Major Changes

‍

We are thrilled to unveil the latest update for Edify, designed to make your teaching and learning experiences smoother and more immersive than ever before. Dive into the details of what Patch 1.4 brings to the table:

‍

1. Lock/Unlock Feature

Ever worried about accidentally moving an important object during a lesson? Fret no more! With our new Lock/Unlock feature, you can now secure an object’s position, ensuring it stays exactly where you need it. To utilize this feature, simply access the quick actions menu through a double-click with the VR trigger or a right-click on desktop. Then, just hit the lock icon, and your object stays put, no matter what!

‍

‍

‍

2. Environmental Audio Control

We understand the importance of audio clarity in your learning environment. That’s why we’ve introduced an additional slider under audio settings, allowing you to fine-tune the volume of your environment separately from media audio. Customize your audio experience like never before, ensuring every sound is crisp and clear.

‍

‍

3. Minor Refactoring and Bug Fixes

In addition to these exciting new features, we’ve also implemented minor refactoring and addressed pesky bugs, further enhancing the overall performance and stability of Edify. Your experience is our top priority, and we’re constantly working to make it better with each update.

Upgrade to Edify Patch 1.4 today and unlock a world of enhanced teaching and learning possibilities. Stay tuned for more updates and innovations as we continue to evolve Edify to meet your needs!

‍

Major Changes

‍

Audio Improvements

‍

We’ve added a number of improvements to our audio features, giving you more control and freedom to play sounds globally, control the volume independently and help you identify which sounds are currently playing.

‍

‍

New Audio Features:

‍

Global Audio

‍

You can now set imported audio files to global. This allows you to play the audio at the same volume across the environment, rather than being localised to one area.

‍

‍

‍

To switch from local to global:

Open the quick actions menu by double tapping your trigger whilst pointing at the audio object in VR; or by right clicking in desktop mode. Then you can select the global/local icon to change the audio mode.

‍

‍

‍

‍

Play On Start

‍

Use the quick actions menu on an audio file to set it to play on scene start, rather than on click.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Volume Control

‍

You can change the volume on individual imported audio files placed in a scene. Open the quick actions menu by double tapping the trigger on the object in VR or by right clicking in desktop mode. Clicking the volume icon will change the volume incrementally.

‍

‍

‍

Environmental Audio

‍

We’ve added an additional volume slider in the settings to allow you to control the volume of environments that have audio built-in, like our auditorium.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Global Speaker

‍

Hosts can now also set their audio output to global by opening up the participant panel. This allows you to project your voice across the whole environment rather than just in a localised area, providing you with the ability to host larger scale lessons and events.

‍

‍

Responsive Lesson Planner

‍

We’re giving users more control over the size and placement of the lesson planner in desktop.

‍

‍

This means you can move it out of the way or shrink it down if you need access to more screen space.

‍

‍

Drag the icon with the 4 arrows to detach the panel from the side and move it around, or drag the icon with the 2 arrows to shrink it down.

‍

‍

‍

Minor Changes

‍

Session Recording

‍

Session recordings now save at an optimised file size.

Major Changes

‍

Edify Hub auto-update feature

‍

We’ve changed the way the Hub receives new updates.

‍

Previously, users had to navigate to the Edify Library and manually download the update, making it challenging for users to keep their Hub up to date.

‍

You will now be prompted to update the Hub upon opening if an update is available.

‍

In case you are using Edify and don’t have time to wait, you can choose to ignore the update for a period of time, after which the update will become mandatory to ensure the best user experience and seamless customer support.

‍

‍

Major Changes

‍

Multiplayer Proximity Voices

‍

You can now communicate within Edify during your multiplayer session!

‍

When in a multiplayer session, users can speak into their selected mic input and be heard by other people in the session through their selected output. The session host has control over muting of participants using the new participant panel, or you can mute yourself by clicking the microphone icon on the home/wrist menu.

‍

‍

Participants Panel

‍

View the list of participants in your session

‍

Select the participants panel on the menu on your wrist in VR or the along the bottom right of the screen in desktop. The host also has the ability to mute or unmute individuals for greater classroom control of a session.

‍

Settings Panel

‍

Choose your preferences and control your volume from the new in-app settings panel

‍

Within the settings panel you have the option to:

‍

• Change your audio input and output

• Adjust the master volume or the volume of sound effects or other users

• Run edify in a window, rather than fullscreen

• Choose your resolution for the broadcast or your screen*

• Change the hand on which your home panel appears on in VR

• Change your movement type in VR**

• Change your rotation style in VR**

• Toggle options such as tooltips or mute by default

‍

To view your settings select the cog icon from the menu on your wrist in VR or on the bottom right of the screen in desktop.

‍

‍

‍

‍

*May affect performance on some machines

**Selecting these options may cause motion sickness. Recommended for advanced VR users only.

‍

Precise Manipulation Panel

‍

The new precise manipulation panel gives users the ability to accurately control the movement, rotation or scale of objects and boards

‍

It gives the ability to snap to increments and lock or manipulate specific axis' using virtual joysticks, that you can select and drag to control each axis individually.

