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Scenes

A Scene on our dashboard is a container that holds all the user sessions, all the Dynamic Objects that appear in the scene and an approximation of the scene geometry exported from Unity. Together, this allows you to replay sessions in SceneExplorer with context about where in your Unity scene the player is engaging with your gameplay.

Concepts

Uploading a Scene to the Cognitive3D dashboard from Unity does two things:

  1. Creates this container to hold each Participant's Session Data (Gaze, Fixations, Dynamics, Events, Sensors). The Scene Id is returned to Unity to identify where this Session Data should be sent.
  2. Exports and uploaded scene geometry to the Dashboard so you can see Session Data in the context of the scene.

None of your game logic is uploaded to our dashboard. Colliders, trigger volumes, npc paths, audio sources, etc are not represented by this scene geometry.

If your Scene geometry changes during development, or doesn't represent the space the Participant is engaged in, you should create a new Scene Version. This will have the same results as uploading a new scene - a new container is created and new geometry is uploaded.

If you have Dynamic Objects in your Scene that change during development, you do not need to create a new Scene Version. See the Dynamic Objects page to see how to upload Dynamic Object Meshes to your scenes.

When should I upload a new version of my scene?

These are the cases when a new version of your Scene is warranted:

  • You make a substantial change to the base geometry of your scene.
  • You want to make a new, clean separation of data for you scene.
  • For example if you were doing test sessions and now want to launch a clean slate for production or deployment.
  • You have substantially changed the Dynamic Objects in your scene.
  • For example if you changed object names, or removed them altogether, you will see those old objects in the Object List, despite removing them from your Unity scene, since the data has already been sent.

If you simply moved a Dynamic Object in the scene, you do NOT need to re-upload anything.

Additive Scene Loading

When loading a scene in Unity the Session Data will be uploaded using the Scene Id of the last loaded scene. In this situation it does not matter if Dynamic Objects move in one scene or the Participant fixates on a surface in a different scene. All Session Data will be uploaded to the same Dashboard Scene.

Exporting Additive Scenes

There are several ways to export Scene geometry when using multiple scenes. In the examples below we will assume there is a scene called Main and a scene called EnvironmentArt.

Note

intercom Exporting scenes and managing files can get confusing. Feel free to reach out for assistance. If you have a question or any feedback about our documentation please use the Intercom button in the lower right corner of any web page.

Export only one scene

Export just the EnvironmentArt scene. This is the simplest solution if the contents of the scene with art provide enough context about the space to make useful insights.

Exporting a temporary scene

This concept is to combine all the art into a Unity scene and export that. You can upload your Main scene using the combined content instead.

  • Create a scene called Temporary in Unity
  • Copy and paste the contents of all 'Main' and 'EnvironmentArt' into the Temporary scene
  • Export the Temporary scene using the Scene Setup Window, but do not upload
  • In your project's directory, rename the Cognitive3D_SceneExplorerExport/Temporary folder to Main
  • Open your Main scene and open the SceneExport window
  • Do not export this scene - the contents of the directory will be used instead when you upload.

Combine Exported scenes Externally

This concept is to export each scene from Unity and combine them in an external program, such as Windows 3D builder, Blender, or another tool of your choice.

  • Use the Scene Setup Window to export each scene
  • Open the 3D program of your choice
  • Import the exported GLTF file of each scene
  • Save / Export the file as a GLTF in the Cognitive3D_SceneExplorerExport/YourSceneName directory of your project

Note

This can also be a simple way of previewing the contents of your exported file before uploading to the Dashboard. There might be slight differences based on the software.

intercom If you have a question or any feedback about our documentation please use the Intercom button (purple circle) in the lower right corner of any web page.