Austin Tate's Blog

Following my earlier experiments with queries to ChatGPT, DALL·E and Leaonardo.ai image generation, and seeing a post by President Macron of France at the 2015 AI Safety summit in Paris, I thought I would try the new Mistral Le Chat tools – https://chat.mistral.ai/

https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2023/03/29/chatgpt/
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2023/06/04/chatgpt-apologizes-for-making-things-up-a-lot/
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2024/02/16/leonardo-ai-image-generation/

For a detailed guide on client libraries and API specs, check out the documentation: https://docs.mistral.ai/.

Chat Testing

TBA

Image Generation

I tried an earlier prompt I had given to ChatGPT, DALL·E and Leaonardo.ai…

Photorealistic, view from inside a modern house, overlooking stormy ocean, steep forested hillside, sunset, jagged rock pinnacles offshore, ((cat inside house looking out)), (humpback whale breach 300m offshore)

Interestingly, it did not actually generate an image but gave a number of pointers to sites that provided (free, licenced and copyright) images and indicated suitable filters to use on those sites.

Ready Player One Art3mis Ray Gun – Image Query

I had just been checking the details of an image from the film “Ready Player One” which had the female character Art3mis holding a ray gun and I wanted to know which film or studio that was from. It turned out to be a Weta Workshop Dr. Grordbort’s Righteous Bison Ray Gun. So I wondered if Le Chat could analyze the image and find that. This was the result. Note that Le Chat initially have a simple generic (and wrong) answer based on sci-fi films in general. It was only when challenged that it said it was wrong and my prompting was correct. It even indicated it had taken the information on board. It is difficulty to know if this was user appeasement or a real check of the available materials. It can also lead to many false statements being incorporated to guide future (mis-)information.

Project Zero from Linden Lab is an early experiment with provding access to Second Life via a web browser using streaming technology. Limited initial access for testing is available via https://zero.secondlife.com

Browser-Based Access to Second Life: Limited Testing Begins Today – Linden Lab Blog Post, 2-Jan-2025.

Discussion Forum for Feedback

Second Life in Your Browser: A New Initiative from Linden Lab – Inara Pey Blog Post – 2-Jan-2025.

The browser view opens with the last avatar you have logged into https://secondlife.com account web site. To change avatars log out and back in again with the avatar you want to use in the browser view.

The window opens at 1920×1080 (1080p) so initially will not work without scrolling on smaller screens or in a smaller window. Use your browser “zoom” function to reduce the size of the user interface to view in smaller windows.

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers install a Linux distribution (such as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Kali, Debian, Arch Linux, etc) and use Linux applications, utilities, and Bash command-line tools directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup.

Install WSL
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
wsl.exe --install (in a command prompt run as administrator)
Installs WSL and Ubuntu distribution of Linux (https://help.ubuntu.com). Needs approx 3.5GB disk space, or 4.1GB after an initial package update.

Setup username and password (initial admin/su account)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/setup/environment#set-up-your-linux-username-and-password

Update and Upgrade
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

See Files in Linux Filestore
To open your WSL project in Windows File Explorer, enter: explorer.exe .
Be sure to add the period at the end of the command to open the current directory.

Complete Uninstall of WSL
https://superuser.com/questions/1317883/completely-uninstall-the-subsystem-for-linux-on-win10
wsl --uninstall

A web framework for building 3D/AR/VR experiences with HTML and Entity-Component on any headset, mobile and desktop. https://aframe.io/

Using glTF models in an A-Frame application: https://aframe.io/docs/1.6.0/introduction/models.html

Example of Ruth2v4 exported to glTF (.glb), visualised in A-Frame and animated with bone and joint sliders by richardanaya: https://github.com/richardanaya/aframe-avatar/

Glitch can be used to create WebXR experiences using A-Frame: https://glitch.com/webxr

An older style of avatar mesh head has been provided as a free download at Christmas 2024 at the Akeruka Mesh Head store for its group members. A compatible skin is needed to make this work, which is a paid for item. But its an interesting development. A few users have commented that its fun to make a grandma and grandad style avatar.

