2. Getting started

• First steps
• Project Setup
• Setup types
• Matterport method
• Stages method
• Devices
• Assets
• Sweeps
• Users
• Providers
• KNX
• SmartThings
• NETx
• Fibaro
• IBM Maximo

First steps

Using SIM-ON is simple. It all starts with capturing a space for your project with a phone or a dedicated scanner. After creating an account and linking your project you can add the IoT devices and start using the full functionality of SIM-ON.

Don't have a scan? Contact Matterport Service Provider or scan the space yourself with your phone and a dedicated app: 
for Android or iOS devices.

Having trouble with your first scan?
Watch these quick tutorials on how to capture a space with and Android or iOS devices and Matterport app you downloaded.

When you're ready to create your first project in SIM-ON, be sure to check out:

• App overview where you'll find detailed descriptions of the user interface, options, and functions to help you understand what SIM-ON is and where you can find the options you need.
  
• Project setup where we'll guide you through the process of creating a new project with examples and detailed explanations.
  

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If you want to know how things work in SIM-ON, you can browse through our official playlist of tutorials we prepared.

Click on the image to see the whole playlist with useful tips and tricks on how to use SIM-ON.

Project Setup

Setup types

After creating new project, the next step is to select the setup method.

 
There are two methods of setting up the new space. You can create a visualization of your space based on a Matterport link or import one of your Stages from the Stages application.

Matterport

By selecting Matterport, you’ll be asked if you want to import rooms for your space from a selected smart home provider or create rooms yourself, then follow up with Matterport scan Linking.

NavVis

By selecting the NavVis, you’ll be asked if you want to import rooms for your space from a selected smart home provider or create rooms yourself, then follow up with NavVis scan Linking.

Stages

By selecting the Stages, you’ll be asked if you want to import rooms for your space from a selected smart home provider or create rooms yourself.

Space import process is the same for each of the setting up methods - 
you can import rooms automatically or create custom rooms yourself

Space import

Automatic room import - you need to choose the provider, log in to your account and your rooms will be imported according to the provider you choose. All devices will be imported automatically too.

Manual room setup - you need to enter names of the rooms you want to add. It will create a list of rooms that you’ll be able to assign in the 3D walk.  After naming all rooms (or part of them, you can always add/modify/remove rooms later), you can click on the button and paste Matterport link or log in to your Matterport account to select the space you want to use. After clicking and checking if the summary looks okay, you can click confirm. Learn more about creating rooms here

Follow the upcoming pages to learn about each of the setup methods in detail.

Matterport method

By selecting Matterport you will begin space creation based on the Matterport scan.

If you already have a Stages project set up, it is recommended to use the STAGES METHOD

The process is the same for all Providers SIM-ON works with. For the presentation purposes, we will be using Fibaro (NICE) and present the whole process of adding a new space with importing devices, setting sweeps to rooms and adding and renaming the devices for the space

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Importing rooms

If you do not have a smart home system that we support, or any smart system at this time, use the Custom room creation

Selecting the Import rooms option will open a SMARTHOME provider selection window, where you will be asked to choose a provider. We will be using Fibaro as our provider.

Currently supported providers are:
KNX - project setup
SmartThings - project setup
NICE (Fibaro) - project setup
NETX - project setup

After selecting your smarthome provider and logging into your account you will see a list of available rooms to choose from for an automatic import. 

At least a single room has to be selected to proceed

After completing your choice of rooms you will be prompted to provide a link to the Matterport virtual tour scan. 

If the link to your scan is private, you will need to log in into your Matterport account

Lastly you will be asked to check if everything is correct and you can start working on your project.

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Custom rooms

Custom rooms do not require any smart system, so if you plan to add one in the future, this option will work best for you

The option of custom room creation is the most suitable for clean slate space creation.

Now you will have to create rooms for the scene.

At least a single room has to be created to proceed

After creating your choice of rooms, you will be prompted to provide a link to the Matterport virtual tour scan.

If the link to your scan is private, you will need to log in into your Matterport account.

After clicking next, the last step is to check if everything is correct. If so, click confirm and you can start working on your scene: adding sweeps to rooms, assets, tickets and events or devices in the future.

Stages method

If you already have a project in Stages and Import room option, similarly to the Matterport option, you will be asked to choose the provider.

