Gestures, camera controls, and reaction tools

Encourage audience participation with Breakroom's gestures, camera controls, and reaction tools. Learn how users can actively participate in events and keep tabs on their immediate environment.

Overview

People start to identify with their avatars the moment they see them come to life through movement. Avatar gestures and interactive animations can turn even the most stoic user into a virtual conference convert, increasing satisfaction and engagement. To that end, Breakroom's conferencing system includes gestures, camera control options, and reaction tools designed to keep users on task and let them express themselves.

Accessing gestures and camera controls

When you enter an auditorium, breakout space, or any area that contains furniture designed to work with the Breakroom conferencing system, you will see blue tags hovering over the available seats. To sit down, click on a blue tag.

Once you are seated, two panels will appear on the left side of the screen. These panels allow you to deploy several single-person gestures and adjust your current camera angle.

We will now review the tools contained in these panels, and explain how they can be used to enrich the Breakroom experience. To keep things simple, we will also discuss the Raise Hand and Emoji buttons available in the reactions bar at the top of the screen, as noted in our introduction to the conferencing system.

Gestures

The gestures panel gives users the ability to applaud, cheer, or clap to show their appreciation and support. Simply click one of the labeled buttons, and your avatar will perform the corresponding action.

Here a user has clicked the Stand & Cheer button.

Camera controls

The camera control panel consists of several buttons that immediately and seamlessly move your camera to a predetermined position. You can position your camera behind your avatar, in front of your avatar (for a first-person perspective), or focus on the speaker or screen.

The Free Look button releases your camera so that you can control it manually, using Breakroom's built-in camera controls. Region Owners and others with advanced permissions can edit the position of these cameras, as well as which cameras are listed in the menu.

If the camera control buttons become unresponsive while you're seated in a chair, press the Esc key to exit fly camera mode.

Raise Hand button

The location of the Raise Hand button.

Clicking on the Raise Hand button animates your avatar briefly, allowing them to raise their hand. A colorful hand icon will also appear over your avatar's head, and remain there until the Raise Hand button is clicked again. This function can be used to conduct impromptu audience polls or manage audience questions.

Here a user is raising his hand. Notice that the Raise Hand button is highlighted in green, indicating that it is active.

Please note that the Raise Hand button is only an interactive gesture, and does not function as part of the moderator controls. For more information about collecting and managing audience questions through the moderator controls, please see this page.

Emoji button

The location of the primary Emoji button.

Clicking on the Emoji button reveals a menu of various emojis designed to let users express their (naturally quite positive!) feelings about your event. These emojis will be displayed in a fun, brief animated burst above the avatar's head.

Here a user has chosen the "LOL" emoji. A burst of animated figures is shown above his head.

Removing or deactivating the Emoji button

The Emoji button comes pre-installed in many Breakroom region templates. To remove the Emoji button from a region that currently contains it, or to temporarily disable the Emoji button without removing it, follow these steps.

1. Open the Region Editor by clicking the Edit Room button located at the bottom of your screen.

2. In the Objects window, expand the room floor by clicking the > arrow located to the left of its name. Locate the Breakroom Emoji System object. (Alternatively, you can search for "Emoji" in the search field.)

3. To remove the Emoji button: To the right of the Breakroom Emoji System object, you'll see a trash can icon. Click this icon to delete the object from the region. You will see the Emoji button disappear from your screen, and see the Breakroom Emoji System object disappear from the Objects window.

4. To temporarily disable the Emoji button: To the right of the Breakroom Emoji System object, you'll see an eye icon. Click this icon to temporarily disable or "mute" the button. You will see the Emoji button disappear from your screen, while the Breakroom Emoji System object remains in the Objects window.

5. Click the Save button in the bottom right corner to save your work. Click the Close button to exit the Region Editor.

Installing or reactivating the Emoji button

To install the Emoji button in a region, or to reactivate it, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Region Editor by clicking the Edit Region button located at the bottom of your screen.

2. To install the Emoji button:

   1. Open your Inventory by clicking on the Inventory button at the bottom of the screen.

   2. Within your inventory, locate the starter pack item called Breakroom Basic Emojis. It's represented by this icon:
   3. Click on the object icon. Then click on a location in your region to place the Breakroom Basic Emojis object down. (Note: This object is invisible—you can place it anywhere. However, we encourage you to locate it at 0,0,0 in your region by manually editing the Transform component.)

3. To reactivate a disabled Emoji button: In the Objects window, expand the room floor. Locate the Breakroom Emoji System object. Click the eye icon associated with the object.

4. Click the Save button in the bottom right corner to save your work. Click the Close button to exit the Region Editor.