Flickr Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaoz/ [Bridget, Alfred]

The OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC) is one of the longest running virtual conference series, having started in 2013 and run annually since. This is OSCC’s 12th year and the event celebrates 17 years of OpenSimulator as the first commit was January 31, 2007. The OpenSimulator community and Avacon Inc. come together to run the event on the OpenSimulator Community Conference (OpenSimCC) grid – http://cc.opensimulator.org:8005 [LoginURI: http://cc.opensimulator.org:8002]

The main keynote presentations area uses the adjacent corners of 4 sims to provide capacity for up to around 400 attendees. There are many other regions for avatars, shopping, exhibition booths for presenters, OpenSim community hub, music and dance venues, etc.

Links to my blog posts on earlier OpenSimulator Community Conferences.. https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/?s=oscc

This blog post provides some links and resources related to the use of cryptocurrency and digital asset accounts and wallets. These allow for the management of digital assets and cryptocurrency where transactions are managed and recorded through blockchain technology. Take great care, there be dragons ahead.

Coinbase Account and Wallet

Coinbase.com is one of the most used crypto exchanges in the UK. Due to recent UK legislation the account creation process is quite involved. It needs full legal name, date of birth, government issued photo ID (such as a passport or driving licence) and verification live camera head shot. Verification via mobile phone and e-mail of the data entered is done. A quite long process of warnings about virtual assets being very volatile and being willing to lose all you put in are given, the you have to take a test to show you understood warnings.

The Coinbase account accessible via web browser and/or mobile device app (iOS or Android) is available to buy, sell and hold crypto assets and NFTs (digital Non-fungible Tokens), but this is separate to the Coinbase Wallet. This does need either a physical security key for desktops and laptops (something like the “Yubikey” USB device) or use on a mobile device (phone or tablet) with the latest operating systems to use FaceID or other security measures, so older devices will not allow the Wallet app to load.

Metamask.io Wallet

Metamask.io provided a wallet that does run on a wider range of mobile devices (iOS and Android).

By default “token detection” is set to auto so that as new tokens are issued it can recognise those as they arrive. Metamask can detect any ETH-based token (ERC-20, ERC-721, etc.)

Base Network

A network is used to complete transactions, there are several, and a default will usually be used. But you can specifically select a network for trading in any specific token. E.g. some tokens (e.g. for game related “currency”) ask that the “Base” network be used and that a wallet ID for the Base network is given.

4 Types of Cryptocurrency

Payment Cryptocurrencies, Tokens, Stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies.

What Is a Meme Coin?

A meme coin is a cryptocurrency named after characters, individuals, animals, artwork, or anything else as the basis for a community of interest and in an attempt to be humorous, light-hearted, and attract a user base for a game or platform. A popular meme coin is Dogecoin (DOGE).

Example Game-related Tokens

Planet MOJO (https://www.planetmojo.io/) has $MOJO (https://www.redmoth.xyz/token) as an example of a meme coin for Planet MOJO related games and a virtual Mojo AI character called “Emma” (https://x.com/emma_mojoai).

On 23-Nov-2024, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Eímear Noone played music from video games live at MediaCity Salford and via the M2 Worlds based in the Improbable platform.

• Access (at the time) virtual convert via https://maxr.m2worlds.io/
• More information and concert programme at https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e8jgfx

Annually Second Life hosts a number of Winter themed regions with ice skating, skiing, sledding, snow scenes and fireworks.

https://secondlife.com/destinations/winter

https://secondlife.com/destination/adagios-winterland-lake
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Adagio%20Breeze/192/88/1201

https://secondlife.com/destination/the-winter-garden-akijima
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Akijima/64/104/3502

https://secondlife.com/destination/coeur-lac-dannecy-ski-resort
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coeur%20Lac%20Annecy/51/21/2179

OpenSim 0.9.3.0 “Nessie” was released on 8-Nov-2023 (see Release Notes), so the development branch will now be OpenSim 0.9.3.1 Dev. Both the release and Dev versions use .NET8.0.

This release supports new features such as PBR materials for objects, reflection probes, including mirror types, and terrain PBR materials for viewers compatible with OpenSim specifications.

OpenSim Dev latest can usually be obtained at http://opensimulator.org/viewgit/?a=shortlog&p=opensim

.NET 8.0 Information

OpenSim 0.9.3.* uses .NET8.0. The NET8.0 SDK, runtime and necessary compiler tools can be made available by installing or updating to Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition version 17.9.6 or later and installing the .NET SDK 8.0. Install the .NET 8.0 SDK from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0

To opt out of Microsoft gathering of .NET 8.0 compile information use Right click on “This PC” icon -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment Variables -> System Variables and add or change DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT to 1 or true. This must be done BEFORE installing the .NET 8.0 SDK (or rerun the installer after setting the variable).

