Orientation Lab (AltspaceVR)

On By mark

I wanted to get a better handle on various orientations (rotations) within AltspaceVR especially regarding spawn points (used when entering the world), and teleport buttons (used for moving about within the world).

So I built a simple world with some orientation references to help figure this out.

You can visit the world with code: KWE891 or use the link: https://account.altvr.com/worlds/2000104879481159694/spaces/2067578696046216002

Things Discovered

Spawn Points (world entry)

  • The default world Spawn Point is located at the world origin (point 0,0,0) and when your avatar initially arrives it will point in the positive (+Z) direction. This holds true when you re-enter the world from the general menu.
  • The +Z direction is equivalent to the up or top direction when looking at the world in the unity view using the “top” orthogonal view looking directly down to the ground from above.
  • You can specifically add Spawn Points using the included world building tools. When you add these items (represented as tilted white cubes) the rotation matters. Unfortunately I have not found a visual way of knowing which direction avatars will face when come into the world. You can, however, explicitly set the rotation in the editor panel – this will give you the orientation relative to the world coordinates.

Teleport Buttons (in-world movement)

  • It does not appear that the placement orientation of the Teleport Buttons (the green buttons) affect the avatar position orientation when used.
  • The avatar position appears to be the world orientation (rotation) of the avatar when the Teleport Buttons are selected.
    • For example: if the avatar direction is facing the positive X when clicking a Teleport Button it will face the same positive X direction when arriving at the target Teleport Button . If the avatar is facing the positive Z direction going in it will face the positive Z direction coming out the other end.