Content
● Recapitulation Course 6
○ User Experience - How UI interactions differ from 2D UI or classic games
○ Health concerns and good practices
● Software Platforms
○ Introduction, VR runtime systems, Real-Time Physics Engines, Distributed Virtual Environments, Collaborative Virtual Environments, Game Engines
● Conclusions
● Bibliography
R - User Experience
R - Illusion of VR
R - Interaction in VR
R - Health Concerns
VR - Software Platforms
The growing market for VR
VR Use Cases
It can help to create engaging games
With VR, media and entertainment companies can create more engaging content
Marketers can make their ads more interesting with the help of VR technology
Businesses can use VR to let their customers virtually try their product user experience
VR - Software Development Tools
1. Unity
2. Amazon Sumerian
3. Google VR for everyone 4. Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) 5. CRYENGINE
6. Blender 7. 3ds Max
8. SketchUp Studio 9. Maya
10. Oculus Medium
Unity
Unity is famous for game development, but you can create VR solutions for automotive, transportation, manufacturing, media & entertainment, engineering, construction. You can get a valuable set of tools:
● A powerful editor to create Unity 3D VR assets
● Artist and designer tools
● CAD tools
● Collaboration tools
Unity works with all popular VR platforms like Oculus, Sony, etc.
Amazon Sumerian
Amazon Sumerian is the VR engine from AWS. It works with all popular VR platforms like Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Google Daydream, and Lenovo Mirage, moreover, it works with Android and iOS
Supports various VR use cases like employee education, training
simulation, field services productivity, retail & sales, and virtual concierge
● Sumerian editor
● Sumerian hosts
● Asset management
● An ability to script the logic in the scenes you create
Google VR for everyone
Google offers a wide range of VR development tools. You can access these tools on the Google VR developer portal https://developers.google.com/vr You can use these tools to develop VR apps for multiple platforms, e.g., Unity, Unreal, Android, iOS, and web
The Google VR developer platform has software development kits (SDKs) for all VR platforms it supports, e.g., Unity, Android, iOS, etc.
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4)
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) offers a powerful set of VR
development tools. With UE4, you can build VR apps that will work on a variety of VR platforms, e.g., Oculus, Sony, Samsung Gear VR, Android, iOS, Google VR, etc.
● It offers access to its C++ source code and Python scripts
● UE4 has a multiplayer framework, real-time rendering of visuals, and a flexible editor
● With the Blueprint visual scripting tool you can create prototypes quickly
● It’s easy to add animation, sequence, audio, simulation, effects, etc.
XR/VR Runtime Systems
OpenXR/OpenVR
WebXR/WebVR
OpenXR
OpenXR is an open, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices
OpenXR is an API (Application Programming Interface) for XR applications It is developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group
consortium
https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenXR/specs/1.0/html/xrspec.html
OpenXR - Architecture
Enables developers to build applications that will work across a wide variety of VR/AR devices. The fundamental elements of this API are:
● XrSpace: a representation of the 3D space
● XrInstance: a representation of the OpenXR runtime
● System and XrSystemId: a representation of the
devices, including the VR or AR devices and controllers
● XrActions: used to handle user inputs
● XrSession: represents the interaction session between the application and the user
OpenXR - Implementations
The Khronos Group maintains the list of OpenXR-conformant platforms and products. OpenXR platforms are:
● Microsoft HoloLens 2 and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets
● Oculus PC platform and the Quest/Quest2 devices
● Varjo PC platform
● Collabora Monado Runtime for GNU/Linux
● Valve SteamVR support
OpenXR - Support
Game and Rendering Engine Support
● Unreal Engine from Epic Games
● Blender
● Unity
Browser Support
● Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web browsers both enable WebXR support using OpenXR by default using the Chromium code base
OpenVR
OpenVR is a software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface developed by Valve for supporting the SteamVR (HTC Vive) and other VR headset devices
The SteamVR platform uses it as the default
application programming interface (API) and runtime
● https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr
● https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr/wiki/A PI-Documentation
● https://www.steamvr.com/en/
WebXR