Then on the OpenSim source use runprebuild.bat and compile.bat

Nessie Image from https://learning.rzss.org.uk/mod/hvp/view.php?id=2662.

Blender’s community has produced a number of films based on open-source assets and technqiues since 2006. See https://studio.blender.org/films/. This includes Sintel produced in 2010. See https://studio.blender.org/projects/sintel/

Blender’s “Project Gold” is a technical and artistic showcase, focused on highly stylized rendering and animation. Download assets, production files, and a workshop on stylized rendering at https://studio.blender.org/projects/gold

https://studio.blender.org/blog/project-gold-premiere/

What better day to visit Lafayette Cemetery in New Orleans (in the OpenSim virtual world) than on the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), November 2nd.

https://opensimworld.com/hop/91232
hop://hg.lagniappegrid.com:8402/Lafayette%20Cemetery/272/390/23

And of course, a visit to Marie Laveau’s tomb in the cemetery is a must… having been there in real life.

AvatarLife (https://avatarlife.com/) is an OpenSimulator derived virtual world developed by Gamingverse Private limited registered in India. They have created their own Firestorm derived viewer with added features such as video calls and screen sharing.

Create Avatar: https://grid.avatarlife.com/
LoginURI: http://grid.avatarlife.com:8002/
Add AvatarLife Grid to Firestorm Grid Manager: secondlife:///app/gridmanager/addgrid/http%3A%2F%2Fgrid.avatarlife.com%3A8002

Discord invite Link: https://discord.gg/G8TNHvfewP

Hypergrid Business Blog Post: AvatarLife Viewer adds video calls, screen sharing, Maria Korolov October 19, 2024.

VRM is 3D standard format USING glTF2.0 to allow for the creation and use of humanoid avatars.

• VRM Development
• How to make a VRM avatar in Unity
• UniVRM – VRM for Unity

Press Release 24-Oct-2024: The Khronos Group and VRM Consortium Collaborate to Advance International Standardization of the VRM 3D Avatar File Format. [Press Release Link]

I N     P R E P A R A T I O N

Firestorm VR Mod 7.1.11.76496 release has support for the WebRTC voice services which will be the default in future in Second Life. Vivox voice is still available on regions which use that (including in OpenSim).

The standard version now required AVX2 instruction sets on Windows. A “legacy” version is available for older CPU (usually pre-2014).

A special version of the VR Mod viewer is available via @Sgeo which automatically calculates the VR HMD settings needed (which is normally done manually via F4) and may support more VR HMDs, such as meta Quest 2 and 3.

Firestorm VR Mod is a version of the popular Firestorm Viewer for Second Life and OpenSimulator with modifications to provide VR capabilities for VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) via SteamVR. This is experimental. Firestorm VR Mod is now available from https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases

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

Firestorm 7.1.11 + P373R VR Mod: This build includes P373R’s VR Mod 6.3.3 changes merged into the Firestorm 7.1.11.76496 release branch. The VR Mod approach takes a minimalistic approach to inserting VR capabilities into the viewer in order that the maintenance overhead is decreased and the potential longevity of the approach is increased. VR Controller support is not included.

The Firestorm VR Mod viewer (for Windows only) is available as an .exe “Setup” installer or as a .7z zipped file which can be unzipped to any directory and run from there without an install. If required, a free .7z unzip utility is available at https://www.7-zip.org/. Download the release for the latest version at https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases/

You need to install your usual VR Headset drivers and SteamVR. Firestorm VR Mod when run uses SteamVR which will launch any necessary VR headset specific underlying drivers.

Firestorm VR Mod is created using “GitHub Actions” (GHA) thanks to @humbletim and @thoys. Firestorm VR Mod version 7.* is still based on Peter Kappler’s VR Mod code changes (working since version 6.6.3 with only minor changes for the merge) but due to PBR changes, Linden Lab (and hence core Firestorm) reworked the render buffer structures which is one of the tight couplings into the core FS code base. The PBR viewer approach changed how the viewer finds the main screen information. The VR Mod initially relied on a direct path, but that path got moved after PBR. Where a developer would use “o.mScreen” before they would now use “o.mRT->screen”. The GitHub Actions have been changed to automatically map the original VR Mod code to new path, so the VR Mod code itself doesn’t need to be changed.

