VRTK_BezierPointer

extends VRTK_WorldPointer

Overview

The Bezier Pointer emits a curved line (made out of game objects) from the end of the controller to a point on a ground surface (at any height). It is more useful than the Simple Laser Pointer for traversing objects of various heights as the end point can be curved on top of objects that are not visible to the user.

The laser beam is activated by default by pressing the Touchpad on the controller. The event it is listening for is the AliasPointer events so the pointer toggle button can be set by changing the Pointer Toggle button on the VRTK_ControllerEvents script parameters.

The Bezier Pointer script can be attached to a Controller object within the [CameraRig] prefab and the Controller object also requires the VRTK_ControllerEvents script to be attached as it uses this for listening to the controller button events for enabling and disabling the beam. It is also possible to attach the Bezier Pointer script to another object (like the [CameraRig]/Camera (head)) to enable other objects to project the beam. The controller parameter must be entered with the desired controller to toggle the beam if this is the case.

The bezier curve generation code is in another script located at VRTK/Scripts/Helper/CurveGenerator.cs and was heavily inspired by the tutorial and code from Catlike Coding.

Inspector Parameters

Pointer Length: The length of the projected forward pointer beam, this is basically the distance able to point from the controller position.
Pointer Density: The number of items to render in the beam bezier curve. A high number here will most likely have a negative impact of game performance due to large number of rendered objects.
Show Pointer Cursor: A cursor is displayed on the ground at the location the beam ends at, it is useful to see what height the beam end location is, however it can be turned off by toggling this.
Pointer Cursor Radius: The size of the ground pointer cursor. This number also affects the size of the objects in the bezier curve beam. The larger the radius, the larger the objects will be.
Pointer Cursor Match Target Rotation: The pointer cursor will be rotated to match the angle of the target surface if this is true, if it is false then the pointer cursor will always be horizontal.
Beam Curve Offset: The amount of height offset to apply to the projected beam to generate a smoother curve even when the beam is pointing straight.
Beam Height Limit Angle: The maximum angle in degrees of the controller before the beam curve height is restricted. A lower angle setting will prevent the beam being projected high into the sky and curving back down.
Custom Pointer Tracer: A custom Game Object can be applied here to use instead of the default sphere for the beam tracer. The custom Game Object will match the rotation of the controller.
Custom Pointer Cursor: A custom Game Object can be applied here to use instead of the default flat cylinder for the pointer cursor.
Layers To Ignore: The layers to ignore when raycasting.
Valid Teleport Location Object: A custom Game Object can be applied here to appear only if the teleport is allowed (its material will not be changed ).
Rescale Pointer Tracer: Rescale each pointer tracer element according to the length of the Bezier curve.

Example

VRTK/Examples/009_Controller_BezierPointer is used in conjunction with the Height Adjust Teleporter shows how it is possible to traverse different height objects using the curved pointer without needing to see the top of the object.

VRTK/Examples/012_Controller_PointerWithAreaCollision shows how a Bezier Pointer with the Play Area Cursor and Collision Detection enabled can be used to traverse a game area but not allow teleporting into areas where the walls or other objects would fall into the play area space enabling the user to enter walls.

`VRTK/Examples/036_Controller_CustomCompoundPointer' shows how to display an object (a teleport beam) only if the teleport location is valid, and can create an animated trail along the tracer curve.