VRwave mouse bindings were assigned with two goals in mind (in that order):
In general, in VRwave you can
The left mouse button can either be used for navigation (to move your view in the scene) or for interaction with the scene (via TouchSensors and various VRML 2.0 dragging sensors). Use the interaction toggle in the display menu or on the toolbar to toggle between these two modes (you can also hit ctrl-i or the TAB key to toggle modes).
You can use the control key in combination with the left mouse button to temporarily switch between the two modes (e.g. to activate an anchor in navigation mode or to navigate in interaction mode). The middle and right mouse buttons are always used for navigation, thus you can e.g. use the left mouse button for interaction and the right one for navigation in heads-up mode at the same time.
This table is a short summary of the mouse functions in the individual navigation modes.
You can also use the cursor keys instead of dragging the mouse (cursor up/down/left/right corresponds to the according mouse movement), where the same modifier keys (meta, shift) as for single button mice are used to extend functionality.
I.e. use the meta (or alt) key to perform actions bound to the right mouse button via cursor keys, and the shift key to emulate the middle mouse button (see above). Specific to navigation with cursor keys: use the control key to navigate faster (except in fly-to mode).
| Navigation | mouse | cursor keys | |
| 3 button | emulation | ||
| flip | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| translate object/scene | drag left | cursor keys | |
| rotate object (around origin) | drag middle | shift+left | shift+cursor |
| zoom object | drag right | meta+left | meta+up/down |
| walk | |||
| forwards/backwards, sidewards motion | drag left | cursor keys | |
| translate (pan) view | drag middle | shift+left | shift+cursor |
| look around (turn eyes) | drag right | meta+left | meta+cursor |
| heads-up | |||
| look around (turn eyes) | eye icon | meta+cursor | |
| forwards/backwards, sidewards motion | body icon | cursor keys | |
| translate (pan) view | arrow icon | shift+cursor | |
| fly-to | |||
| set/move point of interest | click/drag left | ||
| move straight towards/ away from point of interest | hold middle | shift+left | cursor up |
| hold right | meta+left | cursor down | |
| move towards/away from poi, adjust view direction | shift+middle | sh.+ctrl+l.* | shift+up |
| shift+right | sh.+meta+l.* | shift+down | |
| rotate towards/away from poi, keep distance unchanged | ctrl+middle | N/A* | ctrl+up |
| ctrl+right | N/A* | ctrl+down | |
| position/orientation coordinate info | shift+ctrl+rt. | sh+ctrl+m+l. | |
| interaction | |||
| TouchSensors, dragging sensors | ctrl++move/drag left | ||
| anchor activation | |||
| activate anchor (link) | double+ click | ctrl++left | |
* Alternate mouse bindings marked with * are either not available ("N/A") or are likely to disappear in future versions. Use the equivalent cursor keys if you do not have a 3 button mouse.
+ As noted in the introduction, ordinary mouse movements and clicks/drags with the left mouse button are sufficient to activate anchors (follow links) or to interact with touch or dragging sensors when in interaction mode (TAB key). The control key is only necessary to access these functions when in navigation mode.
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