The build also uses the open source openal.dll audio library for sound and builds in the openvr_api.dll library for VR HMD connection.

Firestorm VR Mod has its own app and channel names “FirestormVR” and the install directory changed to “FirestormOS-VR-GHA” so the installation can exist side-by-side with stock Firestorm if desired. Settings and cache are shared with standard Firestorm. If you installed Firestorm VR Mod from an earlier version (up to 6.6.8) you can delete the now unused settings and cache directories: %APPDATA%\FirestormVR_x64 and %LOCALAPPDATA%\FirestormVROS_x64.

U S A G E

VR Mode instructions are available via prompts in the viewer or via information on https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/. In short…

• Press CTRL+TAB to load or unload the SteamVR driver. Do this each time you want to enter VR mode after starting up.
• Press TAB key to enable and disable VR mode.
• Press F5 to open the settings menu, you should see a text menu in the middle of the screen. The settings menu works only when VR mode is enabled.
• Press F6 to increase the selected value. Press F7 to decrease the selected value.
• Press F5 again to switch to the next menu entry.
• By pressing F5 on the last menu entry the menu will close and save the settings in the config file which is located in
  “C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64\vrconfig.ini”
  and which can be edited directly. Pressing TAB for VR mode reloads the config file.
• Hold F3 to see some debug info (example here).
• Press F4 to disable and enable HMD’s direction changes. It may be better to disable the HMD’s direction interface when editing and flying with the camera. This may be subject to change in future versions.
• In the camera floater two buttons has been added to offset the HMD’s base rotation.
• Moving the mouse to the corners or the sides will shift the screen to this direction so menus can be accessed more easily.

For issues on some specific headsets you might wish to try the Firestorm VR Mod Discord Channel: P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]. Peter Kappler also offers the following advice…

1. Firestorm VR Mod works best while sitting and using mouse and keyboard.
2. WindowsMixedReality users may need to press windows key + Y to unlock the mouse when the HMD is worn.
3. If your VR hardware cannot maintain constant 90 FPS you could try enabling motion reprojection in your HMD. In WindowsMixedReality it can be done by uncommenting “motionReprojectionMode” : “auto”, in the config file located at “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MixedRealityVRDriver\resources\settings\default.vrsettings”. This will make the HMD interpolate between frames and create a smoother experience. Vive and Oculus should have similar functionalities which can be accessed from SteamVR settings. For Vive it is called Motion Smoothing.

S E T T I N G S

VR Mode Setup

As usual, Ctrl+TAB initially sets up SteamVR (and HMD support as needed), TAB is used to toggle VR mode on or off, F5 lets you select and step through the various VR HMD or user specific settings for IPD, texture shift to register the left and right eye images, and focal distance to change depth perception, etc. F6/F7 are used to increment and decrement each setting selection.

Peter Kappler suggested the following process to establish suitable settings for your HMD:

1. Set IPD to 0 (zero)
2. Then adjust Texture Shift until image is sharp and focused
3. Then adjust IPD which separates your cameras to left and right to get a good 3D effect

@Sgeo on Discord provided a tool to help in calculating the settings for Firestorm VR Mod.. at least to give you a starting position to adjust to your taste…

https://sgeo.github.io/firestorm-vr-calculator/

Source of the calculator is at https://github.com/Sgeo/firestorm-vr-calculator

Hovertips

If you see a lot of hover tips showing under the mouse it could be that the debug setting “ShowHoverTips” is set to TRUE (the default) which may show something constantly under the mouse even for inert unscripted objects. You can turn that off via Debug Settings or via Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Show Hover Tips. Via that same preferences panel, you might alternatively prefer to lengthen the delay before hover tips are activated.

Chat Bubbles

In VR Mode it may be useful to show local nearby chat in “bubbles” over each avatar’s head. This can be done via Preferences > Chat.

T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G

Misaligned VR Cursor

Note from Gaffe on Discord: 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%.

Missing Menus and Buttons in Centred VR View

If you notice that the top menu bar and bottom and side button areas do not show in your headset when you are in VR Mode and your view is centred (i.e. mouse is positioned centrally in the 2D view) it may be that the VR settings you chose for Texture Shift and Texture Zoom need to be adjusted, or set to zero.

