How to Export Google Tour Creator Projects into VRTY

As you may know that by next month in June 2021, Google Tour Creator and many of the poly creator tools are shutting down. I’m sure that users who still want to use Virtual Reality (VR) and 360° imagery platforms are looking for alternatives out there. The VRTY platform provides all the functionality and more as compared to Google Tour Creator! Read some of our main features! You can export your Google Tour Creator projects and upload them into VRTY. You won’t have to lose any of the VR/360-degree projects that you had created!

What is VRTY?

VRTY is an easy-to-use cloud platform that allows you, the creator to build and share your own virtual reality and interactive 360° projects. The platform is beyond just a Google Tour Creator replacement. You can do so much more! Have a read on the list of our main features right here. In VRTY, you can upload images, videos, 360° images and videos, animated GIFs, audio for a high-level interaction. VRTY also has an additional feature that is useful for the classroom which is called the CoLab. Additionally, we provide a step-by-step guide with videos, resources, and inspiring projects to help you deliver the cutting-edge program in the market as quickly and easily as possible. 

How to Export your Google Tour Creators

1. Click on the ‘download your library’ in the red banner above your VR project in the Google Tour Creators. From there it will bring you to another page to start your exporting process.
   
   
2. First of all, you will be redirect to Google Takeout, which is where you can export and download your projects from any of the Google platforms. Click on Poly as Google Tour Creator is part of it.
   
3. For the next step, you can choose the frequency and the file type and size to export the project. To upload into the VRTY platform, we recommend you download a zip file type.
   
4. Your project will be exported into a zip file and ready for you to download. 
   
5. Lastly, you can see the list of zip files that is ready for you to download. Each file is only available to download for about one week, so make sure that you download them within the available period.
   

How to import your zip file into VRTY

1. Login to your VRTY account. If you don’t have one, just sign up for a trial! Click on the ‘projects’ button on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Then click on ‘create project’, just like how you would create a new project.
   
2. Click on the ‘import project’ button at the bottom left corner in the pop-up box.
   
3. You can upload your recent exported zip file from Google Tour Creators into the box. Alternatively, you can click on the box and browse the zip file in your local folders. Please upload one project at a time. Click on the import button when you are ready.
   
4. Then, a new project will load up in your project list. It will state that it is in pending status as it is being uploaded. Give it a few minutes and your project will be uploaded completely and ready to use again. You can add on, make changes and view the VR project as per normal like any of the VRTY projects. 
   
   

Creating Student Accounts Using the Student Menu Option

Both Admin and Teacher account users can create and manage Student accounts. Admin users can create Student accounts using the Admin Menu Option with a self-registration link process or a manual process.

The other way to create Student accounts is as follows:

1. Log into your account.
2. Select [Students] from the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. If you’d like to add Students into Teams, Classes or DIVISIONS, click on the [New Division] button. A pop-up box will appear so you can label the group and add any notes. Click the [Save] button once finished.
4. You can also add SUB-DIVISIONS under a DIVISION, by clicking on the [New Sub-Division] menu option on the right-hand side of the screen. For example: You can set-up a Year 9 Division with further Sub-Divisions of Year 9 English and Year 9 Italian.
5. To manually add Students, first select the Division or Sub-Division that you would like to add Student accounts to. It should be highlighted with a Blue background if done correctly.
6. Then click on the [Create New Student] icon (the person icon with a + symbol). A pop-up box will appear where you can type in your Student’s name and email address. You can also choose to ACTIVATE the account straightaway, by selecting it from the [Current Status] dropdown menu. Click [Save] once finished.
7. This will create a new Student account on the VRTY Platform and add their name to your Student List.
8. An email will be sent to the Student’s email with their login details and password. They can use these credentials to login to the VRTY Platform and start creating. We strongly recommend for the Students to change their password to their own unique password.
9. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 to add more Student accounts.

Locked-down Student Emails

In some instances, Students are not allowed to receive emails from external email addresses. In this instance, you can create the Student accounts manually, as above, and then preset a password for them so they can login to the VRTY Platform. The process is as follows:

1. Follow Steps 1 through to Step 7 as outlined above.
2. Since the Students cannot receive an email from the VRTY Platform, the automated email will not work.
3. Go to your Student List and select the Students that you would like to manually preset a password for. You can do this by clicking the box to the left of their name, or the box at the top of the list to select them all.
4. The MANAGE PASSWORDS FOR SELECTED ACCOUNTS button should now be highlighted in Red. Click on this button. A pop-up box will appear with options to type in a specific password. You’ll need to type in the password again to confirm. Once you have finished, click [Save].
5. This will now preset your password on the VRTY Platform for these selected Student accounts.
6. The Students can now login to the VRTY Platform using their email addresses and the preset password. We strongly recommend for the Students to change their password to their own unique password once they have logged in.

If you need any further assistance, please contact your VRTY account manager.

Creating Student Accounts Using the Admin Menu Option

When logged into the VRTY Platform as the Admin, there are 2 different ways to create a Student User account.

1. SELF-REGISTRATION

The self-registration account process can be used when creating many Student accounts at the same time. The process is handled by a weblink which is shared with your Students. From the link they can register and complete the User Account set-up process by themselves. Below is the process:

1. Log into your account.
   • Please note that your profile name (at the top right-hand corner) states that you are the ‘Admin’ for your school/organisation.
   • *If is not stated as the ‘Admin’, please contact your VRTY account manager asap.
2. Select [Admin] from the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Under the MANAGE USERS section, select [Student] from the drop down option. This will set the page options to managing Student accounts.
4. Under the ENABLE REGISTRATION LINK FOR STUDENTS, select the [Enable] button on the top right-hand side of the screen. This action will enable a registration link to appear in this section.
5. Copy the registration URL link and share it (eg: via email) with the Students you’d like to invite to set-up an account on the VRTY Platform.
6. Once received, the Students can click on the link. It will open up an internet browser page for the Students to fill in the VRTY new user form with their details and submit it to VRTY.
7. VRTY will then notify you, the Admin, via email that a new Student account has been created and needs approval and activation.
8. As the Admin, you have two options to complete and activate their registration process:
   • Click on the [Proceed] button in each of the notification emails.
     OR
   • Go back into the [Admin] section on the VRTY Platform, where you’ll see the names of the Students who have completed their registration forms. You can see their account Status as PENDING. Select the small [Tick] icon in [Action] bar to approve the request. The status of the applicant’s account will change from PENDING to ACTIVE.
9. VRTY will then send a confirmation email with a randomly generated login password to the newly created user account’s email. They can then activate the account via the activation link through the email and start their journey with VRTY platform. It is strongly recommended that the Student changes their password to their own unique password.

2. MANUAL ACCOUNT SET-UP

You can create and manage each account individually. Below is the process:

1. Log into your account.
   • Please note that your profile name (at the top right-hand corner) states that you are the ‘Admin’ for your school/organisation.
   • *If is not stated as the ‘Admin’, please contact your VRTY account manager asap.
2. Select [Admin] from the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Under the MANAGE USERS section, select [Student] from the drop down option. This will set the page options to managing Student accounts.
4. Under the MANAGE STUDENTS section, you will see the names and details of the Student accounts in your organisation. To manually add a Student account, select the [Add Student] button on the right-hand side of the screen.
5. A pop-up box will appear, where you can fill in your Student’s (name & email). Then click [Save] to create and save the account.
6. VRTY will send a confirmation email with a login password to the newly created user account’s email. The Student can activate the account via the activation link in the email and begin using the VRTY platform with their newly set-up account. It is strongly recommended that the Student changes their password to their own unique password.
7. If you have multiple Student accounts to set-up, please repeat Steps 4 and 5. To check on the process, all Student accounts for your organisation will appear in this section.

If you need any further assistance, please contact your VRTY account manager.

Now you have learnt how to create an account for teachers . It is simple to manage this account. Click here to read about it.

Creating Teacher Accounts

When logged into the VRTY Platform as the Admin, there are 2 different ways to create a Teacher User account.

