Unifeye Design Graphical User interface : GUI and tools and how to use

The Unifeye Main Window upon startup

Upon startup the Unifeye GUI will be divided into the following 5 sections:

1. Menu
2. Toolbar
3. Toolbox
4. Media player / Image source selection
5. Renderer

Menu

File

• New: closes the current project, loads an empty scene and resets all tools.
• Open: opens an open file dialog for selecting an existing Unifeye scene file.
• Open Recent: displays a list of the 5 scene files used most recently. A recent project can be loaded by clicking on its entry in that list.
• Save: quietly saves the current scene if it has been saved before. If the current scene has not been saved yet, "Save as..." is performed.
• Save as ...: opens a save file dialog for selecting a path which the current scene is then saved to.
• Exit: saves the current user settings and closes Unifeye Design.

Edit

• Undo: reverts the last revertable command.

View

• Language: changes the language used in Unifeye Design to either German ("Deutsch") or English.
• Show COS indicator: if checked, the COS indicator is displayed in the upper left corner of the renderer. For more information please refer to COS indicator and COS labels.
• Show COS labels: if checked, the COS labels are displayed at the position of the coordinate systems connected to the detected tracking targets. For more information please refer to COS indicator and COS labels.
• Show framerate: if checked, the framerates for rendering (R) and for tracking (T) are displayed in the lower right corner of the renderer window.
• Use default light: if checked, a default light "shines" on the VRML models displayed in the renderer. For more information please refer to Default light.
• Deactivate background (seethrough): if checked, the image source is only used for tracking but is not included in the rendering. Only the VRML models are rendered. This is needed if an optical see through display is used. In that case you want to see the "real reality" instead of a "rendered reality".
• Freeze tracking: stops the tracking and uses the last tracking values received until tracking is unfrozen again. This way you can remove the tracking darget from view as soon as position and orientation of the connected VRML models have been set as desired.
• Freeze image: stops the image source input stream and displays the last image received. When freeze image is selected, freeze tracking is automatically called as well.
• Renderer: opens a sub menu in which you can choose whether to use DirectX or OpenGL rendering. Please note that changing the renderer mode requires restarting Unifeye Design afterwards. For more information about the rendering modes please refer to the article about the Unifeye Design Renderer.
• Screenshot antialiased: if checked, screenshots will be captured using antialiasing algorithms to reduce artefacts. Please have a look at the Antialiased Screenshot section for a comparison of screenshots with and without the antialiasing. Please note that screenshots captured with antialiasing turned on are only half as high and half as wide as screenshots captured without the antialiasing.
• Capture screenshot: a screenshot of the renderer window is taken and a save file dialog is displayed for choosing a file to save the screenshot to. If "Extras --> Screenshots --> Auto-save to:" is activated, no save file dialog will be displayed but the screenshot will automatically be saved to the folder selected in the "Extras --> Screenshots --> Select folder" menu using the timestamp as filename.
• Fullscreen mode: if checked, the renderer will be shown fullscreen without any other GUI elements surrounding it. If more that one screen is connected to your computer, the fullscreen renderer will be shown on the screen on which the larger part of the renderer has been displayed when activating the fullscreen mode. Please note that capturing screenshot while in fullscreen mode is only possible if two screens are used (one containing the renderer and the other one containing the Unifeye Main Window).
• Separate renderer window: if checked, the renderer will be undocked from the Unifeye Main Window and will be displayed in a window of its own that can be moved and scaled separately. For more information please refer to the Detachable Renderer section.
• Tool settings: displays a sub menu containing the following entries:
  • Show configurable toolbar: if checked, the configurable toolbar will be displayed underneath the toolbar.
  • Toolsets: opens the "Toolset Settings" dialog for creating and managing toolsets. For more information please refer to the Customized toolsets section.

