Browser-based 3D app

[LCS.slipgatecentral]

Hi!



I’m the developer of LCS Hair Designer https://lcs.tools,

a browser-based hair grooming tool for game artists, launching this September. Our users are 3D professionals - many own SpaceMouse devices, and we want supporting them to be first-class.



We’ve already built two integration paths: direct WebHID reading, and a client for the local Navigation Library WebSocket service (the interface 3DconnexionJS uses). Both work, but neither is reliable enough to ship as a default:



• With 3DxWare running, WebHID receives no input reports, so users currently have to kill the driver to use the device in our app — which breaks it for their other software. Not something we can ask customers to do.

• The WebSocket service connection fails on some machines (possibly the 127.51.68.120 loopback certificate), and it returns only computed camera matrices — our app has its own carefully tuned navigation feel, which gets discarded.



What we’d like to ask:



1. Is the Navigation Library WebSocket interface officially supported for third-party web apps, and which minimum driver version should we require?

2. How is the loopback TLS certificate maintained, and how are expiries communicated to developers?

3. Is there any supported way to read raw 6DOF axis values while 3DxWare is running?

4. How should a web app register itself for a per-application profile in 3DxWare?



We’d gladly join the developer program and work with whatever you recommend - we just want SpaceMouse users to plug in and have it work.



Thanks for your time!

[ngomes]

• With 3DxWare running, WebHID receives no input reports

This is unexpected. Are you positive your customers are reporting this on Windows?

On the Mac, our driver does indeed block HID. The blocking is necessary because the system -- for reasons we cannot fathom -- uses the SpaceMouse data to move the mouse pointer, interfering with normal usage of both the mouse and the SpaceMouse.

• The WebSocket service connection fails on some machines (possibly the 127.51.68.120 loopback certificate)

The driver installers (Mac and Windows) copy the certificate to the system store (more information on this FAQ article). The exception is Firefox that has its own certificate store. Our software does have a provision to handle Firefox separately, though.

1. Is the Navigation Library WebSocket interface officially supported for third-party web apps, and which minimum driver version should we require?

The 3DconnexionJS is a documented interface intended to be used by third-party web apps. The documentation is included in the latest version of the 3DxWare SDK. The SDK has the minimum required driver version as it will vary depending on the SDK.

2. How is the loopback TLS certificate maintained, and how are expiries communicated to developers?

The certificate (to be used on the Secure WebSocket) is installed by the driver. It is refreshed when the driver is reinstalled. For more details, please refer to the FAQ article linked above.

3. Is there any supported way to read raw 6DOF axis values while 3DxWare is running?

We're are only aware of the web APIs. These being "WebHID" and "Gamepad API". We do not use these interfaces due to their limitations (3DconnexionJS was developed to work around those limitations) but we are aware others use them. On the Mac, our driver will block the system from processing the device data (for reasons explained above). If there is a workable alternative, we will be more than glad to consider it.

4. How should a web app register itself for a per-application profile in 3DxWare?

The application-specific driver configurations ship in the driver installer. If you'd like 3Dconnexion to include a configuration for your web program, you will want to get in touch with my colleagues that manage the certification programme (for contact details, see the "Developer" page here).

We’d gladly join the developer program and work with whatever you recommend - we just want SpaceMouse users to plug in and have it work.

Likewise! Thanks for supporting the SpaceMouse on your product.