1. SELF-REGISTRATION

The self-registration account process can be used when creating many Teacher accounts at the same time. The process is handled by a weblink which is shared with your Teachers/Builder. From the link, they can register and complete the User Account set-up process by themselves. Below is the process:

1. Log into your account.
   1. Please note that you have the ‘Admin’ option on the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
   2. *If is not shown, please contact your VRTY account manager asap.
2. Select [Admin] from the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. You will see a tab on top for ADMIN and TEACHER and STUDENT.
4. Select the TEACHER tab. This will set the page options for managing Teacher accounts.
5. Click on the pencil icon .
   1. Edit: Edit name of the organisation or class.
   2. Add division: Act as classes to help the admin to organise the list of users.
   3. Invite member: To generate a shareable registration link for your teachers. 
6. Select on [Invite Member] and a pop-up box will appear. 
7. Toggle to turn on the ‘Enable Sharable Registration Link’, then a unique link will be generated.
8. Copy the registration URL link and share it (eg: via email) with the teachers you’d like to invite to set up an account on the VRTY Platform.
9. Once received, the Teachers can click on the link. It will open up an internet browser page for the Teachers to fill in the VRTY new user form with their details and submit it to VRTY.
10. VRTY will then notify you, the Admin, via email that a new Teacher account has been created and needs approval and activation.
11. As the Admin, you have two options to complete and activate their registration process:
    1. Click on the [Proceed] button in each of the notification emails.
       OR
    2. Go back into the [Admin] section on the VRTY Platform, where you’ll see the names of the Teachers who have completed their registration forms. You can see their account Status as WAITING FOR ACTIVATION. Select the pencil icon to change the current status to ACTIVATED. The status of the applicant’s account will be updated.
12. VRTY will then send a confirmation email with a randomly generated login password to the newly created user account’s email. They can then activate the account via the activation link through the email and start their journey with VRTY platform. It is strongly recommended that the Teacher changes their password to their own unique password.

2. MANUAL ACCOUNT SET-UP

You can create and manage each account individually. Below is the process:

1. Log into your account.
   • Please note that you have the ‘Admin’ option on the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
   • *If is not shown, please contact your VRTY account manager asap.
2. Select [Admin] from the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen.
   1. You will see a tab on top for ADMIN and TEACHER and STUDENT.
   2. Select the TEACHER tab. This will set the page options for managing Teacher accounts.
3. Under the TEACHER section, you will see the names and details of the teacher accounts in your organisation. To manually add a Teacher account, select the [Add Teacher] button on the right-hand side of the screen.
4. A pop-up box will appear, where you can fill in your Teacher’s (name & email) and set the current status of the account. Click [Save] to create and save the account.
5. VRTY will send a confirmation email with a login password to the newly created user account’s email. The Teacher can activate the account via the activation link in the email and begin using the VRTY platform with their newly set-up account. It is strongly recommended that the Teacher changes their password to their own unique password.
6. If you have multiple Teacher accounts to set up, please repeat Steps 4 and 5. To check on the process, all Teacher accounts for your organisation will appear in this section.

If you need any further assistance, please contact your VRTY account manager.

Now you have learnt how to create an account for teachers . It is simple to manage this account. Click here to read about it.

Creating a VRTY Project

The VRTY platform has been designed to make it as easy as possible for anyone creates their own interactive and immersive projects, which can be viewed in virtual reality and in 360-mode when published.

When you click on the Create Project section of the menu, you’ll be guided through a 4-step process taking you from starting to publishing. These 4 steps cover:

1. Creating your project;
2. Planning your story;
3. Adding interactive interactions; and
4. Publishing your project for others to experience.

Learn how to create a VR project in just a few steps.

Stories

The ‘Stories’ section is where we showcase projects from our VRTY Community. You’ll see a variety of different projects from different creators, which you can click on and experience. The intent is to give you some ideas, examples and inspiration to help you when creating your next VRTY project.

Keep an eye out for more projects in this section, as we add more projects from our VRTY Community. If you would like to contribute your project to the Stories section, please contact us at [email protected]

How to view a project in 360°/VR

You must be excited to watch and experience a VR project either from your own project or from the VRTY Case Study page. However, before you begin, here’s a quick summary of how to view a project easily so that you can achieve the best experience.

When viewing a VRTY project, you’ll need three things:

1. A viewing device with a Google Chrome or Apple Safari browser;
2. Strong internet or WIFI connection;
3. The unique project URL.

The great thing about a VRTY project is that you can view it on just about any device. Which device you choose, will also determine how you can view or experience a project. Please see the table below:

*Note: Unfortunately, you cannot view a VRTY project in an all-in-one VR headset, just yet.

Tips for viewing on a device:

• Make sure your screen brightness is up high (adjust to your comfort level);
• Adjust your volume levels to a comfortable level (plug-in headphones if required);
• Make sure you have sufficient battery power or are plugged in;
• Make sure your screen is clean (wipe and clean any dirty marks);
• Make sure you have a good internet or WIFI connection;
• Turn off notifications on your tablet so as not to be interrupted.
• Turn off notifications, calls and auto-screen lock on your smartphone so as not to be interrupted.

Using your unique project URL:

Once you have chosen your viewing mode and device, add the URL into a Google Chrome or Apple Safari internet browser on your device (cut and paste in or use the QR code).

Your project will load up and give you the option to view in 360º mode or VR mode (only smartphones).

View VR project on a mobile device

If you have placed a PASSWORD PROTECTED action on your project, then the following screen will appear and your viewer will need to enter in the correct password to access your project.

Once a viewer has successfully loaded a project, the project title will appear, then the first scene will load. Viewers can explore the project as they choose.

If you are viewing on mobile or tablet and want to access the Gyroscope mode, then click on the icon in the middle bottom of the screen.

• Note for Apple users, a request will pop up to allow access to Motion and Orientation – Click Allow.

Note for Apple users, a request will pop up to allow access to Motion and Orientation – Click Allow.

If you want to view in VR mode and on a smartphone device, then click on the bottom icon on the right that looks like a headset. You will be instructed to insert your mobile into a VR headset. Your screen will change and split into two images (a left and a right image).

You are now in VR mode.

Screenshot of VR mode

Free Icons for Content Markers

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Free Online Marker Icon Design Tools

Flat Icon

Canva free icons

Icon Finder

If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

Thanks,

VRTY Team

GIF Making Software

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Gif Maker/

Make A GIF

Digital trends list

Hubspot animated images tools

EZ Gif

If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

Thanks,

VRTY Team

Audio Recording & Editing Software

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If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

Thanks,

VRTY Team

Image Compression Software

We recommend you to capture 360º content in a higher quality for a better 360º/VR experience. However, due to its large file size and depending on your internet speed, the upload duration onto the VRTY platform may vary and take a longer time. To shorten the uploading time, we recommend you to compress your images with third-party software.

1. PIXLR
After editing your image on PIXLR Express or PIXLR Editor. The software automatically compresses your image when you click ‘save’.
If you did not use PIXLR Editor to edit your images. You can still upload them onto PIXLR and just save it.

2. Photoshop

1. Click ‘Files’.
2. Click ‘Save As’.
3. Click ‘Save for Web’.
4. Click ‘Save’. Photoshop

3. Compress JPEG is an online web-based application. The website application is very simple and straightforward to use.

To start:

1. Open Compress JPEG.
2. Drag and drop your image(s) that you want to compress them.
3. The application will automatically compress the uploaded images for you.
4. Now you can download them all onto your desktop.

What is VRTY?

 
What is VRTY?

VRTY (pronounced ‘ver-tee’) is a virtual reality & 360º software platform. VRTY is web-based meaning it lives online in the cloud. You don’t need to download or install any additional software to use VRTY.

What can VRTY do?

The VRTY platform can help anyone create, build, share and experience their own Virtual Reality or interactive 360º experiences.

Why VRTY?

• We are a content creation platform, not just a platform for content viewing;
• We stream VR content via the internet;
• Our projects can be viewed in 360° and VR mode, with either image or video content;
• We are scalable, affordable and measurable;
• We partnered with content creators;
• No need to download any app and no need to buy any expensive equipment;
• We provide a Learning Library which is a central repository of projects created by many different people and organisations. This creates a global community dedicated to the improvement of VR content;
• We can bring STEAM and Ed-Tech learning to life through engaging, immersive, and active experiences;
• We can support differentiated, multi-sensory, multi-modal and interactive experiences;
• We engage in professional learning in a way that combines ICT with other learning areas;
• We help to create content that can be used across Australia and shared with the rest of the world.