All Black HMD Display or Black Edges or Strips in HMD Display

An all black display in the VR HMD was an issue in earlier versions and is mostly resolved now… but it can still occur with some headsets. In case you encounter issues with a black HMD display… Peter Kappler suggests the following:

• Create a program-specific profile for the viewer in your graphic card settings and enable FXAA.
• Second Life only supports FXAA. Other types of Anti-aliasing can be disabled.

Firestorm VR Mod shifts the display in VR mode to an edge if the mouse or pointer is placed towards an edge or corner of the viewer window. This is to allow easier access to menus, user interface buttons and HUDs. It can be confusing though if you enter VR mode and find that part of the view is black. It is usually because the mouse is placed towards a corner or edge. Just move the mouse back to the centre of the screen and the full VR view should appear.

SteamVR Reset/Quit Screen Shows in HMD

When you switch to VR mode (after activating VR with Ctrl+TAB and using TAB), you may see a “Next Up… Firestorm” message or a SteamVR popup screen to “Reset the View” and “Quit SteamVR”. This has been observed to occur on the first run of a newly installed viewer. It can usually be dismissed with your controller if that is active, but if not the screen may continue to show the popup in VR mode in the HMD. Try another round of ctrl+TAB and TAB or if that does not work try stopping and restarting the viewer to clear this. These glitches may be more to do with legacy OpenVR + the latest SteamVR updates rather than Firestorm or VR Mod code changes.

Function Keys and Gestures

If you have issues with some of the Function keys (F5 or other Firestorm VR Mod keys) not working… look to see if the F keys involved are mapped to active “Gestures”. You can find a list of the gestures you currently have active and the keys associated with them using the “Gestures” toolbar button… or the Comm -> Gestures menu item (Ctrl+G shortcut).

Adjust Over-the-Shoulder Camera View to Suit Yourself

Sometimes in VR mode the camera will be too high or far back from the avatar. If so, press Esc a couple of times, then Shift+Esc a couple of times, or Ctrl + 9 resets the camera to its default position. Shift + scroll mouse button moves camera up and down. You can also set specific Debug Settings (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S) for camera positions, e.g. “CameraOffsetRearView”. If that doesn’t help, see http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Camera_Control

A D V I C E    O N    F R A M E    R A T E

You do need to ensure you have a good frame rate to have a comfortable VR experience. The Firestorm VR Mod Viewer will not work well if the Second Life/OpenSim region you visit cannot normally be displayed in 2D with a decent frame rate. In VR mode you can assume you will get 50% or less of the frame rate that shows on the 2D normal screen. At low frame rates bad flickering or texture tearing will occur in VR mode. My suggestion is to look at the frame rate (in Firestorm it is displayed in the upper right hand corner of the viewer) and to adjust the graphics settings (especially draw distance, shadows and quality sliders) until you have around 100fps (and definitely more than 50fps) and then try VR.

You may need to disable “vsync” in Settings -> Graphics -> Hardware as if this is on (the default) the FPS is capped to the frame rate of your 2D monitor (often 60fps, meaning in VR you would get less than 30fps).

Firestorm includes an “Improve Graphics Speed” performance tool and facilities to autotune the FPS which may be helpful. See advice on FPS improvement and the new “Performance Floater” and “FPS Autotune” capabilities in Beq Janus’s Blog Post (21-Mar-2022).

To improve frame rate (FPS) you might opt to set shadows to “None”, Water reflections to “None: Opaque”, Mirrors “Off” 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. The rendering of Linden Water, the water surface and its effects, can significantly reduce frame rates. Setting water reflections to “None; opaque” which gives a big FPS boost whilst still leaving the water looking okay. In an extreme situation, and in an environment that makes sense such as a meeting room, disabling Linden Water entirely can boost frame rates. Do that via Advanced -> Rendering Types -> Water. If the Advanced menu is not shown use Settings -> Advanced -> Show Advanced Menu or World -> Show More -> Advanced menu.

Peter Kappler also suggests: Particles… a fireplace is going to eat 20 to 30 fps! So turn them off for VR.

Tips from David Rowe for using the CtrlAltStudio VR Viewer (which is no longer maintained) may also be relevant:

1. To improve your frame rate, reduce your draw distance and/or tweak other display settings such as advanced lighting model, shadows, FOV, pixel density, etc.
2. Make sure you don’t have Preferences > Graphics > Rendering > Limit Framerate enabled.
3. To display avatar chat above avatars use Preferences > Chat > Visuals > Show chat in bubbles above avatars.
4. With floating text you may want to adjust the distance the floating text fades at so that distant text is not so annoying in VR mode: Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Floating text fade distance.

