UBBA

UBBA (Unity Based BPMN Animator) is a tool that, taken in input a BPMN file allows to create a virtual world with a 3D visualization of all the elements present inside the BPMN model. More in detail, UBBA aims at reproducing the setting of a BPMN collaboration diagram and animating its execution from the point of view of the resource, by means of token flow. Indeed, 3D shapes play the roles of the BPMN elements in a virtual space. The animation provides one or more tokens crossing the diagram following the semantics of the met elements. UBBA is cross-platform and stand-alone, it has been realized in Unity 3D, a game engine for creating 2D/3D video games or other interactive contents, such as architectural visualizations or animations in real-time.

The main features of UBBA are

• loading a BPMN file in standard XML format;
• associating 3D graphics to individual elements in the BPMN model;
• animating the newly loaded model in a 3D environment;
• choosing between single token to overall collaboration views during the simulation animation.

We have already loaded some 3D elements so that the user can simulate some test cases to see the general operation of the tool. In addition, the user can load 3D models from his File System.

User Guide

A double click on its executable opens the UBBA main menu. Clicking on the Start button shows a window where you can choose the BPMN file to be used during the simulation.

After choosing the BPMN file, the user can load the 3D models to be used. The user has three choices:

1. load new models from File System in .fbx format;
2. choose 3D models already loaded by us;
3. load a configuration file with choices of 3D graphics.

The last choice is shown only if a 3D model configuration was previously saved for a .bpmn file. At the bottom left there is the Save my choices checkbox. If it is checked and the 3D models are chosen for a .bpmn file for which no configuration has already been saved, a JSON file is created with the choices made. Suppose that in this menu is clicked the option to use the 3D models already loaded by us.

In this screen, one can use the right and left arrows to see the next or previous 3D models. On top of the interface, there is the name of the BPMN element for which one is choosing the 3D model at this time. The user can observe the 3D model from different views by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it to the right or left. The Next button saves the 3D model chosen for the element shown at the top.

This process regards all the elements present within the .bpmn file. The same procedure allows choosing the token graphics.

At this point, the tool provides a view from the top of the newly created virtual world. We can use the mouse wheel to zoom or press the ESC key at any time to return to the default zoom level.

At the top right is the Simulation button, which allows us to start a simulation. When the simulation starts, the right side of the screen shows different buttons corresponding to the tokens active at that time in our model.

By clicking on one of these buttons the camera switch to the third person mode, showing the token perspective. To return to the view from the top, just press the ESC key.

Publications