How to select an object to be picked up whenever the camera is pointed to that object? - unity3d

Question

I'm trying to pick up objects in unity. I have a gameObject called LookObject. Whenever the camera points to an object, the name of that object will be stored in LookObject, then when I press Space the object gets picked up. it is working but not completely. The issue I'm facing is that when I look at an object then look at another direction, the lookObject still shows the name of the object I was looking at (it doesn't update).
please see this image:
as shown in the image, the reticle is not pointing to the object. but it is still showing Cube as the Look Object.
Here is PlayerInteractions class:
GameObject[] targetObjects;
List<GameObject> targetObjectsList;
[Header("InteractableInfo")]
public float sphereCastRadius = 0.5f;
public int interactableLayerIndex;
private Vector3 raycastPos;
public GameObject lookObject;
private PhysicsObjects physicsObject;
private Camera mainCamera;
public GameObject winUI;
private InteractiveObjects interactiveObjects;
[Header("Pickup")]
[SerializeField] private Transform pickupParent;
public GameObject currentlyPickedUpObject;
private Rigidbody pickupRB;
[Header("ObjectFollow")]
[SerializeField] private float minSpeed = 0;
[SerializeField] private float maxSpeed = 300f;
[SerializeField] private float maxDistance = 8f;
private float currentSpeed = 0f;
private float currentDist = 0f;
[Header("Rotation")]
public float rotationSpeed = 100f;
// Quaternion lookRot;
[SerializeField] GameObject TargetsCanvas;
static bool strikeThrough = false;
private void Start()
{
mainCamera = Camera.main;
targetObjects = GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("TargetObj");
targetObjectsList = new List<GameObject>();
foreach (var obj in targetObjects)
{
var mytext = CreateText(TargetsCanvas.transform);
mytext.text = "• Find The " + obj.name;
Debug.Log(""+ obj.name);
}
}
//A simple visualization of the point we're following in the scene view
private void OnDrawGizmos()
{
Gizmos.color = Color.yellow;
Gizmos.DrawSphere(pickupParent.position, 0.5f);
}
void Update()
{
//Here we check if we're currently looking at an interactable object
raycastPos = mainCamera.ScreenToWorldPoint(new Vector3(Screen.width / 2, Screen.height / 2, 0));
RaycastHit hit;
if (Physics.SphereCast(raycastPos, sphereCastRadius, mainCamera.transform.forward, out hit, maxDistance, 1 << interactableLayerIndex))
{
lookObject = hit.collider.transform.gameObject;
}
//if we press the button of choice
if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
{
//and we're not holding anything
if (currentlyPickedUpObject == null)
{
//and we are looking an interactable object
if (lookObject != null )
{
PickUpObject();
if (!targetObjectsList.Contains(lookObject.gameObject))
{
targetObjectsList.Add(lookObject.gameObject);
if (targetObjectsList.Count == targetObjects.Length)
{
// Time.timeScale = 0f;
// winUI.SetActive(true);
// SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex + 1);
// Time.timeScale = 1f;
}
}
}
}
//if we press the pickup button and have something, we drop it
else
{
BreakConnection();
}
}
}
private void FixedUpdate()
{
if (currentlyPickedUpObject != null)
{
currentDist = Vector3.Distance(pickupParent.position, pickupRB.position);
currentSpeed = Mathf.SmoothStep(minSpeed, maxSpeed, currentDist / maxDistance);
currentSpeed *= Time.fixedDeltaTime;
Vector3 direction = pickupParent.position - pickupRB.position;
pickupRB.velocity = direction.normalized * currentSpeed;
//Rotation//
// lookRot = Quaternion.LookRotation(mainCamera.transform.position - pickupRB.position);
// lookRot = Quaternion.Slerp(mainCamera.transform.rotation, lookRot, rotationSpeed * Time.fixedDeltaTime);
// pickupRB.MoveRotation(lookRot);
}
}
//Release the object
public void BreakConnection()
{
pickupRB.constraints = RigidbodyConstraints.None;
currentlyPickedUpObject = null;
lookObject = null;
physicsObject.pickedUp = false;
currentDist = 0;
}
public void PickUpObject()
{
physicsObject = lookObject.GetComponentInChildren<PhysicsObjects>();
currentlyPickedUpObject = lookObject;
pickupRB = currentlyPickedUpObject.GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
pickupRB.constraints = RigidbodyConstraints.FreezeRotation;
physicsObject.playerInteractions = this;
}
Here is the code attached to objects:
public float waitOnPickup = 0.2f;
public float breakForce = 35f;
[HideInInspector] public bool pickedUp = false;
[HideInInspector] public PlayerInteractions playerInteractions;
private void OnCollisionEnter(Collision collision)
{
if (pickedUp)
{
if (collision.relativeVelocity.magnitude > breakForce)
{
playerInteractions.BreakConnection();
}
}
}
//this is used to prevent the connection from breaking when you just picked up the object as it sometimes fires a collision with the ground or whatever it is touching
public IEnumerator PickUp()
{
yield return new WaitForSecondsRealtime(waitOnPickup);
pickedUp = true;
}
Here is an image of the object inspector:
how can I make it accurately showing the objects I'm looking at?

Answer 1

A simple fix for this would be to set lookObject to null if the SphereCast returns false since that would indicate you are no longer looking at a valid object. Simply adding else lookObject = null; to the end of the first if statement in your Update() method should do the trick.