SimStad Interface

The SimStad Interface is the Phaser-based touchscreen application for the SimStad exhibition. It is used to explore stories and control the exhibit as a visitor.

The Interface loads exhibition content from Omni, sends commands to the Unreal Engine application, and can control supplementary displays and audio through PIXILAB Blocks.

For installation, operation, and maintenance instructions, see the complete Interface documentation.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or newer
• A configured Omni instance with a City Exhibit and content
• A local copy of Omni's media folder, either on the same computer or synchronized with Syncthing

The web version requires a current browser. The packaged Windows application requires Microsoft Edge 89 or newer and WebView2. WebView2 is included with Windows 11.

Quick start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/c-toolbox/SimStad-Interface.git
   cd SimStad-Interface

2. Install the dependencies:

   npm install

3. Configure config.json as described below.

4. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

5. Open the address printed by Vite and confirm that the expected collections and raster media appear.

Before testing the complete visitor experience, follow the Omni setup guide to create a City Exhibit, Rasters, Scenarios, Collections, and localized strings.

Configuration

The application reads config.json from the repository root at startup. A minimal local-development configuration looks like this:

{
  "MEDIA_PATH": "C:\\SimStad\\media",
  "BLOCKS_URL": "",
  "OMNI_URL": "http://localhost:8000",
  "OMNI_TOKEN": "YOUR_OMNI_CLIENT_TOKEN",
  "CITY_ID": "norrkoping",
  "IDLE_RASTER": "IdleMovie",
  "IDLE_TIME": 300,
  "IDLE_FADE": 10,
  "ONLINE": false
}

Setting	Description
MEDIA_PATH	Absolute path to a complete local copy of Omni's media folder. Escape Windows backslashes as \\ in JSON.
BLOCKS_URL	PIXILAB Blocks WebTask endpoint, normally ending in /rest/script/invoke/WebTask. Leave empty for local testing without Blocks.
OMNI_URL	Base URL of the Omni instance. Omni content is loaded even when ONLINE is false.
OMNI_TOKEN	CLIENT_TOKEN generated by the Omni Service for this installation. Do not use the Unreal application's host token.
CITY_ID	Key of the Omni City Exhibit whose content should be loaded.
IDLE_RASTER	Key of the Omni Raster shown in attraction mode.
IDLE_TIME	Seconds without interaction before the Interface resets.
IDLE_FADE	Fade-to-black duration in seconds before an idle reset.
ONLINE	Enables Blocks integration and WebSocket communication with Unreal when true. Keep false during isolated local development.

Treat service tokens as credentials. Do not commit a production token to the repository. Use separate Omni Services for development and the public installation so local testing cannot affect the live exhibit.

Build and deployment

Create the packaged Windows application with:

npm run build

The deployable application is written to dist/win/simstad-interface. Copy that directory to the exhibition computer, review its config.json, and start SimStad Interface.exe.

The build copies the root config.json into dist. The deployed application will usually require a different OMNI_TOKEN and possibly different service URLs and media path, so check the deployed copy before starting it.

The Interface reads raster images, videos, thumbnails, and other generated media from MEDIA_PATH; API access does not transfer those files. Make sure Syncthing has finished before testing changed exhibition content.