Step Inspector

In this VR Builder tutorial, you will learn how to use the Step Inspector, VR Builder's second main graphical user interface, to define steps for your VR application in Unity.

In detail, you will learn how to work with behaviors, transitions, and unlocked objects in the Step Inspector.

Setting up the Unity project for working with the VR Builder Step Inspector

Before you get started, please make sure you already understand the basics and how to work with the Process Editor. If you haven't done so already, check out the related tutorial on How to define the process for your VR application with the Process Editor. For this tutorial, we expect that you already know how to create and select a step with the Process Editor.

Setting the layout for the Step Inspector

The Step Inspector automatically appears directly after a step is selected. If you haven't done so already, create a step in the Process Editor and select it. The Step Inspector appears in a new window. If not, this window already exists and you might have added it to your layout. We recommend adding the Step Inspector window to a tall area, for instance together with the Unity Inspector.

Now that everything is set up, we can start defining a step!

Basic Elements of the Step Inspector

In the Step Inspector, you can set the name and description of a step as well as define what happens during each step. In addition, you can set the Conditions to be fulfilled to trigger a Transition. You can also manually unlock objects so that they become interactable during a given step.

Below the Step Name and Description, the Step Inspector has three main areas to represent each of these capabilities, labelled Behaviors, Transitions, and Unlocked Objects.

Before going into detail about each of these, please note that the Step Inspector supports undo and redo as well. You can either click on Edit->Undo / Edit->Redo or use the hot keys Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y to make use of them for each of the actions that will be explained in this chapter.

Step Name and Description

The Step Name and Description are used to make the process clearer. The Step Name will also be used to label the step in the Process Editor so it's good to keep it brief and descriptive. 

The Description field can be used for a longer version to help your colleagues or future self to understand what's happening in this step without going through all the details.

Behaviors

In this section, we focus on how to use the Step Inspector for defining Behaviors.

To learn more about how Behaviors work in general and how to use each of the provided Behaviors individually, refer to https://mindport-gmbh.github.io/VR-Builder-Documentation/articles/vr-builder-manual.html#behaviors. You will also find the link to this documentation when pressing the help icon next to the Add Behavior button:

We also have detailed tutorials on some of the most important Behaviors, for instance one about text-to-speech and one about behavior sequences. But there are many more!

Adding, deleting, and reordering behaviors

To add a Behavior, press the Add Behavior button. This will open a flyout from which you can select any of the available Behaviors. The core package already offers a lot of choices and is grouped into the categories Animation, Environment, Guidance, and Utility. If you installed add-ons as well, this collection can get even bigger.

Setting attributes and referencing objects

Once you have selected a behavior, attributes and object references for this behavior are displayed.

Fields can be filled by selecting the field and typing valid values. When you exit a field, your input is automatically parsed to a valid value. For instance, alphabetic characters are discarded if a number is required.

For referencing a Game Object, you can drag'n'drop a Game Object from the scene hierarchy to the “Drop a game object here” area on the behavior.

If the object has not been configured for VR Builder yet, a dialog will appear asking to automatically add the needed Process Scene Object component prior to assigning the object to the behavior.

Alternatively, you can reference a group of objects by clicking the “pen” button next to the drag’n’drop field.

The “bin” button will empty the reference, while the “info” button will show exactly which game objects are referenced, and let you highlight them in the hierarchy.

'Fix it' button

After you reference a game object, VR Builder automatically checks if it already contains all necessary components for the required type of interaction. If not, VR Builder offers you to add them automatically. You can do so by pressing Fix it. Note that by clearing the reference the added components will not automatically be removed. However, they will be removed if you undo pressing the Fix it button.

Transitions

You have already learned how to work with transitions in the Process Editor. In this section we will cover how you can work with them in the Step Inspector, as well. Some functionalities are redundant, in which case we will point this out. Some other functionality can only be used in either of them.

Adding, deleting, and reordering transitions

Pressing Add Transition will add a new transition on the bottom of the list as does the corresponding + icon in the Process Editor. You can delete transitions by clicking on the trash bin icon next to them. 

This will cause the same effect as deleting them from within the Process Editor. This also means that if you delete the last transition from the Step Inspector, one transition will remain but it will be emptied.

By pressing the arrow icons, you can reorder the transitions. Apart from the aesthetical aspect, transitions are evaluated top to bottom. This means that if several conditions are fulfilled at the same time, then the topmost valid transition will be the one that triggers.

Note that you can change the target step to transition to only from the Process Editor. The order of the transitions you can only change from the Step Inspector.

Conditions

Working with conditions works the same way as working with behaviors. Please check section Behaviors on how to use the Step Inspector for defining conditions. To learn more about how conditions work in general and how to use each of the provided conditions individually, refer to https://mindport-gmbh.github.io/VR-Builder-Documentation/articles/vr-builder-manual.html#conditions. 

We also have detailed tutorials on some of the most important conditions, for instance How to make the user in VR pick up an object and place it in a predefined position by using snap zones. More tutorials on conditions will follow soon!

Unlocked Objects

Select sub-tab Unlocked Objects.

First, you will see a list of automatically unlocked objects in this step. Objects are automatically unlocked if they are required for behaviors or conditions in this step. In the example above, this list is empty. Below, you can manually unlock objects to make them interactable in this step, as well.

Please check out the tutorial Restrictive Environment to learn why and how to use this.

Next steps

In this VR Builder tutorial you have learned how to use the Step Inspector. Now you are ready to create your own VR processes. Dive deeper into which behaviors and conditions are available for VR Builder. Therefore, check our tutorial on how to grab and place objects in VR!

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