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V-minder: IT Information

This guide is intended to help implementors of the Vimocity initiative and their organization’s IT teams evaluate and approve the V-minder application for use by their employees. It includes:

  • An overview of V-minder, a movement reminder desktop application
  • Installation methods
  • System requirements
  • Data storage
  • Technical configuration of key features

What Is V-minder?

V-minder is a Windows-based desktop notifications application designed for call centers, traditional offices and home offices. This tool can help desk-based workers minimize stiffness, improve mobility and boost productivity by following along to periodic guided moves.

The application generates a guided movement reminder at intervals identified by the user (from every 30 mins up to every 2 hours) utilizing the Windows Notification Center.

When the movement reminder appears, the user can then click on the reminder to view a ~1 minute guided movement video. Videos include an audio track which will be played if the users' machines and settings permit it.

  • Users can configure their V-minder preferences as follows:
  • Select their preferred schedule, including specific days of the week and specify start and end times for reminders to appear on their screen
  • Select which body areas they’d like moves to target
  • Choose if they’d like to receive sitting or standing movements or a combination of both
  • Based on the movement tools they have available, choose if they’d like to receive moves that use tools like a massage ball or roller. 

System Requirements

The V-minder application is designed to operate on Windows 10 or later versions of the Windows operating system. Systems should have an Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE2 capable, and a minimum of 512 MB of RAM.

Installation Methods

There are two methods in which V-minder can be installed on employees’ computers:

  1. Per Machine: This installer option is designed for IT-controlled environments where IT needs to manage and control the installation process. It allows for disabling hardware acceleration for systems without GPUs or VDI environments, as well as controlling automatic updates.
  2. Per User: This installation requires the user to have sufficient permissions to install applications on their device. No additional switches are needed; simply run the installer.

In order to determine which installation method of V-minder is right for your organization, consider the following: 

  • Can staff install software onto their own workstations?
  • Do they need IT to build a rollout/software push?
  • Do staff have full access to the Windows Notifications Center?
Note: Unsure of which method is right for your organization? Contact your Vimocity Customer Success Manager to discuss or use the "Support" bubble in the lower corner of your screen.

Download Links

Choose the appropriate installer from the following options: 

Configuration Options (Per Machine Installer)

For advanced setups, the per-machine installer supports the following configuration switches:

1. GPUFEATUREENABLED

  • Description: Controls whether GPU acceleration is enabled.
  • Values:
    • 1 = Enable GPU features
    • 0 = Disable GPU features

2. AUTOUPDATEENABLED

  • Description: Controls whether automatic updates are enabled.
  • Values:
    • 1 = Enable auto-updates
    • 0 = Disable auto-updates

Firewall Configuration

For clients with auto-updates enabled, make sure these domains are added to the firewall rules:

https://vimocity-desktop-releases.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

Manually Updating the Application

To apply updates using a .nupkg file, navigate to the app folder in Program Files and run the following command:

.\Update.exe --update=<path_to_nupkg_folder>

Data Storage

V-minder does not collect or store any personal data. The V-minder application is a service that the user logs in to, in order to access movement-based health videos. No personal data is stored about users other than their name, company affiliation, and email address. This is the same information that is utilized within the Vimocity online platform.

Key Features: 

Hardware Acceleration (GPU):

The V-minder MSI installer includes an option to enable/disable hardware acceleration (GPU).

Enabling hardware acceleration is ideal for systems with a GPU to enhance performance.

For VDI or GPU-absent systems, disabling this feature is recommended for optimal operation.

Automatic Updates: 

  • The per-machine installer allows your IT department to enable or disable automatic updates during installation.
  • If enabled, the app will automatically download and install updates as they become available.
  • If disabled, the IT team will need to manually update the app when new versions are released.

Signing In/Signing Up

To use the V-minder app, an individual user must first sign in or sign up for a Vimocity account. Here's how to do it:

  1. After installing the V-minder app, click on the "Sign In" button.
  2. This will open the CREATE AN ACCOUNT/ LOG IN page at https://portal.vimocity.com/.
  3. If the user doesn’t have an account, they can create one by following the prompts on the CREATE AN ACCOUNT page.
  4. After creating an account, they will be prompted to go back to the V-minder app.
  5. If the user has an active account, they will simply sign in be prompted to go back to the V-minder app.

Post Signing In/Signing Up

Upon sign-in, the app retrieves an encrypted user token that will be used for future authentication and authorization calls to the Vimocity API.

Here's what happens after a user signs in:

  1. The app retrieves an encrypted user token that will be used for future authentication/authorization calls to the Vimocity API.
  2. The app retrieves the latest "playlist" information and downloads and stores locally the thumbnails associated with the playlist.
  3. The app sets a default reminder interval of 1 hour.
  4. The reminder interval and the encrypted token are encrypted using OS-level encryption and stored locally.

Note: If a user updates the reminder interval, the process described above will be repeated to store the updated user preference to be used on each app relaunch.

The user token and reminder interval are encrypted and stored locally to ensure the privacy and security of data.

Reminders

The reminders are initiated by the app based on user settings and will be shown in the same order as they are in the playlist.

Here's how the reminders work:

  1. Reminders are initiated by the app based on user settings.
  2. Each time the reminder interval is updated, user preferences are updated locally.
  3. The reminders will be shown in the same order as they are in the playlist.
  4. The app stores a local playlist reference to the last reminder shown to prevent repeated reminders.
  5. When all reminders have been shown, the playlist will restart.
  6. The reminder notification will use the image thumbnail that is stored locally along with the data related to it in the playlist.
  7. Upon clicking the "Watch" button, the app will reach the cloud using the video URL from the playlist and play the video.