Tools

• Imagesource: displays a sub menu containing the following entries:
  • Choose Image: displays an open file dialog to choose an image file (.jpg or .bmp) for use as image source.
  • Choose Video: displays an open file dialog to choose a video file (.avi or .mpg) for use as image source.
  • Choose Camera: displays a list of all available cameras in the Media player / Image source selection section. By double clicking on one of the entries in that list, you can choose a camera live stream for use as image source.
• Objects: displays a sub menu with the tools contained in the Objects category of the toolbox. A click on the sub menu entry for a tool will do one of the following: if the tool is not floating, the toolbox will be opened to the Objects category, the selected tool will be expanded and all other tools contained in that category will be collapsed. If the tool is floating, its panel will be turned visible.
  The following tools are contained in the Objects category:
  • Geometries/Planes
  • VRML Manipulation
• Measurement: displays a sub menu with the tools contained in the Measurement category of the toolbox. A click on the sub menu entry for a tool will do one of the following: if the tool is not floating, the toolbox will be opened to the Measurement category, the selected tool will be expanded and all other tools contained in that category will be collapsed. If the tool is floating, its panel will be turned visible.
  The following tools are contained in the Measurement category:
  • COS2COS Measurement
• Configuration: displays a sub menu with the tools contained in the Configuration category of the toolbox. A click on the sub menu entry for a tool will do one of the following: if the tool is not floating, the toolbox will be opened to the Configuration category, the selected tool will be expanded and all other tools contained in that category will be collapsed. If the tool is floating, its panel will be turned visible.
  The following tools are contained in the Configuration category:
  • Camera Calibration
  • Tracking Configuration
  • Marker Tracking Configuration
  • Renderer Configuration
• Extras: displays a sub menu with the tools contained in the Extras category of the toolbox. A click on the sub menu entry for a tool will do one of the following: if the tool is not floating, the toolbox will be opened to the Extras category, the selected tool will be expanded and all other tools contained in that category will be collapsed. If the tool is floating, its panel will be turned visible.
  The following tools are contained in the Extras category:
  • Action Recorder
• Sextant: opens the Sextant tool needed for performing a camera calibration.
• Marker-Generator: opens the UnifeyeDesignMarkerGenerator[Marker Generator]] used for creating PDF files containing tracking targets needed for marker tracking.
• Workflow Authoring GUI: opens the Workflow Authoring GUI.
• Planar markerless configuration: opens the Planar markerless configuration tool used for creating tracking configurations for planar markerless tracking.

Extras

• Screenshots
  • Auto-save to: if checked, there will be no save file dialog if a screenshot is captured but the screenshot will automatically be saved using the timestamp as filename (e.g. "20090714_173916489.jpg"). The folder to save the files to can be selected using the "Extras --> Screenshots --> Select folder" menu entry.
  • Please select folder: displays a folder selector dialog for choosing a folder in which to automatically save screenshots if "Extras --> Screenshots --> Auto-save to:" is checked. An abbreviated version of the path to the selected folder will be displayed in the menu once a folder has been selected for the first time. By clicking this menu entry, the folder can be changed again.

Help

• Unifeye Design 2.0 Help: opens a window containing helpful information about the Unifeye Design GUI and links to additional help files concerning the individual tools that are included into Unifeye Design.
• Online documentation: opens this Wiki containing the Unifeye Design documentation in your browser.
• metaio online: opens the metaio homepage in your browser.
• About ...: displays version information of Unifeye Design and the contact data of the metaio GmbH company.

Toolbar

The toolbar provides easy access to some frequently used features and settings of Unifeye Design:

1. New project: closes the current project, loads an empty scene and resets all tools.
2. Open project: opens an open file dialog for selecting an existing Unifeye scene file.
3. Save project: quietly saves the current scene if it has been saved before. If the current scene has not been saved yet, "Save project as..." is performed.
4. Save project as ... : opens a save file dialog for selecting a path which the current scene is then saved to.
5. Show COS indicator and COS labels: displays the COS indicator in the upper left corner of the renderer and the COS labels at the position of the coordinate systems connected to the detected tracking targets. For more information please refer to COS indicator and COS labels.
6. Show framerate: the framerates for rendering (R) and for tracking (T) are displayed in the lower right corner of the renderer window.
7. Use default light: turns on a default light "shining" on the VRML models displayed in the renderer. For more information please refer to Default light.
8. Deactivate background (seethrough): the image source is only used for tracking but is not included in the rendering. Only the VRML models are rendered. This is needed if an optical see through display is used. In that case you want to see the "real reality" instead of a "rendered reality".
9. Freeze tracking:stops the tracking and uses the last tracking values received until tracking is unfrozen again. This way you can remove the tracking darget from view as soon as position and orientation of the connected VRML models have been set as desired.
10. Freeze image:stops the image source input stream and displays the last image received. When freeze image is selected, freeze tracking is automatically called as well.
11. Start Workflow Authoring GUI:starts the Workflow Authoring GUI.

Toolbox

The toolbox is devided into four categories:

• "Objects" : contains the tools Geometries/Planes and VRML Manipulation.
• "Measurement" : contains the COS2COS Measurement tool.
• "Tracking, Configuration, Calibration" : contains the tools Camera Calibration, Tracking Configuration, Marker Tracking Configuration and Renderer Configuration.
• "Extras" : contains the Action Recorder tool.