If you don't have a Stages project set up, you can use either the MATTERPORT or NAVVIS Method instead

The process is the same for all Providers SIM-ON works with. For the presentation purposes, we will be using Fibaro (NICE) and present the whole process of adding a new space with importing devices, setting sweeps to rooms and adding and renaming the devices for the space

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Importing rooms

If you do not have a smart home system that we support, or any smart system at this time, use the Custom room creation

Selecting the Import rooms option will open a SMARTHOME provider selection window, where you will be asked to choose a provider. We will be using Fibaro as our provider.

Currently supported providers are:
KNX - project setup
SmartThings - project setup
NICE (Fibaro) - project setup
NETX - project setup

After selecting your smarthome provider and logging into your account you will see a list of available rooms to choose from for an automatic import. 

At least a single room has to be selected

After selecting your choice of rooms, you will now have to select the Organization, project and stage, your scene will be built on.

After clicking next, the last step is to check if everything is correct. If so, click confirm and you can start working on your scene: adding sweeps to rooms, assets, tickets and events or devices in the future.

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Creating custom rooms

The second option, “Custom rooms,” does not require any smart system, so if you plan to add one in the future, this option will work best for you

Select Custom rooms then proceed.

Now you will have to create rooms for the scene.

At least a single room has to be created to proceed

After creating your choice of rooms, you will now have to select the Organization, project and stage, your scene will be built on.

After clicking next, the last step is to check if everything is correct. If so, click confirm and you can start working on your scene: adding sweeps to rooms, assets, tickets and events or devices in the future.

Devices

Choosing the Providers and adding Devices

There are two ways to import the devices. The first is a part of the process of creating a space - mainly, the import rooms option.  After selecting the option of importing rooms the process of connecting to providers is shown here:

KNX - project setup
SmartThings - project setup
NICE (Fibaro) - project setup
NETX - project setup

If you have more than one provider but you want to import devices from one of them only, click on the Provider dropdown and choose the desired one. If the devices were already connected to the project, they will appear in the Device list immediately

Be aware that you can import many devices but not all of them will be connected to your space. If the devices are connected to the space already, you will find them in the Device list. In the example on the right there are multiple devices that are not connected to the space

Then, In the Device list, you will see all the new Devices you just imported (or imported automatically) with information about device name, provider, HUB name, room and its status.

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Adding devices to an existing project

In the previous step we went through adding devices while creating the project. If you already created a project and you want to import devices, follow the steps below. 
In case you already created a project before and you want to add devices from another provider, you need to click on the burger menu icon, go to Providers, and then, in the Connections tab, click button.

The window will appear and you'll be able to choose the provider, log into the system and depending on the selected provider, go through necessary steps (like giving the provider permission to access the devices, hubs etc.) In this example, we added SmartThings provider and in the next step we need to choose the centrals we want to import and Accept Selected.

Next, if everything worked, we should see another HUB in the Connections tab.

To import the devices, we need to go to the Import device tab and select the devices we want to be imported to our space. After pressing Import selected button, you will be asked to choose the room the selected devices will be imported to (you can select only one at a time.)

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Renaming, editing and placing devices

The devices come with icons that shows what specific device do. Let's change the name of the power outlet.   To rename a device (if it's named automatically but not intuitive,) you can select the device from the right panel, click on it and a window will appear.   Remember that at this point, if you're editing any property and click on the on-off option, you might accidentally turn on or off some devices
After clicking on a device, you will see a window with the device details. You can click the icon to see the device structure and what it is controlling.
On the right you can change the name of the device and add the custom icon, change the category and room its assigned to. After renaming and saving the settings, you can click on the device again and see the little icon. This way you can click place the icon of the device in your space. Power outlet that is used for this walkthrough is located behind the door, so the marker is placed near the socket location.		To accept the device's icon placement, click on the icon to close the pop-up window. If you want to delete the icon, click . If you want to place the icon again, click on icon.

Assets

Adding assets

Defined as an "asset" is any object or an item you wish to keep track of in your SIM-ON space. The main difference between an "asset" and a "device" is the lack of smart connectivity of the former one.

To add an asset, navigate to Quick Access Menu located on the right side of the viewport, select Assets icon and hover over icon, to reveal "Add Asset" button and then press it.

The following window will appear on the right side of your screen:

To create an asset, you need to fill out the necessary fields, marked with " * ", then the button will become available to finalize the asset creation. 

At this stage you might as well add other asset info such as: description or photos, although it is not necessary, since you can come back at any time and edit them later.

After creating an asset, it will now appear on the right side of the viewport, under the Quick Access Menu, as well as in the assets list in the Dashboard.