VRTY CoLab Feature Allowing Group Viewing

One of the many requests from our creators is for viewers to be in the same VR/360º project experiencing it at the same time. After the team worked on it over the past few months, we’re glad to launch this very feature.

Called the VRTY CoLab, creators of projects can now lead a group of viewers through their experience altogether.

Setting up the VRTY CoLab feature

1. At the Publish Stage of your project, you will see the CoLab Channel below the project link.
2. Make sure that you publish your project to be public; we will add the password feature in future.
3. To activate the CoLab feature, click on the create new channel.
   
4. You will get two links, one is for the leader and the other is for the viewers.
   
5. As the leader of the viewing session, you’ll need to use the specific Collaborate project URL. For your invited group viewer, they will need to use the Viewing Only project URL.
6. To delete this session, hover over the right space and click on the ‘x’.

Guide Marker

Spot the ‘+’ tools menu at the bottom right-hand corner of the VR project. This menu contains the tools to place guide markers and annotate your scene. The guide marker is for the leader to instruct your viewers to look in the same direction whilst everyone is in a scene. In addition, it also helps the leader to guide the viewers to a specific point of interest within the scene.

To Place A Guide Marker

1. Click on the ‘Add guide marker’ from the tools menu.
2. Click on the scene where you would like the Guide Marker to be placed.

Deleting The Guide Marker

1. Click on the ‘Add guide marker’ from the tools menu.
2. Then click on the ‘Bin’ icon to delete the Guide Marker.

Annotating Within The Scene

Locate the ‘+’ tools menu at the bottom right-hand corner of your project. This menu contains the tools to place guide markers and to annotate your scene. The draw feature allows the leader to communicate with viewers by drawing on the screen whilst inside a scene.

Adding Annotation

1. Click on ‘Draw’ from the tools menu.
2. Press on the left-click of the mouse, hold and drag across the scene where you would like to highlight information or draw.

To Delete Drawings

1. Click on the drawing that you want to delete.
2. Click on the ‘eraser’ icon that appears next to the ‘Add guide marker’ icon to delete that specific drawing.
3. An alternative is to click on the ‘bin’ icon next to the ‘Add guide marker’ icon and confirm it to clear all the drawings.

Verbal Communications For Viewers In Different Locations

At this stage, we do not have a voice-over-internet capability within VRTY. If you would like to speak with your audience whilst inside your project, we would suggest using Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or similar platforms.

How to Film with a 360º Camera

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If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

Thanks,

VRTY Team

Creating or Updating a Project

Creating a New Project

We recently introduced VRTY1.5 as a new update. The biggest change in the creation process is that we simplified the process to 3 steps.
To create a project, go into your projects and you can create a new project from there. The next step is to fill in your project details which will appear as a pop-up box. Fill in your project details is just as easy as before.

When creating a new project, fill in the project’s details.

• 1. Project Name*
  2. Add a Description
  3. Project Logo (jpeg, png, etc.)

You can return to this page to update or change these details at any time.

At the bottom left of the project page, a Show intro scene button is available. Show intro scene means that a title screen will display the project’s information at the beginning of the VR/interactive 360° experience. You can choose to disable the intro scene, simply turn off the ‘show intro scene’ button and your project will begin with the entry scene that you’d set in the storyboard.

Click Create/Update on the bottom right-hand corner to save your changes.

NOTE:

• Categories with * are required to be fill in.

Next step : Storyboarding

Storyboarding and Creating Scenes

Introducing A Scene

Before we begin the exciting journey of creating a VR/Interactive 360º project, here is some information about how we see storyboarding and creating scenes.

Storyboard: This empty space is in your control to create and map out the flow of your storyboard for your VR/Interactive 360º story (i.e.: see the image above).

Scene: A scene represent a 360º image or video. Think of them as rooms in a house that you can visit and walk through. In the storyboard, it refers to a box that only holds one 360º image or video. For example: if you want your VR/Interactive 360º project to have three scenes, your storyboard will have three boxes.

Create A StoryBoard

The power is in your hand! You can create fun and engaging VR/interactive 360º stories on the VRTY platform.

Creating a storyboard is simple. Here are the steps:

1. Double click on the screen / click on [create a new scene] icon that is on the top left menu bar.
2. Click and drag your scene around to organise the flow of the storyboard.
3. Connect your scenes to create different journeys and to manage your story flow. The connecting arrows link the current scene to the target scene. (Watch the video below on how to link scenes together).
4. Once the connecting arrows are created, it will automatically create a portal marker in the selected scenes. This means viewers will be able to teleport between these two scenes.
5. Double click on the scene nodes / click on the icon to edit scene details:
   • Name: Name of scene (shown in analytics).
   • Scene Media: Upload a 360º photo/video (also known as an equirectangular image/video) from your local folder or choose from the media library
   • Notes: Information about the scene (This is the creators’ notes, no one will be able to see it except for the creator).
6. There are a few options under [Scene Completed] (what would like your 360º photo/video to do after it finishes playing) to choose:
   • Do Nothing: The scene video will stop after playing.
   • Replay Scene: The scene will play in a loop.
   • Teleport to Scene: After the scene ends, it automatically teleports the viewer to the next selected scene.

Next: Interactive Markers

Understanding Interactive Markers

One core feature in the VRTY platform is the interactive markers. These markers will make your VR/interactive 360° project more engaging and fun experience simultaneously providing educational information. Markers are like buttons where you can click/trigger it in the scene to unveil educational information, audio, images or video.  In the ‘Manage Interaction’ page, you can create all kinds of markers and position them anywhere in the scene.

You can preview your VR/interactive 360° project while creating/editing it to experience the projects’ outcome.

Marker Types:

Content Marker

With our latest update on the VRTY platform, introducing a new marker, the Content Marker. The Content Marker is the merge of the info marker and the sound marker. You can create and combine all types of content at once.

 

Info Marker

Info marker can display information in text, GIF, image or vide, also it can display a combination of text and any media.

• When user click/ trigger it, a pop-up box will appear and display the uploaded content.

Learn how to create an information marker step by step.

Sound marker

Sound marker plays audio clip (supports commonly used audio files (i.e.: mp3)), VRTY generated text-to-speech audio clip or do you own recording.

There are 2 modes:

• Play Automatically when the Marker Appears: Audio plays when user clicks/triggers the sound marker.
• Play Automatically: Audio plays automatically when enter into a scene. (Acts as background music).

Learn how to create the sound marker.

Portal marker

Portal marker connects two scenes together to transports the viewer from one scene to another.

• To create a portal marker, you need to choose the next scene.
• When viewers click/trigger it, it teleports the user to the selected scene.

Toggle Marker Menu and Timeline Mode

You can toggle to view your list of markers with a simple mode or a timeline mode.

• Simple Mode: Creator can view markers in a list with simple editing shortcuts on the left-hand side of the page.
• Timeline Mode: Creator has more advanced features to use, such as creating moving markers utilising the timeline.

Learn to place markers onto your VR/360° project.

 
NOTE:
Click on the [] to preview the changes you made. You must click on ‘publish’ to update the changes of your project.
 

Learn some Markers’ Features to create an interactive VR/360° project!

Enhancing Interactive Markers

If you would like to make markers move and make them interactive, here are a few ways to enhance your markers while creating your VR/interactive 360° project.

Changing Your Marker Appearance

• You can adjust the size, opacity and rotate the marker to make it look like it is part of the scene.

Learn how to edit markers, read here.

Show/Hide Your Marker at a Specific Time

• You can set a marker to appear and disappear at a specific time. This feature encourages viewers to explore throughout the VR / 360° project.
• Decide the duration of each marker to appear and disappear by using the scene timeline.

Creating a Moving Marker

• You can easily make a marker move across the scene. Moving markers encourage viewers to turn around and explore, making the experience more engaging.
• Record the movement of a marker while dragging it from one position to another using the scene timeline.
• The marker will automatically move when the scene is playing.

Creating a Child Marker

• A child marker is a marker that only appears after the parent marker has been triggered. This feature is a useful way to ensure your viewers explore all of the markers.

