Greetings and welcome to one of our many solutions! We provide a desktop-based virtual reality platform for use with our learning management system. Desktop-based virtual reality uses a computer monitor for virtual reality applications that provide a graphical interface for its users. Virtual Reality (VR) is the technology that provides almost real and/or believable experiences in a virtual way. It is a more cost-effective solution when compared to immersive VR environments that typically require expensive hardware (i.e. goggles). Our virtual platform consists of a computer-generated environment (i.e. world) which exists in three dimensions (but shown on a 2D display). Users can freely navigate in three dimensions around the world. It is developed using a specialized software application server known as OpenSimulator. OpenSimulator is an open source multi-platform, multi-user 3D application server. It is used to create our virtual environment (or world) which can then be accessed through a variety of clients (or viewers). This is what allows users to “see” into the world. 

The viewer that we use is called the Cool VL Viewer. The Windows version can be downloaded here. The application version is 1.28.2.47, released on 11/13/2021 and is approximately 92Mb. Simply, download, unzip and install the package.

For a general overview of the features of this viewer, go to http://sldev.free.fr and click on the Features & Screenshots link at the top of the page.

The Tiny Text Issue

When we first installed the application, it was on a Windows laptop with a 4K high resolution display.  The resolution on the laptop was shown to be 3840 x 2160 pixels. The text in the Cool VL Viewer application appeared very “tiny”. The “tiny text” issue is caused by programs that are not optimized for high-DPI resolutions and programs that don’t scale well.  In order to fix this problem in the Cool VL Viewer, go to Edit -> Preferences and select the Graphics tab.  Check the box for “High DPI mode” and restart the application.  The text should appear normal.

Once properly installed and configured, a new grid must be added in order to connect to the virtual environment.  Select the Grids list tab, enter the Login URI and the Grid name, then click Add new grid.  This information will be used later to log into the virtual environment.

Restart the application.  Select the correct region and enter credentials.  For convenience, it is desirable to check the box to Remember login credentials.