Each of the tools is contained in a collapsible panel which can be opened and closed by clicking on its header. In the header of each tool category a button for closing (1) and opening (2) all tools contained in that category can be found .

Each tool header also contains a question mark symbol which can be clicked on for fast and easy access to the according help files. The help files can also be opened by pressing the F1-Key while the focus is set to any of the controls contained in the tool.

The width of the toolbox can be scaled according to your needs by clicking on the light gray left border of the toolbox and dragging the mouse with the left mouse button still pressed. While doing so the mouse cursor will change to a left-right arrow (1). The Toolbox can be collapsed entirely by clicking on the blue right arrow button (2).

The right arrow button will then change to a left arrow button. By clicking on that button, the width of the toolbox from before collapsing it can be restored.

If you prefer floating tools that can be moved around the screen freely to tools docked to this toolbox please read the article on the configuration of the GUI

Media player / Image source selection

Please refer to the Image Sources article.

Renderer

The renderer visualizes the currently loaded scene. As shown in the Unifeye Main Window article, the renderer is usually displayed in the center of the Unifeye Main Window. It takes up the largest part of the application and its size depends on the size of the application window. As described in the Detachable Renderer section, the renderer can also be undocked from the Main Window and be moved and scaled separately.

No matter whether the renderer is detached or docked, you can choose between "DirectX" and "OpenGL" rendering.

You can also make use of the zooming functionality: by clicking in the renderer window you can choose the point of interest. The zooming towards this point or away from this point is then performed using the scrolling wheel of your mouse. For more information about the rendering modes and some more technical information please refer to the article about the Unifeye Design Renderer.

The renderer is the place, where Augmented Reality becomes visible: an image source of the reality (still image, movie or camera live stream) can be loaded using the Media Player and then be superimposed with virtual elements (VRML models) which can be loaded and transformed using the Geometries/Planes tool. For the superimposing to work, you also need to create a Tracking Configuration using the Marker Tracking Configuration tool or the Planar markerless configuration tool. Loaded geometries can be edited to some extend using the VRML Manipulation tool. To learn about which models are suitable and how to prepare them for the use in Unifeye Design, have a look at the article on Content Preparation.

By clicking on a model displayed in the renderer it can can be selected for editing in the Geometries/Planes tool. If the "Dragable" box is checked for the selected geometry in the Geometries/Planes tool, the model can be moved around in the renderer window by using drag & drop.

Tools included in Unifeye Design

The following tools can either be docked to the toolbox or used as floatable tools started from the configurable toolbar:

• Geometries/Planes
• VRML Manipulation
• COS2COS Measurement
• Camera Calibration
• Tracking Configuration
• Marker Tracking Configuration
• Renderer Configuration
• Action Recorder

The following tools are each started in a separate window. They can be added to toolsets as well and then be started from the configurable toolbar:

• Sextant
• Marker Generator
• Workflow Authoring GUI
• Planar markerless configuration

Configuration of the GUI

Configurable toolbar and floatable tools

In addition to the toolbar described above, a configurable toolbar can be displayed.

Using this configurable toolbar, a personalized selection of predefined toolsets and customized toolsets can be displayed. When first displaying this configurable toolbar, it will be empty. Upon a click with the right mouse button a context-menu will be displayed containing a list of the available toolsets. To display a toolset just click on the entry in that context menu.

The tools contained in the selected toolset will be removed from the toolbox and for each one a button will be displayed in the configurable toolbar. In the context menu the entry of the toolset will now be checked. Another click on the entry will dock the tools back to the toolbox and remove the icons from the configurable toolbar again.

By clicking on a button in the configurable toolbar, the connected tool will be opened in a panel that can be moved around the screen freely. The tools can be kept in the size they had in the toolbox (1), be scaled in their width by clicking in the lower right corner and moving the mouse with the left button still pressed (2) and be collapsed to use less room on your screen (3). Floating tools can be hidden by clicking on the button in the configurable toolbar again, by clicking on the "x" in the upper right corner or by pressing Alt + F4 while the focus is set to the tool. The next time the tool is shown, it will appear at the same location, in the same size and with the same panel state (collapsed or expanded).

When using the configurable toolbar and floating tools, it is possible that the toolbox or any of its categories does not contain any tools anymore. You might want to collapse the toolbox by clicking on the blue right arrow button on its left side. That way you will have more space available on your screen for the floating tools.

