Entries - CC-BY-NC
Updated: 1 hour 38 min ago

Another Year of Adventures

2022, July 14 - 14:00

Roblox – Resources

2022, July 11 - 11:48

Roblox is an online game platform and game creation system that allows users to create and play in environments or games. Roblox is free to play, with in-game purchases available through its virtual currency called “Robux”. According to Wikipedia, as of August 2020, Roblox had over 164 million monthly active users. Typical avatars look like “Lego” characters, but other styles are available, and avatars can have added clothing layers.


To easily install Roblox on Windows without using the Microsoft Store and a Microsoft Account, you can open a link to an experience, choose a free one such as “Brookhaven RP”, and click the play arrow. This will try to launch Roblox, which if not installed, will offer a link to download and install, before you can then retry play on the experiemnce web page… https://www.roblox.com/games/4924922222/Brookhaven-RP

Control Keys

  • WASD and Arrow Keys – Move Forward, Left, Backward and Right
  • Spacebar – Jump or get up off seat
  • 1, 2, 3,… – Equip and Unequip Tools
  • Mouse Left Button – Use Tool
  • Mouse Wheel Zoom – In/Out
  • Other keys are usually assigned by the specific experience or game


Firestorm VR Mod 6.5.6

2022, July 9 - 09:40

This blog post is in preparation for a future release and links will not yet be valid. For the current release see https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/firestorm-vr-mod-6-5-3/

Firestorm 6.5.6 + P373R VR Mod: This build includes P373R’s VR Mod 6.3.3 changes merged into the Firestorm 6.5.6.66215 (TBC) release branch.

Download the release installer from the “Assets” list at the bottom of the entry for the latest version available at https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases/

The user instructions are similar to Firestorm VR Mod 6.4.12 which is described at https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/firestorm-vr-mod-6-4-12/

For Firestorm VR Mod community support use the Discord Discussion Channel:
P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]

Firestorm VR Mod 6.5.6 is created using “GitHub Actions” (GHA) thanks to @humbletim and @thoys. Minor manual changes are made the VR Mod 6.3.3 code for the merge, which otherwise continues to be suitable. Some of the code for performance metrics wants to be just ahead of rendering, which is where the VR Mod inject points also wanted to be. Since they are independent it’s just a matter of explaining to git they are unrelated and can exist in any order. The cmake scripts are also amended to auto-include openvr.dll.

The App name has been changed to “FirestormVR” so the installation can exist side-by-side with stock Firestorm if desired. Settings are also stored in the different user folder C:/Users/<name>/AppData/Roaming/FirestormVR_x64.

This release is for Windows, and a Linux build compiles but entering into VR mode via SteamVR remains to be tested.

To improve frame rate (FPS) you might opt to set shadows to “None”, Water reflections to “None: Opaque” and use a reasonably low draw distance appropriate to the scene. Also close viewer UI windows and tools and detach any HUDs you are not actively using. See advice on FPS improvement and the new “Performance Floater” and “FPS Autotune” capabilities in Beq Janus’s Blog Post (21-Mar-2022).

WARNING: Modern VR HMD systems have async reprojection (which helps prevent low frame rate nausea), but as it stands right now, accessing Second Life/OpenSim in VR mode is only for the very brave.

Misaligned VR Cursor

Gaffe on Discord notes: Firestorm VR Mod’s VR cursor will have a small-to-extreme offset on Windows in particular if you are using Windows UI Scaling with any settings OTHER than 100%.
To fix the VR cursor offset, set the Windows UI Scaling for your primary display to 100%

Update: Jumbled VR Initialisation Text:

I have noted that Ctrl+Tab to start the SteamVR/HMD device software sometimes shows jumbled letters for the VR driver initialisation message, and once that occurs using Tab to launch VR mode does not give a VR display in the HMD.

After some experimentation, I found that after starting Firestorm VR Mod, rather than going straight to Cltrl+Tab to set up for VR devices, I first dismiss the onscreen message with Tab, and THEN do a Ctrl+Tab after which the full message without missing letters immediately appears, and SteamVR/Oculus is launched and when the Tab is then used the VR mode works properly. This may be a temporary situation and could be related to driver updates or SteamVR changes, but if you see the same thing, try the Tab and then Ctrl+Tab sequence once or twice to see if that also works for you.