C O N T R O L L E R S

Currently, specialised VR Controllers are not supported, but a range of game controllers and 3D navigation devices do work where supported by the normal viewer code.

Xbox One Controller

Xbox One Controller
An Xbox One controller as used with the Oculus Rift (or an Xbox 360 controller) can be enabled, as usual, in Firestorm via Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement -> Joystick Configuration -> Enable Joystick.

You will probably find the controls are under or over sensitive, or some buttons and triggers don’t do what you expect. See this blog post and the image here (click for a larger version) for some suggestions as to how to amend the settings…
https://hugsalot.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/joystick-settings-for-firestorm-with-xbox-360-controller/

You might want to enter “-1” rather than axis “5” as an indication that axis is not mapped. With the setup suggested the “A” button toggles between the normal avatar view and “FlyCam” mode allowing you to move the camera separately to the avatar.

3D SpaceNavigator or SpaceMouse

As with all versions of Firestorm, the viewer supports other forms of “joystick”. One is the 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator (aka SpaceMouse) which is a “3D mouse” supporting both avatar motion and by clicking the left hand button the separate “FlyCam” camera control.

My recommendation is to install the SpaceNavigator just by plugging it into Windows and receiving default Windows drivers for the device. I do not install any special SpaceNavigator drivers as suggested on the Second Life Wiki, some of which are incompatible with Second Life viewers.

S O U R C E

Firestorm source is available at https://github.com/FirestormViewer/phoenix-firestorm. Look under “Commits” and select the branch for the specific Firestorm version required.

With Firestorm VR Mod Peter Kappler uses a simple coding approach which injects VR capabilities into the Firestorm Viewer to make the mod easier to maintain in future and for others to repeat or adapt. The source is available from his web page at https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/ [Local Copy].

Impressively, the source is written in a way that it requires only some editing in the llviewerdisplay.cpp and adding 2 files to the project. All changes are marked with #####P373R##### comments. Peter also included the openvr header and lib files you will need in the rar. For information about the rest of the files you will need, read how to compile Firestorm at https://wiki.firestormviewer.org/fs_compiling_firestorm.

Latest version of openvr_api.dll can be obtained (Win64 version for this test version) from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr/tree/master/bin/.

The GitHub Actions (GHA) source by @HumbleTim used to combine Firestorm source and Peter Kappler’s P373R VR Mod addons, make necessary adaptations and build it using Microsoft Visual Studio is available via https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha.

V R L A N D – T E S T   A R E A

VRLand on OSGrid is a metrics area for performance testing and to establish virtual field of view in your VR headset.

More detail at: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2016/07/20/vrland-a-community-and-test-region-for-virtual-reality-in-virtual-worlds/

You can also pick up a VR Headset attachment for your avatar in OpenSim on the OSGrid on both the RuthAndRoth and (if available) the VRLand regions. Or in Second Life pick up the VR HMD on the Second Life Marketplace. The 3D models of the Oculus Rift were provided for free use by William Burke (MannyLectro) and imported to OpenSim by Michael Cerquoni (Nebadon Izumi) and Second Life by Ai Austin.

F5 Settings for Specific VR HMDs

• Oculus Rift DK2
  • Meta Quest Link app version 69.0.0.501.353. SteamVR Version 2.7.4.
  • IPD = 65.0 (default)
  • Focus Distance = 10.0
  • Texture Shift = 0.0
  • Texture Zoom = 0.0
  • FOV = 100.0
• Oculus Rift CV1
  • Meta Quest Link app version 69.0.0.501.353. SteamVR Version 2.7.4
  • IPD = 65.0 (default)
  • Focus Distance = 10.0
  • Texture Shift = 50.00
  • Texture Zoom = 0.0 (others report 86-200 works)
  • FOV = 100.0
• Please provide other VR HMD settings

Missing .dll

If you see errors like “missing vcruntime.dll”, “missing msvcp.dll” or the application is not starting at all, then please download and install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio (link for 64-bit operating systems).

