ThingLink Mobile VR (WebVR) – ThingLink Support Center

ThingLink supports viewing 360° images and videos in virtual reality (VR) mode on any mobile device or a VR headset’s browser using the WebVR/WebXR standard. For more functionality and a powerful experience on headsets, we recommend using the ThingLink XR app.

This article provides an overview of controls, limitations, and certain specifics of creating and viewing ThingLink in VR mode on mobile:

What tag content works in mobile VR?
General limitations
How to view ThingLink content in VR on mobile
Known issues

Are you using a VR headset? Check out the following articles for more information:

Note: The ThingLink XR app offers broader feature support, including enhanced VR scenario viewing and offline viewing.

What tag content works in mobile VR?

Images
Audio recordings
Text labels
Transit tags & conditional transitions
Videos uploaded into ‘Text and media’ tags
Poll tags

General limitations of mobile VR Mode

Mobile VR Mode is a convenient way to view ThingLink VR experiences via a browser, but certain limitations should be kept in mind when preparing content:

Clicking web links in image & text tags is not supported
Tags with embedded content from the web (including embeds from ThingLink) are not supported.
External videos (e.g. YouTube) are not supported.
Question tag type is not supported
Text label tags may display fewer characters than they do in normal mode.
Animated pictures (GIFs and aPNGs) won't be animated.
Color styling/customization for text & media tags is not supported.
Floor plans in virtual tours are not supported.
Guided mode & locked are not supported.

We recommend using Google Chrome for previewing VR content on your computer.

Note that most functionality above works on the Thinglink XR app for headsets.

How to view ThingLink in VR mode

Opening ThingLink in VR:

On your PC, open your scene then click the 'Share' button
Navigate to the 'View in VR' tab
Either copy the link or click the 'Get short link' button to generate a short link:
Open the link or short link on your device to view the content

General controls:

Mobile VR uses gaze controls. You'll see a white dot in the center of the screen - simply move your head and point at the dot at different elements to activate them.

Point at a tag icon to open a tag
Point at the ‘Close tag’ button to close a tag
If there are multiple images/videos in a tag, you can scroll through them using the left and right arrow buttons shown next to the tag popup
Use the 'Up' and 'Down' buttons to scroll through long description text
Use the 'Pause'/'Play' button to control tag videos

Look down to show the player menu:
- Use the 'Exit VR' button in the player menu to exit the VR experience.
- Use the 'Back' button in the player menu if you are stuck in your tour
- Use the 'Mute/Unmute' buttons to mute or unmute the background audio

Viewing ThingLink VR from your phone

While it is possible to view ThingLink VR from a phone, you would still need a headset similar to Google Cardboard.

If you are having trouble viewing VR from your phone, please make sure that you are using the latest OS version. If your phone is running on Android, make sure to enable WebVR for Android. Older devices may be unable to load VR mode due to a lack of processing power.

Known issues

In rare cases, the video and audio tracks do not load properly. If you encounter this issue, simply reload the experience.
360° videos and 2D videos are currently not supported on Android. We recommend using iOS devices or standalone headsets, like Oculus Quest.