Seven Dales Heritage Run 2022

2022, June 12 - 21:29

The De Lacy Motor Club (D.L.M.C) in Yorkshire has been running rallies, car trials and driving tests for over 50 years as noted in my previous blog post. The Seven Dales Heritage Run was run again in 2022 on a nice 87 mile route set by Mike Brownlow through North Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales… beginning and ending at the Sherburn Aero Club.

As usual family members entered the event again this year… with Jon and Rosemarie entering in a 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby G.T.350, Simon with family friend Ron in an Audi A4 18T and ourselves in our Toyota MR2 Mk.3.


Spatial.io – Resources

2022, June 10 - 14:21


Spatial (https://spatial.io) is a multi-platform virtual space for art exhibitions, events, virtual offices, etc. This blog post provides resources related to Spatial.

Ready Player Me Avatar Integration

Ai Austin Home – Space in Spatial.io

https://spatial.io/s/Ai-Austins-Home-62a344b056c7600001ef67a1

Spatial.io Controls

Ruth2 v4 – Rigging in Blender

2022, May 16 - 14:52

This is an updated blog post explaining how to take the Ruth2 v4 avatar mesh with included armature and export it in a form suitable for use in Second Life and OpenSim. The post is still under development to debug the process. Thanks to Ada radius.

These notes descrobe the process to use Blender to take the Ruth2 v4 mesh avatar, including an “armature” for rigging and go through the process of exporting Collada (.dae) and importing to Second Life/OpenSim. It is largely based on notes and guidance from Ada Radius.

Gather Resources

A place to start is this GitHub Ruth2 Wiki page on… Clothing Creator Guide … and much more technical detail is in this Wiki page on… Blender and Rigging. Though as at 16-May-2022 these need an update.

  1. Blender 3.0.1 or later (using 3.1.0)
  2. Ruth2/Mesh/Ruth2_v4/Ruth2v4DevWithArmature.blend (GitHub/Ruth2)

Process Guide

Open Blender with a new project, remove default cube.

Check if Edit > Lock Object Modes is ticked tick and if so turn if off. Save as defaults for future via File -> Defaults -> Save Startup File.

Add Ruth2 v4 mesh parts dev kit via File > Append Ruth2v4DevWithArmature.blend and select the “Object” mesh part you want to work with (e.g Ruth2v4 for the head, body, legs and hands but no feet part). Open the “Object” item to get the list of parts available.

In the Outliner (usually to the right side of Blender), note that “OSSLFemaleCustVolBones” is the armature. The selected mesh part(s) is under that. There may be other mesh parts bundled in (like feet) which you can delete if they are not going to be part of your exported mesh. When using “Append” in Blender always bring in the “Object” which will pull in any related items needed, i.e. to avoid confusion, you should not try to only bring in the separate “Armature” part in this case.

In Outliner, if present Delete Light and Camera.

An alternative to the “append” process might be to just open Ruth2v4DevWithArmature.blend and choose to show (if necessary) and highlight the mesh part(s) you want to export.

Using top left menu in Object Mode, Select > All. Rotate the selection by +90 degrees on Z axis to face right in front orthographic view (make sure the armature also rotates).

Use Object > Apply > All Transforms to ensure all subparts of rotated outer container/mesh are transformed.


***** IS THIS NEEDED NOW AS ARMATURE ALREADY SET TO MESH? FOLLOWING NOT DONE IN THIS TEST

Select the armature OSSLFemaleCustVolBones and choose “Edit Mode”. Select > All, Armature > Bone Roll > Clear Roll.

In “Object Mode” and in outliner, select mesh first and then avatar_skeleton.xml. The armature must be the last thing selected. Then use Object > Parent (Ctrl/P) to get Parenting options. Set to “Armature Deform”. Parent should then be shown as avatar_skeleton.xml.

Now carefully check all the mesh properties as described in the Ada Radius guidance notes.