The configurable toolbar can not only contain buttons for tools from the toolbox but also buttons connected to standalone tools such as the Planar markerless configuration. Please note that for those tools the second click on the button in the configurable toolbar will not hide the tool again but will open another instance of the connected tool.

Predefined toolsets

There are 4 predefined toolsets delivered with Unifeye Design containing the following tools:

• Geometry tools
  • Geometries/Planes
  • VRML Manipulation
• Configuration tools
  • Marker Tracking Configuration
  • Tracking Configuration
  • Camera Calibration
  • Renderer Configuration
  • Planar markerless configuration
• Workflow tools
  • Action Recorder
  • Workflow Authoring GUI
• Measurement tools
  • COS2COS Measurement

Customized toolsets

In addition to the predefined toolsets, you can create your own customized toolsets by performing the following steps:

1. Open the "Toolset Settings" dialog by clicking on the Toolsets menu entry.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the "Add" button at the bottom left of the "Available Toolsets" list. The "Toolset Properties" dialog will be opened.
   
   
3. Type in a name for your toolset and decide on whether the toolset is supposed to be visible. Your toolset will now appear in the "Available Toolsets" list. Make sure it is selected in that list.
4. Select all the tools that you want to be contained in your toolset in the "Available Tools" list and click on the "<< Add <<" button. The Tools will now appear in the "Contained Tools" list. If you want to remove tools from the toolset again, just select them and click on the " >> Remove >>" button.
5. Select the position of your toolset within the configurable toolbar by moving it up or down the list of "Available Toolsets" using the "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons at the bottom right of that list. (The toolset at the top of the list will be displayed the furthest to the left within the configurable toolbar.)
6. Select the positions of the tools contained in your toolset by moving them up or down the list of "Contained Tools" using the "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons below that list. (The tool at the top of the list will be displayed the furthest to the left within the toolset when displayed in the configurable toolbar.)

The following tools can be added to a personalized toolset:

• UnifeyeDesignActionRecorder[Action Recorder]] (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• Camera Calibration (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• COS2COS Measurement (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• Geometries/Planes (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• UnifeyeDesignMarkerGenerator[Marker Generator]] (standalone tool)
• Marker Tracking Configuration (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• Planar markerless configuration (standalone tool)
• Renderer Configuration (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• Sextant (standalone tool)
• Tracking Configuration (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• VRML Manipulation (will be removed from toolbox if contained in a visible toolset)
• Workflow Authoring GUI (standalone tool)

The name of a personalized toolset can be changed by double clicking on its entry in the "Available Toolsets" list in the "Toolset Settings" dialog. The "Toolset Properties" dialog will then be displayed and the name can be changed in the contained textbox. You can also change the visibility of the toolset but it's easier to do that using the context menu of the configurable toolbar.

Detachable Renderer

The renderer which usually consumes the largest portion of the Unifeye Main Window can be detached, put into a separate panel and moved around the screen freely. This can be done using the "Separate renderer window" menu entry or by using the shortcut keys "Ctrl + R".

Detaching the renderer is especially useful if using floating tools and a second screen is attached to your computer.You might want to detach the renderer, move it to one screen and set it to fullscreen mode while using the other screen for the Unifeye Main Window and the floating tools.

Please make sure that the second screen is activated before Unifeye is started because if you activate the second screen while Unifeye is already running, the renderer will not work once moved to the second screen.

For more information about the renderer (both detached or docked) please read the Renderer article.

Misc

COS indicator and COS labels

If turned on, the COS indicator is displayed in the upper left corner of the renderer window. It will be a broken coordinate system as long as none of the defined tracking targets can be detected.

If tracking targets are found, it will be a coordinate system symbol with a number displayed next to it. The number indicates how many of the coordinate systems defined in the tracking configuration are detected.

The COS labels are models of coordinate systems that are displayed at the position and in orientation of the detected coordinate systems represented by tracking targets. Next to the coordinate system models, the name of the detected COS will be displayed followed by the index of the COS within the tracking configuration. The index value is displayed in brackets.

Default light

Below are two examples how scenes look with (left picture) and without (right picture) the default light:

Antialiased Screenshot

In the picture below, the effect of the antialiased screenshot can be seen. The left picture has been captured without antialiasing and it contains more artefacts around structures and at the border of the displayed model than the right picture which has been captured with antialiasing turned on. Please note that screenshots captured with antialiasing turned on are only half as high and half as wide as screenshots captured without the antialiasing.

-- SupportMetaio - 2010-02-25