Let’s Publish and Share your VR/interactive 360° project!

Placing Markers

There are two ways to place markers into a scene in the VRTY platform.

Click on the Screen

1. Create a content marker. Then put in the related information for those markers. And click  to create your marker.
2. Your marker will automatically appear in the marker menu on the left side of the page. Your newly created marker on the top of the list.
3. Click on the scene. The newly created marker will appear on the scene.
4. Then, click and drag the scene around to position the marker and adjust the size, opacity and axis of the marker.
5. Click  or to save.
6. Click the  icon to preview your VR/interactive 360° work.

Anchor the Marker

Markers that have not been placed on the scene will have the anchor icon in the marker’s timeline.

1. Create a content marker. Then put in the related information for those markers. And click  to create your marker.
2. Your marker will automatically appear on the marker menu on the left side of the page. Your newly created marker on the top of the list.
3. Click the “Place Marker”  icon.
4. Then, click on the scene to position the marker, drag and drop into position and adjust the size, opacity and axis of the marker.
5. Click  or to save.
6. Click the  icon to preview your VR/interactive 360° work.

Learn about markers and how to edit your marker content.

Editing Markers

After creating a marker, you can edit and change your marker content anytime you want.

Editing Marker Content

1. At the marker menu on the left side of the page, click on the [Edit Marker Info] icon.
2. A pop up box of the marker content will appear and you can make any changes.
3. Remember to click  or to apply the changes you have just made.

Editing Marker Position

1. Click on the [Edit Marker Position] icon of the marker you want to make changes to. You can also double click on the marker in the scene to edit its position.
2. The position editor will pop up and you can reposition the marker as you wish.
3. Remember to click  or to apply the changes you have just made.

Tips & Trick

1. Double click on the your chosen marker in the scene to edit your markers’ position.
2. Click on the marker icon on the marker menu helps you locate your marker in the scene.

Learn about interactive markers and placing markers.

Upload Images or Video into a Scene

VRTY allows creators to add images, videos and GIFs into your VR/interactive 360° projects with the content marker. Before we begin on the steps to add these media types into your VR/interactive 360° scene, make sure you have your media file prepared in a location that is easily accessible for you (e.g. USB, hard drive etc.).

Uploading an Image or Video into Content Marker

1. Create or open an existing project, and open the chosen scene. Move the scene (click and drag) to the position where you would like to add the info marker.
2. In the create tool bar, click the “Content marker”  icon.
3. Give the marker a name which clearly represents the content of the marker.
4. Choose a marker icon. Click on the media icon  and choose an icon image you like or upload them by dragging and dropping.
5. Follow the instructions to upload your image, video or GIF.
   NOTE: If the image, video/GIF has been previously uploaded to the Media Library, click the  icon to locate the media content.
6. You can type or copy and paste in any text you want. The text will appear below the uploaded media content.
7. Alternatively, you can embed third party site videos using the <> source code feature in the text box.
8. Click .
9. Click in the 360° scene to place the content marker.
10. If you did not place the marker beforehand, search for the marker in the timeline and click the “Place Marker”  icon. Then, click on the 360° scene to place the marker.
11. Next, you can adjust the size, opacity and rotate the axis of the marker.
12. Click  or to save.
13. Click the  icon to preview your VR/360° work.

Learn about markers and how to edit or place your markers onto scenes.

Adding Audio into a Scene

VRTY allows adding audio into VR/interactive 360º projects. Before we begin, make sure you have an audio file prepared in a location that is easily accessible for you (e.g. USB, hard drive, desktop) OR have a script ready to use for the Text-to-Speech feature in VRTY.

Uploading or Generating Audio into a Content Marker

1. Create or open an existing project, and go to your chosen scene. Move the scene (click and drag) to the position where you would like to add the sound marker.
2. In the create tool bar, click on the Content Marker icon.
3. Give the marker a name which clearly represents the content of the marker.
4. Choose a marker icon. Click on the media icon and choose an icon image or you can upload your own icon by dragging and dropping the file into the box.
5. There are three methods to put audio into the Content Marker which are the Upload an Audio File, Text-to-Speech and Recording Voice.

Audio File

If you have pre-recorded audio file (music, voice recording, etc.)

• Select ‘Upload Audio’ tab.
• Drag and drop the audio file into the box from your computer to upload it into a sound marker.
  OR
• Click on the ‘Choose File’ icon to upload your audio file from your desktop.
  OR
• Click on the icon in the top right side of the box to upload your audio file from the VRTY media library.
• Then click  or to create/update your sound marker.

Text-to-Speech

This feature generates a human-like voiceover which reads aloud the words you type into the dialogue box.

• Click on ‘Text-to-Speech’ tab to choose this function.
• Select a language and a voice style from the dropdown menu (e.g. male or female with Australian, British or American accent).
• Type in the text for your voiceover into the text box provided. Make note of your character limit.
• Click ‘Generate Audio’.
• Then click the play button to listen the preview of the voiceover.
• You can make any adjustment if required. Remember to click ‘Generate Audio’ after making any changes.
• Once you are happy with the voiceover audio, click to create/update your sound marker.

Recording Voice

The VRTY platform just released a new feature where the creator can record their own voices using our own voice recorder. This will come in handy for those who wants to learn languages, they can practice it by recording it straight on the platform.

• Select ‘Audio/Sound’ tab in the content marker.
• Select ‘Record Voice’ tab.
• Click on the ‘start’ button and you can start recording.
• ‘Pause’ is to stop the recording momentarily.
• ‘Stop’ is to end the recording.
• Then your audio file will generate automatically.
• If you were like to rerecord the audio, you just have to press the ‘start’ button and repeat the steps.

Selecting a Sound Type

The next box option is selecting a Sound Type.

•  Click on the dropdown box to select ‘Interactive Sound’ or ‘Background Sound’.
• Interactive Sound means your audio will only play once the viewer triggers the Sound Marker in a scene.
• Background Sound means your audio will automatically play when a viewer teleports into that particular scene. Eg: used as a voiceover for a scene.

Learn about markers and how to edit or place your markers onto scenes.

Previewing Your Project Whilst Creating

While creating a 360°/VR project, we recommend you to preview your project regularly. This step is important to know how your 360°/VR project and interactions will play for viewers.

Steps to preview your current scene:

1. In the manage interactions section, click on the  icon in the toolbar to preview the current scene.
2. The timeline will conceal itself and the current scene will play.
3. To close the preview and return back to the manage interactions editing page, click on the icon at the bottom of the screen.

Steps to preview your whole VR project:

1. In the manage interactions section, click on the  icon in the toolbar to preview the whole project.
2. A new tab will open in your browser and your VR project will begin.
3. This preview is to show you what viewers will experience the VR project from the beginning to the end.

Publishing and Sharing

Publishing your world

It is simple to publish and share your amazing projects through the VRTY platform. Go into your project on the VRTY Platform and click on the PUBLISH stage of your project.

There are two publishing options:

1. Draft: (Default option) The project is in a draft. Only the creator can view and edit it.
2. PASSWORD PROTECTED: You can set your own unique password for the viewer to type in before they can view your project.
3. PUBLIC: Anyone who has your unique project URL can view it.

Publish VR Project PUBLIC

If you choose PUBLIC, then:

• Select the PUBLIC box;
• Agree to the VRTY Terms and Conditions to publish the project, by clicking the button;
• Then click the PUBLISH PROJECT box;
• Your project is now live and can be viewed.

Publish VR Project PASSWORD PROTECTED

If you choose PASSWORD PROTECTED, then:

• Select the PASSWORD PROTECTED box;
• A new text box will appear asking you to create and type in your project password;
• Agree to the VRTY Terms and Conditions to publish the project, by clicking the button;
• Then click the PUBLISH PROJECT box;
• Your project is now live and can be viewed using the password you have created.

Don’t forget to share your password with your viewers. If you forget the password and need to create a new one, just repeat the steps above and republish your project with a new password.

(Please note: for security purposes, we do not store your passwords).
 

Note

Making Project Changes:

• Once a project is published, you can still make changes or updates to your project at any time;
• Go back into the project and make your changes;
• Then following the publishing steps again and republish your project so your changes can go live.

