"Enhancing user engagement in ThreeJS: a guide to incorporating interactivity

After successfully rendering a model in ThreeJS, my next task is to incorporate interactivity by:

  1. Coloring specific parts of the model based on user input.
  2. Implementing a feature where clicking on any part of the model triggers it to be highlighted.

As a newcomer to ThreeJS, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. How can I achieve this interactive functionality?

Answer №1

  1. If you are looking to make updates to specific parts of the model, it is important to focus on textures and materials. You can find some helpful examples here.
  2. When interacting with the model, consider whether you want the entire model to be highlighted or just the face currently under the mouse cursor. In a 3D environment, you will need to create a vector representing the mouse position relative to the camera's projection matrix. By casting a ray from the camera's position into the scene, you can determine which object(s) intersect with it. This functionality is already present in various samples, such as canvas_interactive_cubes:

Within the init() function:

document.addEventListener( 'mousedown', onDocumentMouseDown, false );

Add the following code snippet:

function onDocumentMouseDown( event ) {

                event.preventDefault();

                var vector = new THREE.Vector3( ( event.clientX / window.innerWidth ) * 2 - 1, - ( event.clientY / window.innerHeight ) * 2 + 1, 0.5 );
                projector.unprojectVector( vector, camera );

                var ray = new THREE.Ray( camera.position, vector.subSelf( camera.position ).normalize() );

                var intersects = ray.intersectObjects( objects );

                if ( intersects.length > 0 ) {

                    intersects[ 0 ].object.material.color.setHex( Math.random() * 0xffffff );

                    var particle = new THREE.Particle( particleMaterial );
                    particle.position = intersects[ 0 ].point;
                    particle.scale.x = particle.scale.y = 8;
                    scene.add( particle );

                }

                /*
                // Parse all the faces
                for ( var i in intersects ) {

                    intersects[ i ].face.material[ 0 ].color.setHex( Math.random() * 0xffffff | 0x80000000 );

                }
                */
            }

It is recommended to build upon this foundation.

Answer №2

Have an upcoming event? Let this event manager assist you.

import { Scene, PerspectiveCamera, WebGLRenderer, Mesh, BoxGeometry, MeshBasicMaterial } from 'three';
import { InteractionManager } from 'three.interaction';

const renderer = new WebGLRenderer({ canvas: canvasElement });
const scene = new Scene();
const camera = new PerspectiveCamera(60, width / height, 0.1, 100);

// Create a new manager to easily add interactive elements
const interactionManager = new InteractionManager(renderer, scene, camera);

const cube = new Mesh(
  new BoxGeometry(1, 1, 1),
  new MeshBasicMaterial({ color: 0xffffff }),
);
cube.cursor = 'pointer';
cube.on('click', function(ev) {});
cube.on('touchstart', function(ev) {});
cube.on('touchcancel', function(ev) {});
cube.on('touchmove', function(ev) {});
cube.on('touchend', function(ev) {});
cube.on('mousedown', function(ev) {});
cube.on('mouseout', function(ev) {});
cube.on('mouseover', function(ev) {});
cube.on('mousemove', function(ev) {});
cube.on('mouseup', function(ev) {});
// ...

scene.add(cube);

For more information, visit the three.interaction.js GitHub page

Answer №3

revision

function handleMouseDownEvent( e ) {

                    e.preventDefault();

                    var vec = new THREE.Vector3( ( e.clientX / window.innerWidth ) * 2 - 1, - ( e.clientY / window.innerHeight ) * 2 + 1, 0.5 );
                    projector.unprojectVector( vec, camera );

                    var ray = new THREE.Raycaster( camera.position, vec.sub( camera.position ).normalize() );

                    var hits = ray.intersectObjects( elements );

                    if ( hits.length > 0 ) {

                        hits[ 0 ].object.material.color.setHex( Math.random() * 0xffffff );

                        var part = new THREE.Sprite( particleMaterial );
                        part.position = hits[ 0 ].point;
                        part.scale.x = part.scale.y = 16;
                        scene.add( part );

                    }

                }

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