In the sample mesh part I was checking the Ruth2v4 (head, body and hands, no feet) already had the required single Armature Modifier, but also a “DataTransfer” Modifier to Ruth2v4FeetFlat. “DataTransfer” and “Weld” may be able to be left in as according to Ada Radius… “those are Modifiers that do apply well on export from Blender and import inworld. Not perfectly, but well”. So I left that in. Ada adds…

The Data Transfer Modifier has several uses. In this case I use it for separate objects that we want perceived as a single object inworld. With the settings I used, it matches the face corner normals to the target we point it to. It works fairly well, depending on inworld lighting and how well the textures match. If you see a modifier called “Weld” it’s the same thing

Export to Collada

Select the mesh part you wish to export (e.g. “Ruth2v4”)… note its the mesh part which is parented to the armature… i.e. do NOT select the parent armature (named “Ruth2v4WithArmature”).

File > Export > Collada.

Via the cog settings icon in the top right of teh export window use Operator Presets > SL+Open Sim Rigged (which sets nearly all settings needed).

Under the “Main” tab check the “Selection Only” and “Global Orientation Apply” boxes are ticked.

Detailed check of Export Collada options under each tab…

Main tab:

    Selection Only
    Include Armatures
    Global Orientation Apply
    Forward Axis Y
    Up Axis Z
    Texture options
    Copy
    UV – Only Selected Map

Geom(etry) tab:

    Triangulate
    Apply Modifiers Viewport
    Transform Matrix

Arm(ature) tab:

    Deform Bones Only
    Export to SL/OpenSim

Anim(imation) tab:

    Include Animations (may or may not be needed)

Extra tab:

    Use Blender Profile
    Sort by Object Name
    Keep Bind Info

For rigged mesh items (like the Ruth2 avatar mesh parts themselves, or rigged mesh clothing) in the Extra tab you must ALSO tick “Keep Bind Info” (otherwise the mesh in Second Life/OpenSim will look like a spindly deformed alien when imported).

Export the Collada.

Import – Mesh Upload to Second Life/OpenSim

Import to OpenSim/SL via the Mesh Uploader as usual. Make sure to use the Second Life only version of the viewer (with Havok Physics) if uploading to Second Life. Make sure to tick “Include Skin Weight” in the Options/Rigging tab if it is not already preselected. But “Include joint positions” should not be ticked.

Avatar Mesh in OpenSim after Texturing for Bakes on Mesh

Include image incorporating the relaxed hand Pose script and animation, and after texturing the mesh for Bakes on Mesh (BoM).

Shirelands in OpenSim

2022, April 24 - 15:28

David Denny has an OpenSim grid “Shirelands” with Lord of the Rings themed regions. He was the original creator of the OpenSim Archive Files (OARs) used by Fred Beckhusen for the Outworldz DreamGrid versions of these regions. See this blog post. David makes his regions available for personal use via the OAR Shop on Shoptly. There is a Lord of the Ring’s themed quest that leads you through the region and navigation is possible via signposts.


  • http://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/
  • Entry Hub: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Shirelands Hub/264/206/22
  • Hobbiton and Bagshot Row: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Hobbiton/281/402/28
  • Bree and Buckland: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Bree and Buckland/95/11/3
  • Beorn’s Home
  • Mirkwood and Dol Guidor: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Myrkwood/216/40/2
  • Rohan – Edoras: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Meadowseld/205/293/2
  • Rivendell: hop://seasofthassa.outworldz.net:8002/Rivendell/223/77/61

Hobbiton and Bagshot Row




Bree and Buckland


Beorn’s Home

Mirkwood and Dol Guidor

Rohan – Edoras


Rivendell


Virtual World Best Practice in Education 2022

2022, March 31 - 15:49


The 15th Virtual World Best Practice in Education 2022 online conference titled “Phoenix Arising” took place in Second Life on 31st March to 2nd April 2022.




Dyrhólaey in Second Life

2022, March 25 - 14:50


“Dyrhólaey” is an atmospheric Second Life build on the “Aride Isle” region in March 2022 by Serene Footman. It is themed after an island in the North of Iceland.




360° Snapshots – Click on Image to See Panorama in Flickr


Law on NFTs

2022, March 17 - 11:28

On 17-Mar-2022, the Law School at the University of Edinburgh ran an online Zoom workshop and panel discussion on NFTs and the law, to accompany an exhibition event at Edinburgh InSpace entitled “A Token Gesture“.

Chair: Smita Kheria, University of Edinburgh.

Speakers: Burkhard Schafer (University of Edinburgh), Andres Guadamuz (University of Sussex) [Slides Here] and Sean Thomas (University of York).