Sharing your world

Once you have published your project, a unique project URL is created. This URL can be entered into an internet browser, like Google Chrome or Apple Safari. Then your project will be streamed from the internet for your audience to view.

There are three ways to share your unique project URL:

1. Copy the URL by clicking on the COPY URL button. Then share this with your viewers. You could do this through email, SMS, or writing it down;
2. You can also create a QR code, by clicking on the SHOW QRCODE button. This QR CODE, if scanned by a device will automatically take your viewer to your project.
3. Lastly, if you like to embed the project into a webpage, you can easily get the embed code on the GENERATE EMBED CODE button. A pop-up box will appear and you have the option to choose the size of the project. All you have to do is to copy the code and paste it in your webpage.

HINT: You can click and drag the QR code to your desktop to be downloaded as an image, so you can email or SMS it to your audience. You can also print it off so a viewer can scan it themselves with their device.

Want to know how well your VR/interactive 360º is doing with Analytics (For teachers and admin users)

Analysing Your Project Results

Through the recent VRTY 1.5 update, we made the creation step simpler than before, so accessing the project analytics is a bit different than previous the update. The VRTY platform keeps track of analytical data points on each project. This data is compiled and summarised into high-level, dashboard-type data reports to help the creator better understand and track their viewers’ behaviours.

To access the analytics of a specific project:

• Go to Projects.
• Click on the analytic icon .



• The analytic page will appear as per normal.

There are 2 types of analytics modes:

Basic Analytics

Basic analytics gives a performance overview of a user’s project.

Overview data contains:

• Total Users (only available for Group Users): Shows the number of group users viewed the project in a selected time period.
• Total Sessions: Shows the total number of unique sessions.
• Page Views: The number of views of a project.

There are multiple report charts and tables provided to users:

*Time period is based on the day.

• Session Report: A list of sessions against selected time period.
• Scene Report: A bar chart and table – views of each scenes and total view duration against selected time period.
• Scene Markers Report: A report from each scene’s markers.
• Marker Views: A pie chart and table – show views of each marker in each scene.
• Marker Info Duration: If marker triggers a pop-up, it will show number of views of pop-up and total view duration of the popup.

Understanding the Media Library

The Media Library on the VRTY platform is for you, the creator, to store all your media assets – which may include images, videos, icons, audios and GIFs.

1. Shared Library – The Shared Library is accessible to all users from the same organisation. Users can access files that are uploaded by others from the same organisation and use them for their own VR/interactive 360° projects. Note: Admin Accounts and Teacher Accounts are the only ones with permissions to edit, create, move and delete content and files in the Shared Library.
2. My Library – The media assets you upload are stored into this library. Only you can see the files and you can manage, edit, delete them. (Some organisation Admin users, may have access to My Library media files. Please check with you Admin account user).
3. VRTY Library – The VRTY Library is open to all VRTY users. Created by the VRYY team, content contributors or by partner museums, the media assets include scenes, marker icons, animated files and general content.

All media assets are filtered by four categories:

• Logos
• Scenes
• Markers
• Miscellaneous (Media assets as markers’ pop up content)

Uploading Your Media Assets

There are two ways to upload your media assets.

Uploading Media Assets into the Media Library

1. Access the Media Library on the left hand menu bar.
2. By default, you will be in ‘My Library’.
3. To upload media assets, browse through your local files or drag and drop chosen media asset into the box on the left. You also can upload multiple files of the same media type simultaneously.
4. You have to choose a media type for your uploaded media asset(s):
   • • Logos
     • Scenes
     • Markers
     • Misc
5. Your media assets will upload into the chosen library.

Uploading Media Assets while creating a project

1. You can upload your media asset(s) while creating a project.
2. You also can upload them through browsing your local files or drag and drop your chosen media asset into the media box.
3. Your uploaded media assets are categorised by the media type you uploaded for each section, which includes:
   • • Logos
     • Scenes
     • Markers
     • Misc
4. Your media assets will automatically save into your ‘My Library’ in the Media Library.

 

Creating a Folder in the Media Library

You can only create, edit and delete folders in your ‘My Library’.


1. To create a folder, click on the ‘+’ icon on the top left in the media library navigation bar. In the dropdown menu, click [Add Folder].
2. A pop up box will appear, fill in the folder’s name. Then click [create] to create the folder.
3. You can edit the name of the folder and delete them.
4. You also have the option to create a folder within a folder to keep your media library organise.

Note:
*Admin Accounts and Teacher Accounts are the only ones with permissions to edit, create, move and delete content and files within the Shared Library.
**VRTY Library folders can only be edited by the VRTY team.

Moving Your Media Assets

You can move one or multiple media asset into folders.


1. Click on the media asset(s) to choose the file you want to move.
2. After choosing, click on the ‘move media’ icon on the top right corner.
3. A pop up will appear to show the destination folder for you to choose with your chosen media.
4. After choosing the destination folder, click ‘paste’.
5. Click ‘yes’ to confirm the moving process.
6. Your media assets will successfully move into the chosen destination folder.

Set Starting Direction

When creating your VR/interactive 360º projects, consistency is important. The VRTY platform has a feature to set the starting direction for your viewers. It’s really simple to use.

Set Starting Direction

1. Create or open an existing project, and go to your chosen scene.
2. In the create tool bar, click on the Set Starting Direction icon.
3. Drag the 360º scene to where you want the viewer to see first when they enter the scene.
4. Once you are happy with the direction, click save.
5. You can click on the preview current scene or the preview project button to see the changes.

 

Learn about markers and how to edit or place your markers onto scenes.

Embed Videos into Content Marker

Embed Third Party Sites Video into Content Marker

1. Create or open an existing project, and open the chosen scene. Move the scene (click and drag) to the position where you would like to add the info marker.
2. In the create tool bar, click the “Content marker”  icon.
3. Give the marker a name which clearly represents the content of the marker.
4. Choose a marker icon. Click on the media icon  and choose an icon image you like or upload them by dragging and dropping.
5. Currently, VRTY only support two types of video streaming third party sites which are YouTube and Vimeo.
6. To embed a video from any of those two third party sites, copy the video’s URL link.
7. In the content marker, under the ‘image/video’ tab, click on ‘Embed Video’ button.
8. Choose the type of third party in the dropdown menu.
9. Paste the URL link in the text box next to it. You can see the video load below it.
10. If you want to add in extra information, you can type in or copy and paste any text you want. The text will appear together with the embeded media content in the pop-up box.
11. To delete the embed video, you can click on the next to the URL link text box.
12. Click .
13. Click in the 360° scene to place the content marker.
14. If you did not place the marker beforehand, search for the marker in the timeline and click the “Place Marker”  icon. Then, click on the 360° scene to place the marker.
15. Next, you can adjust the size, opacity and rotate the axis of the marker.
16. Click  or to save.
17. Click the  icon to preview your VR/360° work.

 

Learn about markers and how to edit or place your markers onto scenes.

Media File Resolution and Optimal Sizes

Here are the recommended Media file resolution and optimal sizes for your assets to create a VRTY project easily.

Project Logo

• The project logo shows up in the opening introduction scenes of a VRTY Project.
• If you filled in the project completed, the Project Name, Logo and Description are shown.
• Project logo recommended file formats are JPEG, JPG and PNG.

Media Type	JPEG	PNG
Recommended Resolution	256 x 256 px	256 x 256 px
Resolution (max)	256 x 256 px	256 x 256 px
File Size (max)	300 MB	300 MB

 

360-Degree Media Files – Viewing in VR Mode

• VRTY platform uses 360-degree media files to create immersive projects.
• You must use an equirectangular image or video also commonly known as a 360° image or video to create scenes in your project. A 360° image or video consist of the front, left, right, top, bottom and back of the surrounding.
• 
• VRTY recommends using up to 4K in resolution. However, media over 4K will be placed in the transcoding queue, which will take a while to load.
• Recommended 360° file formats:
  • 360° image: JPEG and PNG
  • 360° video: Mp4
• Check out the accurate equirectangular 360° image example.

