We've made some updates to the Human Viewer and web app to simplify the user experience and make our tools easier to discover.

 

Simplified 3D navigation and tools 

Product: BioDigital Human web app and Human Viewer

3D controls

The 3D Controls menu is now fully expanded in the lower-right right corner of the Viewer and View page to make the controls easier to discover and use. In addition to expanding the menu, we also make the following updates:

• Increased the size of the menu and icons.
• Replaced the Recenter icon with a more recognizable symbol.
• Changed the order of the icons.

 

Exploration tools

We've made our exploration tools more accessible by consolidating them into a single menu with a universally recognizable menu icon. We've also made a few changes to the tools themselves:

• Some of the tool names and icons have been updated to better convey their meaning. The tools now available in the tool menu are as follows:
  • Search
  • Layers (will appear only when available for a model)
  • Explore (renamed from "Explore Tools")
  • Draw (renamed from "Whiteboard")
  • Enter Fullscreen
  • Help
• Hide labels has been removed from the menu entirely.
• Undo and Redo have also been relocated from the menu to their own dedicated toolbar (see Redesigned undo/redo below).
• Help now appears at the bottom of the menu instead of the top.

Any new tools released in the future will be added to this menu as well, so you'll always know where to find them.

Before

 

After

 

Chapter and animation navigation

Now that the exploration tools have been consolidated into their own menu (see Exploration tools above), the toolbar to the left of the menu is dedicated to chapter and animation navigation.

Our chapter navigation controls will always include the following options (these have not changed):

• Previous: <Chapter Name> and Next: <Chapter Name> arrows that enable you to navigate forward or back one chapter at a time.
• A Chapter List button (e.g., 1 of 8) that opens the Chapter List when clicked and serves multiple purposes:
  
  • Tells you the total number of chapters in the tour.
  • Indicates what chapter you are currently viewing at any given time.
  • Provides a comprehensive list of chapters available in the current tour.
  • Enables you to jump to a different chapter by name.

 

Our media controls may include any of the following options or a combination of these options:

• A Play/Pause Animation button that, when clicked, pauses the animation wherever it currently is in its cycle and, when clicked again, resumes playing the animation.
• An Open Media Bar button that, when clicked, opens a new toolbar with the following advanced media controls:
  • Play/Pause Animation
  • Play Chapter from Start
  • An animation scrubber (drag back and forth to move the animation manually or to start the animation from a new point in its cycle)
  • (If applicable) Play/Pause Audio
  • Close Media Bar
• (If applicable) Play / Pause Audio button

The exact combination of controls presented to the learner will depend on whether the model contains multiple chapters and/or media. For example, if a tour contains five chapters and only one of these chapters contains animated elements, the four non-animated chapters will contain only chapter navigation controls, and the one animated chapter will contain chapter navigation controls and media controls.

 

More prominent Undo/Redo/Reset options

Product: BioDigital Human web app and Human Viewer

The Undo/Redo buttons (previously nested in the "Explore Tools" toolbar) and the Reset button (previously positioned underneath the 3D controls) have been unified into a single toolbar and relocated for easier access.

As soon as a model has been modified*, the Undo/Redo/Reset toolbar will appear at the top of the 3D scene so it is immediately obvious that the action can be undone.

*Applicable tools include the Search, Layers, and Explore tools, and any of the advanced actions available for individual anatomical structures.

Note: If the Reset option was selected when a model was published (i.e., the model's URL contains &ui-reset=true), the Undo/Redo/Reset toolbar has already been enabled. To enable the new Undo/Redo/Reset toolbar in new models you publish, select Undo under Display Options when you publish your model, or add the URL parameter &ui-undo=true to your existing BioDigital Human URL(s).

 

New Getting Started Tutorial prompt

Product: BioDigital Human web app and Human Viewer

In the Viewer and the View page in the web app, new users* will now see a small welcome message in the upper-right corner that encourages them to launch our Getting Started Tutorial, which has been shown to increase users' confidence in 3D navigation. Users can either click Launch Tutorialto accept and begin the tutorial, or click the X in the upper-right corner to decline.

*Note: In the Viewer, the new welcome message will only appear in two scenarios:

1. The Getting Started Tutorial has not been enabled for a given model.
2. The learner has not already launched the tutorial by navigating to it via the menu.

In both cases, the learner might not otherwise have a chance to see the tutorial.

On the other hand, the welcome message will not appear in either of the following scenarios, where an additional prompt is unnecessary:

1. You enabled the "Getting Started Tutorial" option when you published your model (or your BioDigital URL includes ui-tutorial=true). If this is the case, the first screen of the tutorial will launch automatically, and no welcome message will appear first.
2. The learner has already seen the tutorial by navigating to it via the menu.

For information about how the tutorial works and how to enable it in your published models, see our release notes from April 2020.

 

Will I be asked to launch the tutorial every time?

In both the Viewer and the Viewer page, the welcome message will appear every time until you launch the tutorial or click the X to hide the message. As soon as you do, you will no longer see the welcome message unless you switch devices or clear your cookies and site settings.

To delete your cookies and site settings in Chrome, you can either visit chrome://settings/siteData search for "biodigital.com," and clear all associated data, or take the following steps:

If you're using a different browser, click here for instructions.

 

Can I relaunch the tutorial later?

Yes, you can relaunch the tutorial in the Viewer or View page by clicking Menu > Help > Launch Tutorial. 

Consistent primary and secondary Chapter Lists

Product: BioDigital Human web app and Human Viewer

The secondary Chapter List has been removed from its fixed position in the information panel and is now available on demand in any tour in which it is enabled. This update declutters the panel and mirrors the design of the primary Chapter List (see Chapter and animation navigation above).

In any given tour, the primary Chapter List is always available from the chapter navigation controls, whereas the secondary Chapter List will appear in the information panel only when both of the following criteria are met:

1. The Chapter List option was selected when the tour was published. (If this is the case, the model's URL will contain &ui-chapter-list=true.) 
2. The current width of the Viewer is ≥961px.

If both criteria are met, the secondary Chapter List can be opened by clicking on the chapter title. 

Note: To enable the secondary Chapter List for your published models, select Chapter List under Display Options when you publish your model, or add the URL parameter &ui-chapter-list=true to your existing BioDigital Human URL(s).

 

Clearer call-to-action buttons on model tiles

Product: BioDigital Human web app

We've made two updates to the model tiles you see in Explore and your Dashboard:

• Easier access to primary tools: The Customize in Studio(previously "Edit in Studio") and Add to My Models / Team Models options have been made into standalone buttons so you can select them in one click instead of two. (In your Dashboard, additional options will still appear in the More Options menu.)
  

 

• Greater emphasis on tours: Tours are already identified by a "tour" tag that appears underneath the model title on its tile. Now, when you hover over a tour's tile, the View button reads "View Tour" to further distinguish it from our standalone models. (See What is a tour? to learn more about the power of tours!)
  

 

Easier navigation from View page

Product: BioDigital Human web app

We've introduced a header on the View page to match the style of the rest of the app and to make it easier to navigate to other pages. The header now houses the following menu options:

• A new Back button in the upper-left corner that takes you back to the last page you were on. Previously, the only way to go back on mobile devices was to press the browser's "back" button. Now it's obvious how to return to the previous page no matter what type of device you're using.
• A Customize in Studio (previously "Edit in Studio") button in the upper-right corner.
• A newly standalone Add to My Models / Team Models button to the right of the Customize in Studio button.