INPUTS

Section: FreeVR Commands (1fv)
Updated: 12 June 2022
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NAME

inputs — a simple application useful as a virtual reality input aggregator and server.

SYNOPSIS

inputs [<FreeVR options>]

DESCRIPTION

The primary utility of the inputs program to act as an input aggregator and repeater, serving input events back out to other virtual reality applications. Any of the FreeVR output protocols can be served through the inputs application, as per the configuration settings. Presently, FreeVR offers two output protocols:

: * the UNC VRPN (VR Peripheral Network) protocol
* the Vrui VRDeviceDaemon (VruiDD) protocol
* the Monado (OpenXR runtime) remote control protocol
* the Argonne National Lab TrackD protocol

As a simple virtual reality application, inputs also has the secondary utility for testing whether FreeVR has been properly compiled as well as properly configured. However, the travel(1fv) application is perhaps more appropriate for that task, as it also has the ability for the user to move the virtual world via the user interface.

The inputs application has no user interface controls of its own as it is intended to pass through all input data to other systems. Of course, inputs does use the standard Escape key as the indicator to terminate the application.

The inputs application is itself a FreeVR application, and thus it renders a virtual world into all the windows of the configuration. Typically, when acting as an input server, inputs would be configured to display in a simulator-view rather than itself being rendered on the walls of a CAVE or screens of an HMD.

The rendered world of the inputs application contains representations of all the active inputs in the configuration. Input buttons are represented as small cubes when "off", and tall beams when "on". Valuator inputs are represented as narrow pyramids with the point extending from the floor plane (up or down) a distance relative to the valuator value. Position inputs (aka 6-sensors) are not directly represented as graphical objects since the FreeVR simulator view will already render these inputs with shapes representing a head or wand. However, the simulator rendering for inputs has been augmented to represent the origin of each input device and the position of each tracked object (receiver) with labeled axes.

All inputs (buttons, valuators, 6-sensors) are also represented in a text string that is positioned to coincide with what would normally be the front screen of a CAVE system. 6-sensor inputs are also colored and flagged based on their status:

: * active — green,
* in-active — grey,
* out-of-bounds — blue,
* input-error — red, and
* dummy input — yellow.

The on-screen help display lists all the active self-controls that are part of the current configuration (or at least as many as will fit in the alloted string).

OPTIONS

The inputs application itself does not have any of it's own command-line options. However it can take any FreeVR configuration options as command-line options to deviate from the default configuration. The most common option is to specify an alternate system specified within the existing FreeVR configuration schema. See the EXAMPLES section below for a basic example.

usesystem <system name>;: The usesystem option selects one of the specified FreeVR "systems" as defined within one of the .freevrrc configuration files.

EXAMPLES

Run inputs as specified by the current configuration:

: % inputs

Run inputs with a configuration that reads from an ART DTrack server and outputs the Vrui VRDeviceDaemon protocol:

: % inputs 'usesystem "dtrack2vrui";'

Other examples can be found in the FreeVR configuration documentation — freevrrc(5FV).

LOCATION

The source code for inputs is in the "valtest.c" and "drawing.c" files.

COPYRIGHT

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 21:57:57 GMT, March 04, 2024