‍

‍

You can also select to control the object in relation to world space or object space, pick the transform type from Move, Rotate or Scale and hide or unhide the gizmo that provides you with a coloured reference for each axis.

‍

Locking or unlocking an axis also affects the model directly, so you can lock the x and z axes for rotation and then rotate the object directly by dragging it with your mouse in desktop or grabbing it with your controller pointers in VR.

‍

‍

This is particularly useful for rotating boards. Previously it was challenging to rotate boards whilst keeping them perpendicular to the floor. Now it can be done by simply locking axes or using the sliders.

‍

‍

Minor Changes

‍

Whiteboard selection zone

‍

Additional space added to the whiteboard surround to give it a larger selection zone to make interaction easier from a distance when images displayed on the board are preventing grabbing.

‍

Edify Hub Release Notes

‍

Major Changes

‍

Menu and interface names

‍

We've updated the naming and branding of some areas of the product

‍

The Launcher is now the Edify Hub, as it moves beyond just running Edify into providing users with more ways to create, host and play.

‍

We've also simplified Edify Teacher to Edify and changed Events to Sessions, as this better represents the user journey to access multiplayer.

‍

‍

Session thumbnails

‍

You can now add thumbnail images to your session listing to provide more context for your participants and help your session stand out.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

The exciting 1.0 Edify update brought you multiplayer and session scheduling features and completed our user interface overhaul!

‍

Edify Multiplayer

‍

You can now schedule multiplayer events in Edify!

‍

You can now schedule multiplayer events in Edify!

‍

Multiplayer allows multiple people to join in the same lesson as you to share an immersive Edify experience. Upload your lesson and schedule a session, then jump in live, together in the same space in VR or desktop.  

‍

You can also still host a lesson "by proxy" through Teams or Zoom and invite players to join your Edify session at the same time. You can now share lessons with other users and select your preferred sharing permissions. Sharing Edify lesson files allows you to invite other users to join your immersive lesson in Multiplayer or to allow co-editing of a lesson.

‍

‍

Lesson Sharing

‍

To share a lesson:

• Locate the lesson under My Library and click Upload.

• When you click accept on the prompt the lesson will take a few minutes to upload.

• Once upload is complete a blue tag will appear stating that it is Ready to share.

• Click Share to either: Change the lesson sharing permissions (you can share with users that are part of your organisation or other external users); or copy the share code.

‍

To add a lesson:

• Copy the lesson code that was shared with you.

• Go to the Shared tab within My Library and input the code into the text box.

• If you encounter an error, make sure that the owner of the lesson has set the permissions to the appropriate option. For instance, you won't be able to add a lesson that is set to Organisation only if you are not also     within that organisation.

‍

Edify Sessions

‍

Create an Edify session to generate a multiplayer session that you can invite people to

‍

To create a session:

• First you need to Upload the lesson to the Edify cloud.

• Go to the Sessions tab in the Edify Hub (previously Launcher) and click Create New. Complete the relevant information and add a lesson to the session.

• Choose whether the session is Public or Private. In a private session, only members of your organisation can be invited, and in public sessions, anyone with an Edify account can be invited.

• Type in a title and description, then attach the lesson to the session. You can also add descriptive tags to your session.

• If you don't see the lesson in the dropdown list, double-check it has the correct permissions.

• Add the email addresses of the people you would like to invite the session. Please make sure the people you invite have an edify account before adding them, or they won't be able to join.

• Once you've clicked Create Session, the session will appear in your Upcoming sessions list.

UI Overhaul (Continued improvements)

‍

We’re continuing updates to our user interfaces in 1.0 in order to make your user experience more streamlined

‍

The new Edify Menu in Desktop mode

‍‍

The new desktop Edify Menu consolidates all the functionality of the (now retired) Lectern and sidebar into a new user interface

‍

Features accessible via the Edify Menu include:

• Next Scene / Previous Scene
• Undo / Redo
• Open Lesson Planner
• Media / Objects
• Start / Stop broadcasting
• Settings
• Mute mic
• Save
• And  more!

‍

To access the Edify Menu - hover over three-dot icon and click to expand.

‍

Quick Access Tools (Desktop)

‍

The Quick Access Tools are the new home for the quickly toggleable tools that were previously located in the lectern (now retired)

‍

Like the rest of the Edify Menu, the Quick Access Tools are designed for quick and easy access to all the tools you may need for delivering your lessons, such as:  

‍

• Laser Pointer

• Pen    

• Eraser    

• Slope (AEC Toolkit)

• Stake (AEC Toolkit)

‍

To access the Quick Access Tools - click the rectangular box icon on the bottom right of the screen.

‍

Quick Actions Menu

‍

The Quick Actions Menu displays simple one-click functions you can select on a 3D model, board, camera or audio file

‍

It appears as a radial menu with various icons you can select. To open the Quick Actions Menu - right-click on desktop or double tap your trigger in VR.

‍

Context Menu

‍

The Context Menu is where you can find more complex functions and features for a specific object or board

‍

It appears when an object or board is selected and can be found:

• In VR on the left controller next to the Edify Menu or Lesson Planner.