Media Type	Image	Video
Recommended Resolution	4000 x 2000 px and above	2000 x 1000 px and above
Resolution (max)	6000 x 3000 px	3840 x 2160 px (4K)
File Size (max)	300 MB	300 MB

 

Marker Icon Media Files

• Marker icons are used to indicate an interactive activity for the viewer. It will reveal more content in the marker content.
• Marker icons can be a range of icons and formats: images and GIFs.
• Recommended file formats:
  •  Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF

Media Type	Image	GIF
Recommended Resolution	256 x 256 px	256 x 256 px
Resolution (max)	1024 x 1024 px	1024 x 1024 px
File Size (max)	300 MB	300 MB

 

Marker Content Media Files

• Marker icons when triggered can reveal content. This content will appear in a pop-up content box or for sound/music files will begin to play.
• Recommended file formats:
  • Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF
  • Video: Mp4, MPEG, mkv, webm, m4v, qt
  • Audio: Mp3, 3gp, ogg, aac, mp4a, mpga

Media Type	Image	Video	GIF	Audio
Recommended Resolution	640 × 480 px	640 × 480 px	640 × 480 px	n/a
Resolution (max)	1024 x 1024 px	1024 x 1024 px	1024 x 1024 px	n/a
File Size (max)	300 MB	300 MB	300 MB	300 MB

 

Import Google Tour Creator Project

• You can export your Google Tour Creator in a zip file. Then, import the zip file into the VRTY platform.

Media Type	Google Tour Creator
File Size (max)	512 MB

 

If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

 

IP usage rights and referencing

Thanks for clicking on this learning topic. Unfortunately, we are still adding this content. Please check back again later.

If you have any questions or need urgent assistance, please send us an email or contact us directly.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-resources/ip-toolkit/researcher/ip-information

or your local country equivalent website.

Thanks,

VRTY Team

Adjusting Your Eye Focus in VR Mode

When viewing projects in VR mode, it’s important that each viewer adjusts their set-up to ensure a clear, comfortable and optimal viewing experience. The reason being: everyone has a different head size, eye distance, and focus preference.

Some VR headsets for mobile phones have manual adjusters, similar to binoculars, allowing the viewer to control the lenses in the headset to better align with the centre of their eyes. This is concept is called the inter-pupillary distance (IPD) and is the distance between a viewer’s pupils. The IPD can vary quite a lot between different viewers.

Fixed format VR headsets, like Google cardboard, do not have any adjusters. The cheaper nature of these headsets offsets its ability to optimise the experience for the viewer.

THE VRTY DIGITAL FOCUSING TOOL (DFT)

We have a proprietary and patented feature to help customise the viewing experience for each person. The VRTY Digital Focusing Tool (DFT), allows for in-project focusing on any device and with any VR headset.

Now you can have optimal viewing no matter the headset type, the phone, or the viewer requirements.

 

HOW TO USE THE VRTY DFT

1. Activating the DFT:

• Place your mobile device, with project loaded, into your VR headset and place up to your eyes.
• Use the button/feature on your VR headset to interact with the mobile phone screen, or use your finger to tap the screen once on a Google cardboard headset – this will bring up the VRTY logo onto the screen.
• The VRTY logo features 4 arrowheads: one above, below, to the left and to the right of the centre icon.
• Use the Trigger Dot in the centre of the screen to activate the focussing features by positioning the dot over one of the arrowheads.
• To stop using the VRTY DFT, just look away from the feature and the tool will disappear.
• Viewers can use the VRTY DFT at anytime or point in their VR experience.

2. Adjusting Field of Vision (Wider View)

• By moving your head, position the Trigger Dot over the Top Arrowhead of VRTY logo.
• This will cause the screen Field of Vision to zoom out, giving you a wider view of the experience.
• To stop the widening, just move the Trigger Dot away from the Top Arrowhead.

3. Adjusting Field of Vision (Narrower View)

• By moving your head, position the Trigger Dot over the Bottom Arrowhead of VRTY logo.
• This will cause the screen Field of Vision to zoom in, giving you a narrower view of the experience.
• To stop the narrowing, just move the Trigger Dot away from the Bottom Arrowhead.

4. Adjusting the IPD (Smaller Value)

• By moving your head, position the Trigger Dot over the Left Arrowhead of VRTY logo.
• This will cause the dual images on the screen to move closer together, giving you a smaller value IPD.
• To stop the movement, just move the Trigger Dot away from the Left Arrowhead.

5. Adjusting the IPD (Larger Value)

• By moving your head, position the Trigger Dot over the Right Arrowhead of VRTY logo.
• This will cause the dual images on the screen to move further apart, giving you a larger value IPD.
• To stop the movement, just move the Trigger Dot away from the Right Arrowhead.

VRTY Account Privileges

Discover what you can do for each role on the VRTY platform. We created a table for you to make it easier to understand.



Admin Account Starter Guide

Welcome to VRTY – Education through VR!

We are so excited for you to create your VR/interactive 360º projects for your curriculum plans! If you are the Organisation’s Admin, there are a few steps to set up your account for your organisation.

The Admin is responsible for setting up and managing all user accounts, also manage the organisation’s common media library.



Read the articles below to set up the VRTY account for your organisation.

1. Create teacher and student accounts
2. Manage teacher and student accounts
3. Create groups and add members into groups
4. Manage Shared Library
5. Streamer box set up guide (Only for streamer box users)

Have fun creating on VRTY!

The VRTY Project Process Overview

Before you begin creating, building, sharing and viewing your VR/360° projects, below is a summary of an end-to-end process when creating a VRTY project from the beginning. Depending on whether you need to create your own content or use existing content, the process may be slightly different.



Phase 1: Ideation

• Come up with an idea that will be suitable for VR or 360º viewing
• Start to write a story flow: where does your experience start, where does it finish, and what things would you like to have happen in each scene along the viewing journey
• Think about who your viewing audience will be
• Set some learning outcomes or experience goals for them
• Create your draft storyboard in the VRTY platform

Phase 2: Planning

• Plan and research your storyboard elements
• List the different scenes and content requirements
• Determine which requirements need to be created, produced, designed, or sourced
• Plan how you will achieve this

Phase 3: Content Creation

• If you are filming 360º scenes, then head out to shoot your required scenes
• If you are using 3D generated scenes, then start creating them in your desired software
• Create your content markers, content and information
• Design an graphic elements that will appear in the project
• Record an video or audio that will be used in the project
• Complete any post-production editing requirements on the content
• Collect and label ready for upload into the VRTY platform to build your project

Phase 4: Building in VRTY

• Login into your VRTY account
• Upload your scenes, assets and content into the media library
• Choose your scenes, based on your storyboard, and upload the desired files
• Add your content markers and interactive content to bring-to-life your experience within each scene
• Preview your project flow and test your interactions

Phase 5: Sharing Your Project

• Publish your project through the VRTY platform
• Copy and share the unique project URL with your audience

Phase 6: Viewing Your Project

• Open up your unique project URL in an internet browser
• View in 360º touchscreen mode on a computer, tablet or smartphone
• View in 360º magic window mode on a tablet or smartphone
• View in VR mode on a smartphone with VR headset
• Interact with the content and scenes by touching the screen or using a gaze-based trigger tool

Phase 7: Analyse Your Project

• Review your project’s viewing and interaction statistics to understand your audience’s behaviour
• Adjust your project to improve your results

Managing Teacher and Student Accounts

As an Admin User, you have the responsibility and ability to manage all the accounts within your organisation. It is a straightforward process.



Click on ‘Admin’ on the left side menu bar.

There are three types of accounts in a tab on the top:

1. Admin
2. Teacher
3. Student

 

To manage Teacher Accounts

1. Click on TEACHER on the menu tab.
2. It shows admin the list of teachers who registered onto the VRTY platform.
3. The admin has the authority to approve, edit teachers’ details or delete their accounts.

 

To manage Student Accounts

1. Click on STUDENT on the menu tab.
2. Shows admin the list of students who registered onto the VRTY platform.
3. The admin has the authority to approve, edit students’ details or delete their accounts.

 

Manage Shared Library

The organisation’s library is the ‘Shared Library’ in Media Library. It is best the organisation’s admin checks it once in a while to make sure it stays organised. This library is only open for users from the same organisation to access and use any of the media assets.