NFT related resources – https://nft.inspace.ed.ac.uk/resources

https://www.law.ed.ac.uk/news-events/events/funging-nonfungable-laying-down-law-nfts


NFT Examples from technollama (aka Andres Guadamuz, University of Sussex), e.g. his Nyan Cat NFT

HG Safari – Silent Refueling

2022, March 16 - 20:00

The Hypergrid Safari Group met on 16th March 2022 to visit Outworldz grid’s “Silent Refueling” grid by Fred Beckhusen (avatar: Ferd Frederix) with building support from “Joe Builder”. The grid can be accessed via http://www.outworldz.com:9000. “Silent Refueling” is a tribute to the 1972 science fiction film Silent Running directed by Douglas Trumbull.

There is a “Silent Refueling Base” region (US spelling) where the bio-pods are prepared for launch out to space freighters which house them for security away form Earth, and a “Silent Refueling” region (again US spelling) where the space freighters are refuelling in the rings of Saturn. The events take place just before the time of the movie.

Silent Refueling Base

hop://www.outworldz.com:9000/Silent Refueling Base/401/737/28




Silent Refueling

hop://www.outworldz.com:9000/Silent Refueling/355/464/2178




Frame – Resources

2022, March 16 - 17:05

Frame (https://framevr.io) is a browser-based platform for immersive team collaboration, events, education, virtual offices, digital twins, etc. It can be embedded as a virtual space within Microsoft’s Teams. This blog post provides resources related to Frame.



OpenSimulator Twitter Community

2022, March 3 - 14:03

A Twitter Community for “OpenSimulator” has been set up. Such communities are new group feature on Twitter.

Currently set to moderator needs to approve anyone who joins unless sent an invite link in which case accepting the invite joins the member right away. We will review the moderator list and the member approval process that once things settle down.

Currently only members can send a tweet to the community to reduce spam.

Logo and icon is temporary until I create a crispier properly sized version.

https://twitter.com/i/communities/1499373889234903042

The rules of the Community are:
1. Be kind and respectful.
2. Keep Tweets on topic.
3. Explore and share.

OpenVCE for OpenSim 2022

2022, February 27 - 16:56

The OpenVCE OpenSim Archive (OAR) file provides a collaboration and meeting area suitable. It can be loaded onto any OpenSim region to provide a range of useful facilities for a group or community. The OpenVCE virtual world assets were originally provided by Clever Zebra working with the OpenVCE project at AIAI, University of Edinburgh for an international project in 2009. An improved OAR file has been provided at 27-Feb-2022 via http://openvce.net/downloads/2022/.

OpenVCE and I-Room Assets

The OpenVCE OAR provides a ready to load open source virtual collaboration environment with a range of formal and informal meeting spaces, instrumented meeting rooms, exposition facilities, etc.

The “I-Room” is a simplified version of the “Virtual Space for Intelligent Interaction” with some AI task support connected facilities not enabled.

A demonstration of the OpenVCE region is available on OSGrid via hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OMI/124/128/23

Collaboration Spaces

    Central Plaza – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/124/128/23
    Map Board – Teleporters – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/150/100/23

    I-Room – Clickers – Virtual Space for Intelligent Interaction                    hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/128/88/23
    Classroom – Clickers – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/82/128/23

    Expo Pavilion A – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/100/185/23
    Expo Pavilion B – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/156/185/23
    Dome – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/50/50/23
    Amphitheatre – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/34/222/23
    Breakout Rooms – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80OpenVCE/42/214/23

    Project Space 1 – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/172/214/23
    Project Space 2 – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/235/214/23
    Group Suite Yellow – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/245/200/24
    Group Suite Blue – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/245/178/24

    Hilltop Viewpoint- hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/178/75/44
    Cavern Campfire – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/191/65/21
    Picnic Tables – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/46/70/22
    Offshore Canyon – hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/OpenVCE/240/110/22

There are a number of media and presentation screens available.