• In desktop at the top right corner of the screen.

‍

For Objects the context menu contains the slice and layers function, and for Boards the option to open media, view conference or duplicate screen.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

The 0.11 Edify release delivered an overhaul of the user interface for VR.

‍

UI Overhaul

‍

We’ve made some big changes to Edifys' user interfaces to make your user experience more streamlined

‍

The new Edify Menu – accessible from your wrist in VR

The new Edify Menu can be accessed from your wrist in VR. The Menu consolidates all the functionality of the former Lectern into a watch-style panel accessible from your wrist

‍

This means everything you need for building and delivering lessons is accessible from anywhere, at any time, instead of having to summon the Lectern as in previous versions of Edify.

‍

Features accessible via the Menu include:

‍

• Next Scene / Previous Scene

• Undo / Redo

• Open Lesson Planner

• Media / Objects

• Start / Stop Broadcasting

• Settings

• Mute mic

• Save

• And more!

‍

To access the Edify Menu in VR rotate your wrist to face you as though you were looking at a watch. Use the pointer from the controller in your other hand to either select one of the 6 visible functions; or hover over and select three dot icon to expand the Menu.

‍

Lesson Planner UI

‍

The Lesson Planner provides access to Edifys’ more complex lesson building and presenting tools

‍

It can be used alongside the Edify Menu to make the process of constructing and delivering a lesson more intuitive and streamlined.

‍

The Lesson Planner interface provides a home for lesson creation tools you may use regularly, such as:

‍

• Broadcasting suite

• User Notes
      ‍
• Adding content

• Scenes

• Environments

• Environment tools

• Settings

• Environment animation / audio playback

‍

‍

To access it, expand the Edify Menu by selecting the outer ring and then select the last icon labelled Summon Lesson Planner.

‍

Quick Access Toolkit

‍

The Quick Access Toolkit is the new home for the toggleable tools that were previously located in the (now retired) Lectern

‍

Like the Edify Menu, the Quick Access Toolkit is designed for quick and easy access for all the tools you may need for delivering your lessons, such as:

‍

• Laser Pointer

• Pen

• Eraser

• Slope (AEC Toolkit)

• Stake (AEC Toolkit)

‍

‍

To access the Quick Access Toolkit, press the B or Y (Oculus Controller, see below) button and then use the controller in your opposite hand to select the tool you wish to use. When the toolkit is open you can also double-tap B or Y to switch between the hand and the last tool you used.

‍

‍

Incremental Object Manipulation (Desktop)

‍

We have added hotkeys to rotate and scale objects

‍

Objects can now be moved incrementally using keys for more finite movement control. U and Orotate in the Z-axis, J and L rotate the Y-axis and I and K rotate the X-axis.

‍

To scale an object up or down, use N and M.

‍

The object movement hotkeys can be found in the hotkeys panel.

‍

Universal Hotkeys

‍

We have added hotkeys to rotate and scale objects

‍

Objects can now be moved incrementally using keys for more finite movement control. U and Orotate in the Z-axis, J and L rotate the Y-axis and I and K rotate the X-axis.

‍

To scale an object up or down, use N and M.

‍

The object movement hotkeys can be found in the hotkeys panel.

‍

The object movement hotkeys can be found in the hotkeys panel.

‍

The 0.10 Edify update delivered improved desktop tools, teleportation & waypoints.

‍

Default Waypoints

‍

‍

A waypoint can now be set as an initial spawn point for each scene, allowing users to control their initial position in an environment when they transition into a scene. This allows users greater control over the flow of their lesson from scene to scene.

‍

Broadcast View Fixes

‍

We have addressed a number of issues around what was - and was not -visible to viewers through the broadcast camera. We have removed the following from being visible through the edify camera when broadcasting:

‍

• Teleport Grid when preparing to teleport (VR mode)

• Black fade out/in when user teleports or rotates (VR mode)

• Outline of waypoints when user hovers over

• Waypoint placement grid

• Outline of portal when user hovers over

• Object outline when user hovers over

• Gallery view menu on boards

• Play/pause video bar

• Controller ring menu options (VR mode)

‍

‍

We have also added the following to be visible through the Edify virtual camera when broadcasting:

‍

• Shapes added to boards

• Laser pointer (desktop mode)

• Slope tool information tooltip

• Stake tool information tooltip

‍

Private Lesson Cards

‍

‍

Private lessons now have updated cards to show clearer information, including:

‍

• Title and description

• Image of the starting environment

• Lesson creation date

• The ability to 'Favourite' lessons

• Multi-select for lesson deletion

‍

‍

Updated Hotkeys (Desktop Mode)

‍

‍

We have added a Lock/Unlock hotkeys to enable smooth desktop movement using keyboard and mouse controls. The update includes:

‍

• Lock/unlock cursor additions to hotkeys

• Lock/unlock cursor also added to the sidebar menu to prompt users to unlock cursor without having to open the hotkeys panel

‍

Hide / Show Password

‍

‍

We’ve added the ability to show/hide passwords when typing by clicking the eye icon.

‍