Clicking the asset tile will reveal similar window as before, displaying the details of the asset. From here you can either go back to edit your asset, set it's position within 3D space or delete it altogether. 

Sweeps

Assigning sweeps to a room

To place devices within the 3D space of Virtual Tour, first we need to define the rooms within the 3D space by assigning them to "sweeps".   ‘Sweep’ as in a full Matterport camera rotation - A spot in the Matterport Space where a user can stand and look around (This includes 3D scan locations and 360º Views)

To assign sweeps, we need to be in the 3D Walk view. Click on the burger men

On the top section of the viewport, we will see "Not assigned room" and a closed lock icon. To assign the sweep to the room, click on the lock icon to unlock it, allowing you to edit the space.

Make sure you know in which room you're in and select it from the list. Before assigning the sweep to the room, the colors are faded (this is an indicator that a given sweep does not belong to any room). Once you assign the sweep to the room you should see the view in the full color. Repeat the process until all the sweeps in the area are assigned to the corresponding room.

After assigning al the sweeps to the room some devices (if set up before) might appear on the right panel. Now, the last step is to rename them (if necessary) and add their locations

You can assign all the sweeps in the project the same way. To finish you need to lock editing by clicking the lock  icon again.

After assigning the sweeps to more rooms you'll be able to use the "Jump to room" feature located at the bottom of the viewport. Available rooms (the ones that you assigned the sweeps to) won't be greyed out and if you click on any of the rooms, you'll be transported to the nearest assigned sweep within the selected room

Users

Adding Users, changing Permissions and Privileges 

If you want to add someone to your project, no matter what kind of collaborator it would be, you need to set some privileges. You can do it by clicking the burger icon and then selecting Space settings in the Side bar. First, you can add roles. By default you, as the space creator, have the OWNER role. To create new roles, go to the Role templates tab and click button. In the pop-up window enter new role name and click the confirm button. 

After accepting the new role, another window will appear, allowing you to change different privileges for the role you've just created.
You can set appropriate permissions in several categories: General privileges, Rooms, Devices, Assets, Scenes and Tickets. For the role created for this walkthrough, we will set all the privileges to View only. 

You can create multiple roles with different privileges depending on who you share the project with. If you want to share it with subcontractors, you may want to give them roles to edit assets or devices. If you want, you may want to give separate roles to plumbers, electricians, people controlling the project, your closest associates, etc. 

If you set some general privileges (eg. to create rooms), the privileges on the other categories will change too.

In the example above, the Designer has some privileges to manage Interior Designer, Create tickets and view providers. Automatically some of the privileges were created (as you can see in the image below), but you can revoke the access to specific rooms, devices or other options (in this example the Designer role allows to manage the Interior editor, create tickets and view providers excluding TURQUOISE, GREEN and PINK rooms).

To add a user, go to the Users tab and click button. You need to provide an email address and assign one of the created roles for the new user.

After adding another user, you will see them on the list with the assigned role. You can edit the role later by clicking the edit icon or delete the user by clicking the bin icon.

Providers

KNX

1.     In the provider selection window, choose Schneider KNX to proceed the project setup based on this home automation service provider.    See the list of smarthome providers in detailed project setup, to check which ones are supported.
2.       Once KNX has been selected, you need to connect to the KNX IoT 3 Party API server (the Wiser for KNX in this case). The security protocol gets started, ensuring a safe environment for the involved solutions to work together.
3.       Once you get access to the KNX IoT 3 Party API server, the software client initiates the authorization process, based on the OAuth2.0 (the industry-standard protocol for authorization). OAuth2.0 has the advantage of allowing third parties to access subsets of data without knowing the customer credentials, among other benefits.
4.     Now you can select the rooms to be added to the Digital Twin. This information is provided by the KNX IoT 3 Party API server.    Every room contains functions and a selection of datapoints. Note that at this point, the developer does not need to deal with group addresses or KNX- specific knowledge: simply retrieve human-readable information.
5.     At this point, the Digital Twin has information about the rooms and functions found in the real installation. It is time to offer this information over a 3D model, by using a 3D scanning carried out using Matterport: the outcome is a space representation with coordinates, similar to what is represented in Street View from Google Maps (but indoors).   The scanning can be done by professionals, or by yourself with an app on your smartphone.
6.       Digital Twin is ready to be used: you can navigate in the 3D environment. The control is bidirectional,  the feedback from KNX achieved by means of WebSockets (instead of the more resource-intensive polling).

