With Firefox 36.0.1 WebGL is working again. In Firefox 35.0.1 (released January 26) support for the EXT_blend_minmax WebGL extension was added, but at the same time something with additively blending on floating point textures had stopped working, you can read about it our blog.
Firefox 36 was released on February 24th, 2015. There are also other new features implemented in Firefox from WebGL 2.0 specification, like WebGLQuery. So we are hoping fast developments with WebGL and 3D in browsers.
We have added import and export functionality to 3D Wayfinder. Users can manage location data in any spreadsheet software and then easily import all locations, with descriptions, groups and tags to 3D Wayfinder content management system. Import and export is based on CSV-format, so MS Excel or other open-source spreadsheet software can be used to prepare the location list.
When creating large wayfinding projects, there might be over thousand locations. ring all locations one-by-one can be really time consuming process. With import tool, you can instantly create multiple locations with only two clicks. When you need to change location data, you can use the same POI ID-s, in this case the existing location data will be updated without creating any duplicates.
The Import and export tool can be found on the Locations page in 3D Wayfinder Administration:
The easiest way is to export a copy first and then load the CSV file into Excel or other spreadsheet software. After making changes, save the file into a semi-colon separated CSV file.
Imported columns are:
It is possible to import names and descriptions in any language which are previously inserted in Administration. Language ISO code must be included in the column name. For language codes, please see the language set-up page.
It is possible to add also tags and groups. When a group or tags already exist, the location will be connected with the existing one. If it doesn’t exist, a new one will be created. So the import tool makes also possible to create new groups and tags automatically. You can also add multiple groups or tags by separating them with a comma.
For more information, please see the user manual.
Last week we were participating at Integrated Systems Europe trade fair in Amsterdam. Our wayfinding software could be seen on Famasete Wingsys kiosks and also in ONELAN booth.
Lots of halls, people and digital screens. This was a kind of event where you really need wayfinding. Hope to see a good wayfinding mobile app next year, this would save a lot of time. There were some wayfinding kiosks but without proper guidance or even hall numbers.
Thanks for visiting us.
When we talk about wayfinding, we don’t just mean a building directory combined with a map. Modern wayfinding actually includes also calculating the shortest route and displaying it visually. The following small demo with a maze will demonstrate 3D Wayfinder’s path-finding capabilities.
[xyz-ihs snippet=”2D-Embedding-in-Blog”]
Do display a route from the user location to the destination we have to call a small bit of JavaScript code in our onclick event:
onclick="wayfinder.showPath(wayfinder.nodes[126])";
This API call will find the path from start node to the end node, where node 126 is the node that is connected with location “End”.
There are all possible routes marked with navigation nodes and connected to each other in 3D Wayfinder Editor, to enable pathfinding:
When using path-finding, application calculates automatically the shortest route from the starting node (the Kiosk location) to the required location. In mobile applications, the Kiosk node can be your position inside the building. With 3D Wayfinder, the shortest route is calculated in a 3 dimensional room. Which means the shortest path through all the floors.
In addition there is also feature to change the weight of the connections between nodes. With this we can talk about finding the optimal route. But it doesn’t have to be the shortest. For example when you would like to guide your visitors to use the path inside the building instead of going around the building. Then you can set the weight for outdoor nodes higher.
Pathfinding functionality comes bundled in an add-on you can order from 3D Wayfinder Administration panel. It is also included in the Pro plan.
Of course for smaller buildings with less complex floor-plans, you don’t have to use pathfinding functionality. You can just highlight the area or show the description from location directory. Without pathfinding you can choose the Lite service plan, which is only $9 or 7€ per month.
We have updated our CMS to upload simple 2D images as wayfinding maps. To use your existing drawings, just upload the image files under Floors page. If you have PDF-files You have to convert these into images (PNG, JPEG). We recommend to use at least more than 4096px images for situations where You need to zoom in.
We have added also a new free HTML5 template for 2D maps. Template is named Default2D, see the demo here:
https://static.3dwayfinder.com/projects/df85fafe2b5605ae7ab1f184e32a1caf/Default2D/
To add the locations and create paths for navigation, just use the Editor the same way as it works in 3D. After adding data to the maps, press “Update 2D navigation” button. This will generate the 2D data.
2D floor-plans don’t require WebGL support, so they can be used in all mobile devices and low-end kiosk PC-s. Creating wayfinding with 2D floor plans don’t require any special skills and you can always use existing images. If you like to go for 3D and you don’t have the 3D models, you can always order professional 3D floor-plans from us.
Firefox 35.0.1 (released January 26) doesn’t handle order independent transparency. Firefox has added support for the EXT_blend_minmax WebGL extension, but at the same time something with additively blending on floating point textures has stopped working.
Under Linux FF 35.0.1 everything is working fine.
We are doing some research, but probably we just need to wait for a new version of FF with this thing fixed.
So far we recommend to use Chrome or IE. Also sorted transparency works.
Famasete
We are participating at Integrated Systems Europe 2015 in Amsterdam 10.02-12.02.
This year we are showing wayfinding solution with our Portugal partner Wingsys.
Wingsys is a manufacturer of multitouch interactive tables and multimedia kiosks with really attractive design of the market.
Wingsys 42″ touchscreen kiosk TA007Q with 3D Wayfinder:
You can find us in exhibition Stand: 1-Q72
You can order several add-ons for 3D Wayfinder. To get expanded functionality for managing and presenting 3D floor plans.
At the moment there are following additional modules available:
1) Statistics – for tracking application usage by time, location, keyword and other parameters. All the data is also visualized with charts.
2) Pathfinding – enables to create navigation paths in 3D Wayfinder Editor to provide wayfinding functionality.
3) Snapshot – tools for creating 3D Wayfinder offline application.
4) Raytracing – generate 2D images from 3D models.
5) Advertisement – make your wayfinding application part of your digital-signage channel and publish ads in wayfinder.
All add-ons can be ordered from “Add-ons” page under “Billing” menu in 3D Wayfinder Administration. Add-ons are monthly subscription based, so you can always cancel your subscription.
We are developing additional editing features to 3D Wayfinder Editor which will add possibilities to create and edit 3D floor plans right inside your browser.
At the moment you have to create 3D floor-plan models in third party software and upload them to 3D Wayfinder. But this will be a hurdle to our non-3D artists users. It is always a possibility to order professional 3D floor plans from our 3D modelling service. But when we could provide You a tool, that is easy and without any significant learning curve, this will decrease the project setup process and make everybody more happy and satisfied.
At the moment we are testing prototype for creating walls, adding windows and doors and inserting 3D objects. We hope be add this functionality to 3D Wayfinder in 3 to 6 months.
The process is basically simple:
1) create external and internal walls the same way you can create lines in any drawing application or document editing software. An existing 2D floor plan can be a base layer for faster drawing.
2) Mark down doors and windows.
3) After this 3D Wayfinder will automatically create 3D model based on the plan.
4) Now you can add materials and textures just by clicking on the object. Add additional objects like stairs, elevators, tables etc.
This new editing features enable every user to create our Lite modelling level floor plans by themselves without the need for specific modelling skills and software.
We wish you Peaceful Xmas and happy successful new year! We have a small gift to You also: with any 3D floor plan You’ll get 6 months of 3D Wayfinder Lite for free.
This can help you demo your wayfinding solution, show the new apartment building or share your architectural masterpiece.
Our goals for next year are to improve the speed of 3D Wayfinder and add new features to make the 3D floor plans look more nicer. So stay tuned.
