Like to try a significantly improved Web Browser asset?

Our Development team has worked overtime to improve the rendering quality and performance of our Web Browser asset - and you get to try it out.

We’ve put it into Composer Version 6.1 Beta and you can download either (or both) of the versions below:

You’ll be downloading a zip file; simply unzip it then run IntuiFaceComposer.exe. There is no installer. (Yes, you can run the beta side-by-side with Version 6.0 and 5.x.)

We want you to tell us if you run into any problems so try out your favorite websites. Push the envelope. Tell us if you love it or hit roadblocks. Here’s what you should see:

  • Significantly improved rendering quality and performance of 3D, VR, animation and other resource intensive / high frame rate technologies
  • Improved resolution, including better font quality
  • Better scrolling performance
  • Better support for multi-touch gestures (e.g. we’ve eliminated the need for the Web Browser asset’s Interaction mode property)

To share your impressions and findings, please list them below in a comment.

KEEP IN MIND:

  • An experience, once used in Composer 6.1, cannot be opened in Composer 6.0. If you want to open one of your existing experiences in Composer 6.1, first do a ‘Save As’ in Composer 6.0 to ensure you have a reliable copy. The official release of Version 6.1 won’t appear until September so don’t use the beta for real work.
  • Risk factors for bad performance (we’re working on them now)
    • Old video cards
    • Out of date video card drivers
    • Use of virtual machines (like Parallels)
  • 3D models using a physics engine (e.g. to handle collisions) currently don’t perform well. If you have examples, please share them with us.
  • Don’t run Chrome - or other Chromium-based Web engines - when testing the beta. We’ve found that running Chromium standalone at the same time as it’s used in Composer can cause performance issues for both.
  • These Web Browser asset improvements affect Composer and Player for Windows. Player on all other supported platforms are unaffected by this work.
  • Standalone Player is not yet available for beta testing. But remember, Composer’s Play Mode is actually Player.

This is just one example of the fine work going into Version 6.1. You can expect other goodies, like a significantly improved 3D Model Asset and a brand new HTML Asset enabling you to easily embed your own Web content.

We hope you like it!

4 Likes

This is a terrific enhancement. I’m having no problem with the few websites that were challenges over the past year.

Hi @gordon_johnson,

thanks for your feedback !

Could you please share with us the hardware specification of the device you used to perform your tests (GPU, CPU, RAM …) ?

Warm regards

Alban

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
RAM: 32GB
GPU: Intel® HD Graphics 530 - There’s also an NVIDIA Quadro M1000M w/2GB, but it remains inactive while Intuiface runs.

I just experimented 6.1 with a Matterport model (Temple 东景缘 (Temple Dongjingyuan), Beijing - Matterport 3D Showcase), which used to lag in the past. At first, I didn’t notice any performance enhancement and the mouse wouldn’t work to navigate. Then I read @geoff warning about keeping both Chrome and 6.1 open at the same time. I closed Chrome and sure enough, the model works much smoother and the mouse works too. Nice job!
Using a MacBook Pro with Win10 running in Bootcamp.

Seems to be much better when running our signage program, but still a bit laggy compared to what we are used to. I can send a link to our signage program through the support website. Our displays will typically run on a flavor of chrome/chromium or electron, often with something like an Intel NUC/M3/4GB, which seem to perform pretty solid when it comes to digital signage. My PC is Xeon 1505M, 16GB, Quadro M2000M, which I’ve set to be enabled when I ran the beta composer.

Any idea when this might be available? I have a proposed project needing content that works with this embedded browser.

Well, further testing has found an issue. I’m seeing touch itself become unresponsive on my system requiring me to reconnect the USB connection. I’d be glad to share my test experience with support to see if it can be reproduced. It could very well be an issue with my laptop as it’s been screwy since the Win 10 Creators Update. The website uses content from these folks http://virtualmarketing360.com/portfolio_page/double-barrel/

Thanks to your feedback and lots of additional Dev effort, the next version of IntuiFace Version 6.1 Beta is ready. It’s all the good stuff about the new/improved Web Browser Asset for Windows PCs mentioned above in my original post above, just better.

BONUS FEATURE: You can also try out our new HTML Asset. In it you can enter your own HTML/JavaScript and, optionally, add CSS guidance as well. Under the covers we’re using the same Chromium-based Web engine as the Web Browser asset. This is an excellent back door for including capability and visuals not achievable with IntuiFace itself, and no Web connection is required.

To try it out:

As before, you’ll be downloading a zip file; simply unzip it then run IntuiFaceComposer.exe. There is no installer. (Yes, you can run the beta side-by-side with Version 6.0 and 5.x.)

About the Web Browser asset:

  • All but one of the “Keep In Mind” comments in my original post above still apply. The exception? Now you can go ahead and run any 3D models you get your hands on!
  • A significant change in the new beta is we favor low-powered PCs by default. If you’re on a screaming fast PC and want to see how you can tweak IntuiFace to get (potentially) even better performance, download the attached file, unzip it, and place the resulting file - named local.config - in the folder C:\ProgramData\IntuiLab\IntuiFace\Composer. If you’ve never installed Composer on your PC then this folder doesn’t exist and you’ll have to create it manually.
    What type of PC would qualify for this performance-enhancing tweak? Any PC with an independent, game-optimized GPU.

About the HTML Asset

  • You’ll find it in the Assets panel. In the Properties panel for the HTML Asset you’ll find an HTML Content property and a CSS property. That’s where you enter your HTML/JavaScript and, optionally, your style sheet content.

Please share your impressions and findings below in a comment.

1 Like

The HTML asset is a blessing :slight_smile:
Would be great if the edit field of the HTML/CSS code would be bigger/extendable

1 Like

Hi @abel.arnoldussen,

thanks for reporting this !

I’ve pushed your feedback about the size of the HTML/CSS editor to the team. We’ll do our best to improve this for the 6.1 release.

Warm regards,

Alban

1 Like

HTML Asset is pretty cool, I must say.

  • I copied embed code from a Google Calendar
  • I pulled in rich text from an api
    Both seemed to work quite well at first try. Great news!
1 Like

I just tested a Matterport virtual tour in 6.0, and then the same URL in the latest 6.1 beta (Microsoft Recruiting Lobby - Redmond, WA Campus - Matterport 3D Showcase). Chrome was closed and I used the default settings. In 6.0, I could use the mouse to navigate around. But the same XP loaded and converted in 6.1 would not respond to my mouse, just my arrow keys. Are there a specific settings that I forgot to check? thanks

Hi @tosolini thank you for the feedback! we have reproduce the mouse issue on our side. We will soon make available an updated version of IntuiFace Beta. The mouse manipulation problem you have encountered will not be fixed in this version, however in the new beta version you will be able to use a touchscreen to test the matterport page.

Best regards,
Mihai