User guide

1 · Install

On the computer

You need Rhino 8 for Windows (8.35 or newer). The plug-in comes in a .yak package that includes the server. When you join the beta, the download link arrives by email.

1. Close Rhino.
2. Open a cmd window and install the package: "C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\System\Yak.exe" install "path\e-space-….yak" (dragging the file onto Rhino does not work).
3. Open Rhino: the Es… commands appear and, in Grasshopper, the E-SPACE tab.
4. The first time it connects, Windows asks whether to allow the server network access: choose allow on private networks. Without it, the phone and the Quest cannot connect.

On the Meta Quest 3

The app is installed from the Quest library (today through a private Meta testing channel: we invite you with your account). When you open it, it asks for camera permission, to read QR codes, and for hand tracking.

On the phone

You install the APK and allow “install apps from this source”. More details on the phone page.

2 · Prepare the model

• Work in meters or let the plug-in convert the document units: everything travels in meters with the Z axis up.
• To see Grasshopper geometry, connect it to a Sync Geometry (below). Ordinary Rhino objects travel by themselves with the connection.
• The Rhino layers appear in the viewer and can be switched on or off from there.
• If your definition uses Breps, convert them to meshes before the Sync: recalculation is faster and the model arrives sooner.

3 · QR markers (to anchor with QR)

If you are going to place the model with QR codes, prepare them before going to the site:

1. Place them in RhinoWith EsMarker you mark the corner of each QR (typing coordinates or with a click) and give it a name (ES-01, ES-02…). Think about where you will stick them on the real site.
2. See where it is accurateWith EsPrecision you see a color map of the model: blue is accurate, green acceptable and red has drift. Add markers where needed.
3. Print themEsMarkerPrint builds the A4 sheet with the QR codes. Print at real size (150 mm per side is recommended).
4. Stick them on siteOn the same points in the real place, well measured (tape measure or laser). The more exact they are, the more exact the model.

4 · Open the session in Rhino

1. Open your Rhino file.
2. Run EsSync. Rhino opens the session, starts the server by itself and shows a page with the session QR code. Keep it visible on the screen.
3. With EsPanel you can see the status and the viewers that connect.

5 · Link the viewer

With the Meta Quest 3

1. Open E-SPACEIt greets you with an animation (“Reading your space… Transforming your space…”) that ends with the logo and the welcome. It cannot be skipped; it lasts about 6 seconds.
2. The tutorial“See tutorial” shows you in 6 steps how to grab, push away and pull closer, scale and rotate, and how to open the menu, with animated hands. You can also tap “Skip”.
3. Tap “Link”The camera turns on. Put the session QR inside the box at the center of your view, about 40–60 cm away.
4. WaitIt goes through “Connecting” and “Connected”; if Rhino does not yet have the file open with E-SPACE, it says it is waiting for it.
5. Choose how to place it“How do you want to place the model?” appears with three options and a mini tutorial for the one you choose.

With the phone

Open the app, point the camera at the session QR and wait for the connection. If you cannot scan, type the code by hand.

6 · Place the model

With QR (the most accurate)

1. Approach a printed marker and look at it from about 40–60 cm, holding still: the model settles into place.
2. Add more markers (two or more): the model is oriented and stays at 1:1.
3. Walk around the place: when you see other QR codes, the position is corrected. If the app says “Move your head more slowly”, go slower.
4. In the menu, Anchoring tab, look at the error and the confidence indicator (green, amber, red). When you are happy, tap Fix so it stops being corrected.

By hand (points)

1. No need to scan: with the controller tip or your index fingertip, tap the real corner of each marker (the app tells you which one is next) and squeeze the trigger or pinch.
2. To correct a point, grab it and drag it.
3. With all of them placed, the model is anchored and fixed. The app shows the approximate error.

On the floor or a table

1. Choose Floor or Table in the menu (Anchoring → Floor / table).
2. For a table: “Measure the table height” and rest the controller tip or your finger on it.
3. Close the menu, point at the surface and squeeze where the model goes: the blue circle shows where it lands.
4. Rotate in 15° steps. Choose the scale (for example 1:10 for a scale model). To move it as a whole later, tap Reposition.

7 · Work with the pieces

Point at a piece and grab it with the trigger or a pinch (on the phone, tap it). Only the pieces Grasshopper allows to move can be moved.

• If you hold still for a moment while grabbing with both hands, you can choose another gesture without letting go; if you get it wrong, bring your hands back and it undoes.
• To return everything to how Grasshopper calculates it: menu → Session → Reset all (asks to confirm).
• What you move reaches Rhino and the other viewers. With EsInteract ordinary Rhino objects can also be moved.

8 · The menu

On the Quest, open it with the ≡ button on the left controller or with the palm of your left hand facing you (half a second). It follows you and closes by itself if you stop looking at it. Six tabs:

• Anchoring: modes, error, confidence, Fix / Restart / Re-anchor / Reposition.
• Layers: switch layers on and off (also in Rhino).
• View: Realistic, Shaded, Wireframe or Edges. The last two show only the outline and let you see the real thing behind: they are your ally when the model blocks what is in front of you.
• Param: sliders with ‹ › arrows, tappable number with keypad, toggles, lists and buttons from your definition.
• Scale: from 1:1 to 1:100 (with QR or points by hand, always 1:1).
• Session: data, Reset all, Unlink and Close.

9 · From Grasshopper

1. Connect the geometryPlace a Sync Geometry (E-SPACE tab) and connect the geometry (meshes, curves, texts). Choose a material and a layer.
2. Choose what can be doneIn Interaction check Move, Rotate and/or Scale. With nothing checked, the piece stays fixed (normal for closed walls and installations).
3. Enable parametersTurn on the E-SPACE square next to the sliders, toggles and lists you want to touch from the viewer. They appear in the Param tab.
4. Show one course at a timeA classic: Slider → List Item → Sync Geometry; with the viewer's ‹ › arrows you step from one to the next.
5. Number the piecesWith Text Dot or Text Entity in the geometry, every piece carries its visible code.
6. Listen to the viewerWith the Get components and the events (On Tap, On Hover) your definition reacts to what the viewer user sees and touches.

Ways to use it

Accuracy tips

• Look at QR codes up close, at 40–60 cm; a 150 mm QR is not read well beyond 3–4 m.
• More QR codes, better. With two or more the model is oriented; with three or more, the local error goes down because the three closest are used.
• Place them carefully: the model is only as exact as the real position of the QR codes.
• Look at a QR again now and then if you walk a lot: the headset's tracking drifts with the path (about 1 %).
• Use the confidence indicator: when it is amber or red, look at a QR to correct.
• Do not read while moving: stop, look at the QR for a moment and go on.
• With Fix the anchoring stops being corrected even if you see another QR: use it once you are happy.

Troubleshooting

If the problem continues, see the questions and answers or write to us with what you saw: [contact email].