An “Oral History” section has been established as part of a website for the History of Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science and Cognitive Science at Edinburgh https://groups.inf.ed.ac.uk/aics_history [Oral History Section]

This a project by Prof Chris Williams, Dr Vassilis Galanos and Ms Xiao Yang of the School of Informatics at Edinburgh. As part of this Austin Tate was interviewed by Vassilis Galanos on 17-Apr-2024. [Audio (m4a)][Transcript (PDF)]

A short paper entitled “A Short History of the Early Years of Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh” by C.K.I. Williams et al was published in Proceedings of the Workshop on the History of AI in Europe (WHAI@EU) 20-Oct-2024, eds. Cortés, Ulises and Bugarín, Alberto and Barrué, Cristian, Publisher Zenodo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. https://whai2024.github.io/ [Proceedings (PDF) CC-BY 4.0]

Welcome to the macabre and realistic world of New Orleans by “A Halloween Experience” group in Second Life.
href=”http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Wandering%20New%20York/46/139/23

We are off to Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter. On board NASA’s Europa Clipper launched on its journey on 14-Oct-2024 to arrive near Jupiter in 2030.

Image credit: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

• https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper
• https://europa.nasa.gov/message-in-a-bottle/learn/

The “name on a spacecraft” this time is called “Message in a Bottle” and the names are etched on a plate on the spacecraft alongside a poem entitled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

https://europa.nasa.gov/message-in-a-bottle/learn/

Video credit: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Autumn has arrived in Second Life and the Fall colours are out on many regions. E.g. on Luanes World, Le Monde Perdu – Autumn 2024

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Le%20Monde%20Perdu/187/185/23

OAR Converter can take an OpenSimulator Archive (OAR) and from it create textures, meshes and terrain suitable to import into a Unity or Unreal Engine scene. It can use Collada (DAE), OBJ or glTF formats. This blog post covers use converting an OpenSim OAR to glTF for use via Unity. It describes OAR Converter 1.8.* an update in September 2024 to replace the earlier versions 1.7.0 from June 2024 and 1.0.6 from 2013-2017. See this earlier blog post for information on using the Collada format as the instructions are unchanged.

From Unity a range of virtual world or virtual reality experiences can be created. The converter has been created by Fumikazu Iseki (Avatar: @Fumi.Hax – @fumi_hax) and his colleagues at the Network Systems Laboratory of Tokyo University of Information Sciences (TUIS) in Japan with support from Austin Tate at the University of Edinburgh.

• OAR Converter from OpenSimulator Archive (OAR) to Collada, OBJ and glTF files for use in Unity3D.
• Software developed by Fumi Iseki, Austin Tate, Daichi Mizumaki and Kohe Suzuki.
• Download OAR Converter for Windows from https://blackjack.nsl.tuis.ac.jp/Download/Release/OARConverter/OARConvWin-1.8.3.zip
• [Local Copy]. Latest Version at the time of this blog post is v1.8.3 (at 122-Sep-2024).
• OAR Converter User Manual

This blog post is provided for convenience and using content from the original TUIS OAR Converter Japanese Web Site which should be considered definitive.

Unity Base Project with glTFast

Create an Unity project including the glTFast module as a basis for using OAR Converter with glTF. To install the Unity glTFast package, follow these steps:

1. In your Unity project, go to Windows > Package Manager.
2. On the status bar, select the Add (+) button.
3. From the Add menu, select Add + package by name. Name and Version fields appear.
4. In the Name field, enter com.unity.cloud.gltfast
5. Select Add.
6. The Editor installs the latest available version of the package and any dependent packages.

Note that items in your project can be exported to glTF by selecting the item(s) you wish to export and right click on that or choose from menu Assets > Export glTF > choose .glb or .gltf.

It is suggested that you use GLTF format rather than GLB as the imported size of the project may be larger with GLB as textures cannot (currently anyway) be shared between separate GLB meshes. Also GLB mesh import to the hierarchy of a Unity scene may stall/hang due to heavy use of textures. You can sometime get round this by not adding all the GLB meshes to the scene in one go.

OAR Converter with Windows UI – Quick Start

For straightforward conversions, simply follow these steps:

1. Use “Tools” -> “Output Format” and “Tools” -> “Settings” to check output for UNITY is selected and if necessary change the output format to GLTF or GLB.
2. Place your OpenSim OAR file in a suitable directory.
3. Run the OAR Converter and using “File” -> “Open OAR File” select the OAR file you wish to convert. This will create a directory called OAR_ with the unpacked contents of the OAR file ready for conversion.
4. Now select “File” -> “Convert Data” from the OAR Converter File menu. This will create a directory called GLTF_ (or GLB_) with the converted content in it.
5. The converted objects are placed in three directories: Solids contains objects which which have colliders; Phantoms (objects with no collider); and Terrains.
6. The Textures sub-directories within a for GLB_ conversion are not actually needed for use in Unity since GLB has the textures embedded but is provided for convenience. It may be deleted or not imported to Unity if you wish.