Media Asset(s) can be filtered by category:

• Logos
• Scenes
• Markers
• Miscellaneous (Media assets which are not in the category as logo, scenes and markers)

 

Upload Your Media Asset(s)

1. Access into Media Library on the left-hand menu bar.
2. You will be in your ‘My Library’ (your personal media library) by default. As an admin, you can choose to upload files into the ‘My Library’ or ‘Shared Library’.
3. You can browse through your local files or drag and drop your files into the box on the left. You can upload multiple files at the same time.
4. The platform accepts images, videos and GIFs, check here for file type. It accepts most common media format.
5. Then, you have to choose a media type for your uploaded media asset(s):
   • • Logos
     • Scenes
     • Markers
     • Misc
6. Your media asset(s) will be uploaded into the chosen library.

 

Edit Media Asset Details


It is simple to edit your media asset details.

1. Hover over the media asset you want to edit.
2. The option bar will appear from the left.
3. Click on the icon to edit.
4. A pop up box of the chosen media asset will appear and you can edit the details on it.
5. When you are done, just click ‘save’ to save the changes.

 

Delete Media Asset

1. Hover over the media asset you want to delete.
2. The option bar will appear from the left.
3. Click on the icon to delete the media file.
4. A pop up box will appear to confirm your action. Click ‘yes’ to delete your media from the Media Library.

 

Moving Your Media Asset(s)

You can move your media asset(s) files to organise your Media Library.


1. 1. Click on the media asset(s) to choose the file you want to move.
   2. After choosing, click ‘move’ on the top right corner of the media assets.
   3. A pop up will appear, and you can choose the destination folder.
   4. After clicking on the destination folder, click ‘paste’.
   5. Confirm the move process by clicking ‘yes’.
   6. Your media asset(s) has successfully move into the destination folder.

360º Camera App | Google Street View App

If you started getting into the art of creating VR/interactive 360º stories. Welcome!

Owning a 360º camera is essential to create your VR/interactive 360º stories. As a beginner, investing in a 360º camera might be hard to commit due to its price point.

Google Street View App (Overview):

We did some research and reviewed the Google Street View app. Here are some of the thing we liked about it:

• It can capture 360º images in satisfactory quality.
• The images are compatible with the VRTY platform.
• Most importantly, it is FREE to download – meaning you don’t have to buy a 360º camera to get started on your journey.

How to use Google Street View App (Step-by-step guide):

1. Download the Google Street View App from the GooglePlay Store or Apple App Store by searching for ‘Google Street View’ app.
2. Once the app is downloaded, open the app.
3. Go over to ‘Profile’ and select the ‘camera’ icon at the right bottom corner. Allow the app to access into your phone’s media gallery and camera for the function to work.
4. Open the camera and follow the yellow dot in the app and snap away.
5. After capturing the images, the app will stitch up all the images you took into a 360º image, also known as an equirectangular image.
6. Your new 360º image will automatically save into your phone’s gallery.
7. Then, you can use that image by uploading it onto the VRTY platform and start creating your VR/interactive 360º story!

 

Viewing in VR with a Headset

We recommend you to use Google Chrome or Safari browsers to view VR/interactive 360° projects.

*You will be streaming content from VRTY cloud server. For the best experience, make sure you’re connected to WiFi or have a strong 4G or 5G signal.

VR Headset Set-Up Instructions

1. Press on the button on top of the VR headset to open the slot for the smartphone.
2. Open the VR project on the smartphone through an URL link or scan the QR code provided from the VRTY platform.
3. Tap on ‘View VR mode’ on the experience.
4. Rotate your phone horizontally.
5. Plug the earphones into the smartphone or into the VR headset with a built-in earphone. Make sure the volume is loud enough for the viewer.
6. Put the smartphone into the VR headset phone slot. Align the middle of the smartphone screen to the middle of the two lenses.
7. Close the phone slot of the VR headset.
8. Wear the VR headset. *Make sure the straps of the VR headset are securely tightened around the head.
9. To adjust the focus, use the manual adjusters on the headset. Keep turning the adjuster in different directions until you find the image looks clear and comfortable for you. Each person is different, so may need to adjust to their own needs.
10. Alternatively, tap/ press the button on the side of the VR headset to tap on the screen for the Digital Focusing Widget to appear.
    1. Use the dot in the middle of the screen to trigger markers. Hold and gaze on the marker, wait for it to load and a pop-up box will appear with extra information.
    2. To turn off the pop-up box, just look away from the box or tap the screen again.
11. Turn around to explore your surroundings.
12. Once the viewing is done, take the phone out from the VR headset and wipe the phone screen with alcohol wipes after each session. Don’t forget to recharge your device.* If the viewer feels sick (i.e.: motion sickness; symptoms: nauseous, dizzy). Remove the VR headset. Guide them to sit down, give them space to cool and give them a cup of warm water.

 

There are two ways to view a project in VR:

 Method 1 – Enter VR Mode from the Start

1. Before viewing, there are a few adjustments on your phone setting for the best VR experience. Adjust your phone by increasing the screen brightness and volume. Also, clean your screen.
2. Copy your chosen link to your device (via SMS, email, or type in URL) or scan the QR code using IOS camera or download a QR scanner app for Android phones.
3. Then click on the link and open it on your device in either Google Chrome or Safari browsers.
4. The first method is to tap on ‘Enter VR Mode’ and begin viewing the project in VR Mode.
5. Place your smartphone into your headset, make sure to align the centre screen line to the middle of your headset lenses.
6. There is a small dot in the centre of your screen. This dot will act as your mouse, gaze and position the dot on a marker to trigger it. Markers reveal images, information, video or teleport you to another scene.
7. To close a marker pop up, just look away from the marker.

 

 Method 2 – Enter VR Mode from 360º Mode

1. Before viewing, there are a few adjustments on your phone setting for the best VR experience. Adjust your phone by increasing the screen brightness and volume. Also, clean your screen.
2. Copy your chosen link to your device (via SMS, email, or type in URL) or scan the QR code using IOS camera or download a QR scanner app for Android phones.
3. Then click on the link and open it on your device in either Google Chrome or Safari browsers.
4. The second method to view in VR mode is from the 360° mode. Firstly, tap on ‘Enter 360° Mode’.
5. Next, you can tap on the goggle headset icon at the bottom of the screen. It automatically split the screen into 2 sections for VR viewing.
6. Place your smartphone into your headset, make sure to align the centre screen line in the middle of your headset lenses.
7. There is a small dot in the centre of the screen. This dot will act as your mouse, gaze and position the dot on a marker to trigger it. Markers reveal images, information, video or teleport you to another scene.
8. To close a marker pop up, just look away from the marker.

Viewing in 360° Gyroscopic Mode

We recommend you to use Google Chrome or Safari browsers to view VR/interactive 360° projects.

*You will be streaming content from VRTY cloud server. For the best experience, make sure you’re connected to WiFi or have a strong 4G or 5G signal.

 

Viewing on a Smartphone or Tablet (360° Gyroscopic mode)

1. Copy your chosen link to your device (via SMS, email or type in URL) or you can scan the QR code using IOS camera or download a QR scanner app for Android phones.
2. Then open the link on your device in either Google Chrome or Safari.
3. To view in 360° gyroscopic mode, tap to choose on ‘Enter 360° mode’ and begin viewing the project in 360° mode.
4. Tap the gyroscope icon at the bottom of the screen.
5. Once clicked, you then have to physically move your device around to view the 360° project.
6. A small dot will appear in the centre of the screen, this dot will act as your mouse, position and hold the dot on a marker to trigger it. Markers reveal images, information, video or teleport you to another scene.
7. To close a marker content box, just move away from the marker.

Viewing in Browsers + Devices

We recommend you to use Google Chrome or Safari browsers to view VR/360° projects.

*You will be streaming content from VRTY cloud server. For the best experience, make sure you’re connected to WiFi or have a strong 4G or 5G signal.

 

Viewing on a Computer (360° mouse mode)

1. Click on your chosen VR/interactive 360° link. We recommend you to open it in either Google Chrome or Safari browser.
2. Click on ‘Enter 360° mode’ and begin to view the 360° project.
3. Left click and hold onto your mouse to grab the 360° scene in the screen explore your surroundings.
4. Once you discover a marker, use your mouse’s cursor to click on the marker to trigger it. Markers reveal images, information, video or teleport you to another scene.
5. To close a marker content box, click on the ‘X’ on the top right corner of the box.