Continue to project setup

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You can add a provider by selecting Providers in the side bar, and then clicking on button. The process will look exactly the same. 

You can also delete a connection by clicking on button. Note that the devices imported from the selected hub will be also deleted.

SmartThings

1.     To connect with Samsung's SmartThings, choose the option to Import rooms and select SmartThings. You will be redirected to the Samsung Account page.   See the list of smarthome providers in detailed project setup, to check which ones are supported
2.             On the Samsung's Account page you will be asked to log into your Samsung Account, to proceed.
3.   After you log in, you need to allow access for SIM-ON to connect to the system. In the dropdown window you will see all of the available, connected hubs.
4.           After choosing the hub, you need to set all the privileges to authorize the connection. Repeat these two steps (3,4) to add multiple hubs.
5.           After completing Authorization, you need to go back to the SIM-ON tab and the hub(s) you added will be now available.   Now you can add room(s) from the hub for the project.
6.       Here you will be presented with the list of already existing rooms in your SmartThings hub. Choose any number of the rooms to be imported to SIM-ON then proceed.   You are not required to import any of the rooms, although it is recommended - to keep the consistency between smarthome environments   Rooms can be added and edited afterwards as well
7.           The last step is to choose the Matterport virtual tour for the project to be used, through the provided Matterport link.   To use a private link you will be asked to log in to appropriate Matterport Account
8.           Congratulations!   You've successfully imported the devices from Samsung SmartThings. By clicking confirm, you will see your space with an access to all of the devices.

Continue to project setup

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You can add a provider by selecting Providers in the side bar, and then clicking on button. The process will look exactly the same

You can also delete a connection by clicking on button. Devices imported from the selected hub will be also deleted

NETx

To learn how to setup NETx for SIM-ON integration, see Official NETx Integration with SIM-ON digital twin platform

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1.       In the provider selection window, choose NETx to proceed the project setup based on this home automation service provider.    See the list of smarthome providers in detailed project setup, to check which ones are supported
2.                 In the next step, you need to provide all essential information, so Login, Password, Remote access ID and Remote access name (can be custom)
3.           After logging in, you need to choose the central smarthome hub, from which the available rooms will be displayed.
4.        After selecting the central hub, you will be shown a list of all the available rooms, that were created in your NETx application.   Choose at least one room, to proceed further.   You are not required to import all of the rooms, although it is recommended - to keep the consistency between smarthome environments   Rooms can be added and edited afterwards as well
5.           The last step is to provide a Matterport Virtual Tour link. Either public o private link is accepted.   To use private link, you are required to log in to an appropriate Matterport Account
6.           At the end you will be shown a summary of your project setup. After making sure that everything is as it should be, confirm to finalize the project creation.

Continue to project setup

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You can add a provider by selecting Providers in the side bar, and then clicking on button. The process will look exactly the same.

You can also delete a connection by clicking on button. Devices imported from the selected hub will be also deleted

Fibaro

1.     In the provider selection window, choose Fibaro to proceed the project setup based on this home automation service provider.   See the list of smarthome providers in detailed project setup, to check which ones are supported   You will be redirected to Fibaro login page.
2.           After logging into your Fibaro Account, you will see the list of available smarthome hubs. Select the appropriate one(s) and proceed.
3.       Here you can import the rooms. Pick at least a single room to be imported. You are not required to import all of the rooms, although it is recommended - to keep the consistency between smarthome environments   Rooms can be added and edited afterwards as well
4.           The last step is to provide a Matterport Virtual Tour link. Either public o private link is accepted.   To use private link, you are required to log in to an appropriate Matterport Account

Continue to project setup

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You can add a provider by selecting Providers in the side bar, and then clicking on button. The process will look exactly the same

You can also delete a connection by clicking on button. Devices imported from the selected hub will be also deleted

IBM Maximo

1. To connect an IBM Maximo provider, after creating a Project Space - navigate to the Providers view -> Connections page from the Left Side Panel. Click "Add connections" button and select IBM Maximo from available providers.
You'll be then redirected to the following page:

2. Login with your IBM Maximo account

3. Select the Organization and Site, then finalize with "connect"

Connecting with Maximo lets you seamlessly link assets to the Sim-On environment. Browse these assets in the IBM Maximo specific Dashboard page: Resources. 

Additionally, with IBM Maximo comes a special feature for Assets in Sim-on: linking with IBM Maximo devices.

 

See IBM Maximo Asset Link feature and Resources pages to learn more