6  Viewer

The AutoDesk Viewer is a WebGL-based 3D model browser that runs entirely in the browser. With AutoDeskR, you can embed it in a Shiny app with a single function call — no JavaScript required. Rotate, zoom, and inspect your models without leaving R.

Before launching the viewer, you need a file translated to SVF format and its encoded URN — the Model Derivative chapter covers both steps.

6.1 Launch the Viewer

viewer3D() opens a Shiny app with the viewer pre-loaded. The viewerType parameter controls the UI chrome:

viewerType	What you get
"header"	Full toolbar, navigation panels, and settings (default)
"headless"	Viewer canvas only — clean embed for dashboards
"vr"	WebVR mode, optimised for mobile

resp <- getToken(
  id     = Sys.getenv("client_id"),
  secret = Sys.getenv("client_secret"),
  scope  = "data:read"
)
myToken      <- resp$content$access_token
myEncodedUrn <- jsonlite::base64_enc(Sys.getenv("urn"))

# Full viewer — great for exploration
viewer3D(urn = myEncodedUrn, token = myToken)

# Headless — embed in a dashboard without the toolbar chrome
viewer3D(urn = myEncodedUrn, token = myToken, viewerType = "headless")

# VR mode for a phone or headset
viewer3D(urn = myEncodedUrn, token = myToken, viewerType = "vr")

Note

When you run viewer3D() in RStudio or a browser, a WebGL viewport opens and you can rotate, zoom, and click elements to inspect their properties. The viewer renders whatever SVF translation produced: layer geometry for DWG files, full BIM elements for Revit.

6.2 Embed in a Shiny App

viewerUI() drops the viewer into any Shiny layout as a module. The id parameter namespaces the module so multiple viewers can live on the same page without stepping on each other.

library(shiny)
library(AutoDeskR)

ui <- fluidPage(
  viewerUI("viewer1", urn = myEncodedUrn, token = myToken)
)

server <- function(input, output, session) {}

shinyApp(ui, server)

6.2.1 Viewer in a Tab Panel

Headless mode is perfect for a multi-tab layout — the viewer sits in one tab and data tables or charts in another:

ui <- fluidPage(
  tabsetPanel(
    tabPanel("Model",
      viewerUI("viewer1", myEncodedUrn, myToken, viewerType = "headless")
    ),
    tabPanel("Metadata",
      verbatimTextOutput("meta")
    ),
    tabPanel("Layer Chart",
      plotOutput("layer_plot")
    )
  )
)

server <- function(input, output, session) {
  output$meta <- renderPrint({
    # getData() results displayed alongside the viewer
  })
}

shinyApp(ui, server)

6.2.2 Viewer + Sensor Dashboard

Pair the headless viewer with a dygraphs time-series panel for a live digital twin layout — see the Live Dashboards chapter for the full implementation:

library(dygraphs)

ui <- fluidPage(
  fluidRow(
    column(7, viewerUI("twin_viewer", myEncodedUrn, myToken, viewerType = "headless")),
    column(5, dygraphOutput("sensor_plot", height = "500px"))
  )
)

6.3 What’s Displayed

The viewer renders whatever the SVF translation produced. For a DWG file, that’s the full drawing geometry organised by layer. For a Revit file, it’s the full BIM model with element properties accessible in the side panel. Click any element in the viewer to inspect its properties — the same data that getData() returns programmatically.