  • The “Clever Zebra Presentation System” in the Amphitheatre can have multiple screens operating on separate channels and uses a laptop to control the slides sent to any screen via the selected channel. The slides are loaded into the laptop and presented in alphabetical order. A slide named “logo” is used for the “off” texture. Control is possible by any avatar that has the selected group active with the default scripts.
  • The Freeview Screen can show any slide for textures added into the screen on a manual basis or loop through them. It can also be set to show a wide range of media, web pages, movies, etc. using the single “media texture” of the land plot it is on (set via the “Parcel Details”/”About Land” Media tab for those with appropriate permission). Control is possible by any avatar that has the selected group active with the default scripts.
  • The OpenVCE SlideShow screen can present any texture loaded into it, with thumbnails displayed along its bottom edge. This screen is usually open to any user. Control is possible by any avatar that has the selected group active with the default scripts.
  • OpenVCE Presenter is a screen which can show media set up within the screen or via URLs from web sites, such as PowerPoint presentations. It requires a web service to operate, so may not be available in all setups.
  • Media on a Prim (MOAP) screens can show the contents of a URL including embedded video, etc, useful for YouTube videos including live streams. Usually any user can set the URL though group or social arrangements may be in place to ask you to avoid changing URLs being shared. For web sites where a login is required you usually see your own view personal of the content.
  • GraffitiBoard is a simple mechanism for displaying text messages.

Clickers

Voting or acknowledgement “clickers” are available in two of the meeting spaces, in the I-Room and the Classroom. A control button clears the clickers in the specific space.

Voice

All spaces are enabled for Vivox 3D positional voice, which will drop off depending on distance from avatar camera. At present, to keep things simple, the spaces are not given boundaries to separate voice channels for different meetings areas, though that can be done if it becomes useful.

Permissions and Land Zones

OpenSim allows for a wide range of permissions for building on regions, controlling objects in world, taking copies of items, etc. These can be on an individual avatar basis, or for members of groups, etc. The object group settings and permissions may need to be adjusted to allow for specific group members or those with specific roles within the group to be given access to screens, etc. Areas of land on a region can be made into separate land plots ort zones to control the propagation of voice and allow for different access and functionality.

Sources and Downloads

The OpenSimulator Archive (OAR) file that allows the entire region and its resources to be duplicated on other OpenSim grids or elsewhere is available via:

Licencing and Attribution

The OpenVCE region models, originally for Second Life and OpenSimulator, are openly and freely available and openly licenced using the permissive GNU Lesser General Public License (Version 3, 29 June 2007). But an alternative licence for those that may prefer it is Creative Commons By-Attribution (CC BY 4.0).

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.en.html
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Attribution:

    Design and Development: Clever Zebra (http://cleverzebra.com)
    Inputs from AIAI, University of Edinburgh (Austin Tate, Stephen Potter)
    The development of these resources was supported by a grant from the OpenVCE project (http://openvce.net).

The OpenVCE approach makes use of modular components from many other open source contributors and communities, and are available under their respective licences. Most parts are available from their normal open source download site.


Active Worlds

2022, February 24 - 11:39

This blog post is to provide resources and access links for Active Worlds – https://www.activeworlds.com/, an online virtual world launched in 1995 and predating Second Life which launched in 2003 [Wikpedia].

Video by Straszfilms “Active Worlds: The 27-Year-Old Virtual World You Haven’t Heard Of”

More Information: https://strasz.tv/active-worlds-the-27-year-old-virtual-world-you-havent-heard-of/

Create Free Public Account: https://www.activeworlds.com/ssl/forms/view.php?id=17831

Second Life Reading Matter

2022, February 18 - 16:59

Musee Dezentral – NFT Museum

2022, February 18 - 16:47

A browser-based viewer to look at Non-Fungible Token (NFT) owned artworks in the Metaverse created by @museedezentral. A Ready Player Me avatar can be used for your own appearance, though on a visit I could not seem my own avatar in the viewer.

Visit via https://musee-dezentral.com

Metaverse Fashion Week 2022

2022, February 17 - 22:00

Fashion designer Jonathan Simkhai (@JonathanSimkhai) partnered with @Everyrealm & @BlueberryMeta to produce avatar clothing and the Metaverse Fashion Week runway fashion show event inside Second Life. The event was covered in various fashion magazines and on fashion web sites.


Promotional images from Jonathan Simkhai, Blueberry and Everyrealm social media

Discord “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) Session – 17-Feb-2022

Second Life Metaverse Fashion Show (9pm GMT, 17-Feb-2022)


360° Snapshot using Second Life Viewer 6.5.2 and Firestorm 6.5.3 Beta

VR View on Oculus Rift using Firestorm VR Mod 6.4.21 and 6.5.3 Beta


Pages