 

Viewing on a Smartphone or Tablet (360° touchscreen mode)

1. Copy your chosen link to your device (via SMS, email, or type in URL) or click on the link and open it on your device in either Google Chrome or Safari browsers.
2. To view in 360° touchscreen mode, tap to choose on ‘Enter 360° mode’ and begin viewing the project in 360° mode.
3. Touch and drag the 360° scene to explore your surroundings.
4. Once you discover a marker, tap on the marker to trigger it. Markers reveal images, information, video or teleport you to another scene.
5. To close a marker content box, tap on the ‘X’ on the top right corner of the box.

360° Camera Guide

Check the pdf below for the best 360° camera for your organisation that was compiled by the VRTY team.



https://pro.vrty.io/assets/vrty-360-cameras-spec.pdf

Set Up VR Viewing Devices

Desktop PC

For both PC & Mac, we recommend using Google Chrome browser to view your VR projects.
Supported browsers: Google Chrome and Safari.

 

IOS

For IOS devices, we recommend you to use Safari for your VR/interactive 360 projects.

• Set up screen timeout to at least 5 minutes.
• Make sure your device is fully charged.

To set your screen timeout. Go to [Setting] > [Display & Brightness] > [Auto-lock] > Set screen time out duration.

Set up WIFI & Proxy

1. If your local network uses proxy to browse external websites, you need to set up proxy on your device.
2. To set up proxy: Go to [Settings] > [WIFI] (to connect to the WIFI). Tap on the [icon] next to the WIFI name to go to the WIFI detail page.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap on ‘Configure Proxy’ to go into the proxy settings.
4. Choose the ‘Manual’ option, and put in your corresponding information.

School set up example:

• Server: proxy.det.nsw.au
• Port: 8080
• Username: username@detnsw
• Password: xxxxxxx

 

Android

For Android devices, we recommend you to use Google Chrome for your VR/360 projects.

• Set up screen timeout to at least 5 minutes.
• Make sure your device is fully charged.

Go to [Settings] > [Display] > [Screen Timeout] to set up the screen timeout duration.

Set up WIFI & Proxy

If your local network uses proxy to browse external websites, you need to set up proxy on your device.

Set Proxy settings:

[Modify network configure] > [Show advanced options] > [Proxy] > [Choose Manual] > [Choose put your proxy hostname and port] > [Tick Authentic server (if needed)] > [Enter your username and password].

To add WIFI network options to set up a proxy:

1. Go to [Settings] > [WIFI] and scroll to the bottom > [Add WIFI network].
2. Enter your network SSID and choose “802.1x EAP” for the security.
3. Select PEAP for EAP method and using MSCHAPV2 for the Phase 2 authentication option.
4. Using your proxy username as ‘Identify’ and your proxy password in ‘Password’.
5. Tick show advanced options to set proxy on your device.

School set up example:

• Server: proxy.det.nsw.au
• Port: 8080
• Username: username@detnsw
• Password: xxxxxxx

VRTY Streamer Boxes (set up and management)

VRTY also offers an offline viewing solution which is the VRTY streamer box for organisations who do not have a fast and strong internet connection.

*VRTY users only are eligible to purchase this device.

Once the streamer box is installed, you can download any published projects into the streamer box and experience the projects through your local network.

Each streamer box is able to hold up to 30 users simultaneously. You can manage each streamer box on the VRTY platform.

Devices

You can monitor the status of the streamer box in the ‘Streamer’ > ‘Devices’ page.

• IP Address: Copy the local IP Address of the streamer box. Paste it on the browser. It will bring the user to the streamer box’s projects listing page.
• Disk Space: It shows the disk space in the streamer box.
• Connection Status: Display the streamer box’s status whether is online or offline.

Sync Projects

1. You can sync projects by downloading them into the streamer box. *Internet is required in this process.
2. Go into [Streamer] > [Sync Projects]. Click on the ‘sync’ button, to download the project into the selected connected streamer box.
3. *Download time varies depending on the internet speed.
4. Only published projects can be synced into the streamer box. To learn how to publish a project, please look at the Publish and Share Guide.
   

View Sync Projects

1. After a project successfully synced into a streamer box, you can view the project locally.
2. The synced project’s URL can retrieve easily on the platform.
3. Copy and paste the URL to the supported browser, allow the project to load for a couple minutes and enjoy your VR/interactive 360 project.

Troubleshooting

If the streamer box is not working as expected, the following tips may be able to help:

1. No streamer boxes appeared in the devices page: The reason might be there were no streamer boxes been purchased. Please send an email to [email protected] to order a streamer box.
2. Streamer box appeared as offline in the devices page:
   1. First, make sure the streamer box has been connected to the local network and this local network must have internet connection.
   2. If the streamer box is connected, please find the network administrator to add a new rule to the network’s firewall. The rule must allow all accesses to pro.vrty.io link.
   3. If the streamer box still appears as offline after the firewall rule is added, please send email to [email protected] to seek for assistance.
3. Stream box has no more storage: Each streamer box has 14G of storage for storing VR projects. If it is full, please send email to [email protected] to order more streamer boxes.

Different Types of VRTY User Accounts

On the VRTY platform, we have 3 different types of User Accounts.

1. Admin User Account:

• The Admin account type is only available on organisational subscription accounts (which have more than one individual user and user type).
• This account is the main user responsible for the VRTY subscription, payment, account details and management.
• It can set-up, edit and manage all individual user accounts.
• It can edit and manage the media content in the organisation’s Shared Library.
• Through their own account, they can access all the subscribed features on the VRTY Platform.
• It can add, delete and manage content from their own personal media library.
• It can access and use the content in the VRTY media library.
2. Teacher User Account:
• Teacher accounts can create classroom groups of students.
• It can set-up, edit and manage individual Student user accounts.
• It can edit and manage the media content in the organisation’s Shared Library.
• Through their own account, they can access all the subscribed features on the VRTY Platform.
• It can add, delete and manage content from their own personal media library.
• It can access and use the content in the VRTY media library.

3. Student/Individual User Account:

• Student accounts are individual accounts and can only see their own account.
• Through their own account, they can access all the subscribed features on the VRTY Platform.
• It can access the media content in the organisation’s Shared Library.
• It can add, delete and manage content from their own personal media library.
• It can access and use the content in the VRTY media library.

An example:



 

If you need any further assistance, please contact your VRTY account manager.

Now you have learnt about the different User Account types. Read our other articles on  Creating Teacher Accounts or Creating Student Accounts.

Some Basic Concepts

360° Images & Videos

These formats are captured in a 360° field of vision using a 360° camera. Viewers can look or scroll in all directions around a scene (up, down, left, right, all around), but you cannot move or walk around. You can upload these file formats into the VRTY platform to create your interactive experiences.

Scenes represent a 360º image or video. Think of them as rooms in a house that you can visit and walkthrough.

 

Storyboard



A storyboard is a technique to map out your viewer’s journey through your VRTY project. Storyboards can be linear in the narrative (one scene after another), can be non-linear (choose any other scene to go to next), or a branching narrative (choose between a selection of scenes and go through to only one scene).

 

Content Markers

Content Markers are used to contain information for viewers to discover and experience. They can be placed within scenes and triggered to reveal their content. Content Markers are versatile and contain any of the following information types:

• Text
• Image
• GIF
• Video
• Audio / Sound
• Any combination of the above

 

Virtual Reality



Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of technology to create a simulated environment. VR places viewers inside an experience wearing a VR headset. The VR environment can be captured using a 360° camera or even built from scratch using 3D computer-generated objects and scenes.

Video Compression Software | HandBrake

We recommend you to film your 360º/VR video in 4K resolution (3840px x 1920px and above) for a better 360º/VR experience. VRTY platform automatically compresses and optimise your uploaded videos to view on different devices. However, due to its large file size and depending on the user’s internet speed, the uploading time onto the platform might take a longer time.

So we advise you to compress your videos locally to a smaller size before uploading. HandBrake is a very easy software to compress videos. Please check the video guide below on how to use HandBrake.

NOTE: You can adjust the frame rate option to compress more of the video.