Import to Unity3D

You could follow the video instructions in this video by Fumikazu Iseki.

https://blackjack.nsl.tuis.ac.jp/video/close/03056f6c-062a-431d-853e-cad40ee90b14/OARConvWin-1.8.2_unity.mp4

The video gives an example of converting an OpenSim OAR, conversion to GLTF and importing the contents and merging that with a Unity project/scene including adding the required glTFast library and Editor scripts, and adding a sample water surface. Importing the included “UnityChan” character avatar is also shown.

Import to Unity – Quick Start

1. Ensure you add relevant parts of the contents of the “Unity” folder in the OAR Converter distribution into your Unity project, adding Editor/GLTFAutoCollider.cs and Editor/SetLocationByParameter.cs at least. Editor/SelectOARShader.cs is not used for GLTF/GLB imports.
2. In your Unity project add an empty game object at 0,0,0 and name it (e.g.) the same as your OpenSim region name. Under this add three empty game objects named Solids, Phantoms and Terrains
3. Drag the GLTF_ (or GLB_) folder in its entirety onto the Unity “Project” (Assets) panel.
4. Select all the objects in the Solids directory of this directory and drag them onto the “Solids” game object in the Unity “Hierarchy” panel.
5. Select all the objects in the Phantom directory and drag them onto the “Phantoms” game object in the Unity “Hierarchy” panel.
6. Select all the objects in the Terrains directory and drag them onto the “Terrains” game object in the Unity “Hierarchy” panel.
7. Look at the imported objects and if you see any that are not correctly textured (usually showing as magenta coloured items) perform an “Assets” -> “Reimport All” to fix that.
   
8. Optional: Add a water layer at 0,20,0. 20 is sea level in OpenSim. [Instructions in video].
9. Optional: Add a ThirdPartyController/Avatar to be able to run the scene and view the contents. [Instructions in <video].

Project Base for OAR Converter Projects

Once you have successfully tried a conversion and understand the elements, you may wish to create a base for any future OAR conversion… which can include all the steps except for the drag and drop in of the actual DAE converted content. Do this yourself to incorporate the very latest OAR Converter content, scripts and Unity assets. You can if you wish save this as a “unitypackage” to incorporate into future Unity projects.

For convenience my own base project is available at http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~ai/unity/oarconv/ (file: Unity-OAR-Converter-Base.unitypackage). This can be loaded into a “New Project” made in Unity 6000.0 onwards. I use the 3D Template with the “Built-in Render Pipeline”. It provides Mixamo Xbot and Ybot avatars along with UnityChan movement animations and avatars linked cameras.

After that you can make a copy of the base project you created, or create a new unity project and ensure that the glTFast package is included as described above. Then you can import the unitypackage as a base, and then drag the OAR Converter produced “GLTF_” (or “GLB_”) directory into the Unity Project Assets area, add the GLTF/Solids folder assets and those in the GLTF/Phantoms and GLTF/Terrain folders to the hierarchical view panel. Adjust the position of the chosen avatar and attached camera to suit the region, save the project, save the scene, and you should be good to go.

Notes on OAR Converter for glTF/glb in Unreal Engine by Fumi Iseki (To Be Tided Up)

for UE5
– UE 5.3/5.4 can also drag & drop as-is (.gltf, .glb files only)
— Check the “Combine Static Meshes” checkbox in the “Static Mesh” section when importing.
— If the “Are you sure you want to override asset Message” dialog box pops up frequently during import, hold down the ESC key (there may be another solution).
– Do not use the OARSelectMaterial plugin, as it does not work properly.
– When importing glTF/glb files with skeleton information, UE5 does not follow the glTF2.0 standard (*). In this case, OARConverter outputs a glTF/glb file that does not conform to the glTF2.0 standard in order to ensure that UE5 reads the data.
— (*) In glTF 2.0, matrix property is not required or should be ignored if skin property exists in node data, but in UE5, matrix property is required (depending on model structure) even if skin property exists.
— If you want to get the same general glTF/glb files with skeleton information, please output those for Unity.