WebXR is a group of standards which are used together to support rendering 3D scenes to hardware designed for presenting virtual worlds (VR), or for adding graphical imagery to the real world (AR)
The WebXR Device API implements the core of the WebXR feature set, managing the selection of output devices, render the 3D scene to the chosen device at the appropriate frame rate, and manage motion vectors created using input controllers
● https://immersive-web.github.io/webxr/
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebXR_Device_API
WebVR
WebVR is a JavaScript API for creating immersive 3D, VR experiences in your browser. The goal is to make it easier for everyone to get into VR experiences, no matter what device you have
WebVR has been replaced by the WebXR Device API
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le8pTXQqM3s
● https://webvr.rocks/
● https://mixedreality.mozilla.org/
● https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/vr
● https://html5hive.org/vr-webvr-tutorial/
Real Time Physics Engines
Infinity Tech 3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO7XhaTGDYg
Algoryx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwJS9m5xhd0&t=5s
Scientific papers:
XPHEVE: An Extensible Physics Engine for Virtual Environments https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4054758
Infinity Tech 3D
Physics engine for scientific and business critical applications 100% real-time - 100% interactive - 100% immersive http://infinytech3d.com/
SofaAPAPI-Unity3D is a professional physics engine combining performance and accuracy of scientific multi-physics simulation with realtime user haptic
interactions in VR
Algoryx https://www.algoryx.se/vr-training-simulators/
Distributed Virtual Environments (DVEs)
DVEs are geographically distributed computing systems which allow multiple users to interact
simultaneously in computer-generated, shared virtual environments
DVEs are widely applied in many fields, such as online role playing games, synthesis military simulations, virtual cities, and virtual shopping malls
To support large-scale DVEs massive computing resources, storage resources, and highly efficient distributed server architectures are needed
Distributed Immersive Environments (DIEs)
Multi-person, multi-site shared virtual space
● Navigation
● Avatar representation
● Telephony Where?
● Virtual Festivals
● Virtual Museums
https://immerse.news/distributing-immersive-stori
Social VR
Social VR - The application of VR in the social networks.
In the real-time and dynamic simulation environment, they can communicate in a multisensory way, which makes social communication immersive. Social VR games:
● VRChat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWLPw4RE9Ig
● Facebook Horizon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c44q1XW9p4 https://www.roadtovr.com/10-apps-hang-friends-vr/
Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs)
A CVE is a computer-based, distributed, virtual space or set of places. In such places, people can meet and interact with others, with agents or with virtual objects CVEs might vary in their representational richness from 3D graphical spaces, 2.5D and 2D environments, to text-based environments. Access to CVEs is by no means limited to desktop devices, but might well include mobile or wearable devices, public kiosks, etc.
Facebook Spaces - “a new VR app where you hang out with friends in a fun, interactive virtual environment as if you were in the same room.”
Facebook Spaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVf3m7e7OKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nLtw_yqDhw
CVE Types
● Marketing: consumer interaction
● Training in dangerous/harmful situations
● Social entertainment, e.g. multi-player games
● Education: distance learning
● Art: interactive installations
● Built environment: architectural walkthroughs
● Medicine: surgery simulation
● Healthcare: virtual reality in phobia treatment
CVEs - Solutions
MeetinVR - Combine the convenience of online meetings with the
interactivity of face-to-face meetings: meet in virtual workspaces where you can collaborate, create and feel truly together with your colleagues!
Virtualist - “Reduce collaboration cost, increase productivity and unleash team creativity wherever you are and whatever device you’re using.”
Glue - “We want to extend human presence over physical boundaries and advance human spatial communication and collaboration.”
Rumii - “A lot of companies claim to be making the world a better place.
At Doghead Simulations, we’re actually doing it.”
VR Game Engines and Platforms
VART - VR Arcade Game Machine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il4Gc7JI808
Gaming platforms range from the most complicated and expensive to the simplest and cheapest:
● Game Maker Studio, Coscos2D, Marmalade
● Unity, Unreal
● Lumberyard
● 3ds Max Design, Maya
● CryEngine, ApertusVR, AppGameKit
VART - VR Arcade Game Machine
https://www.vartvrarcade.com/vr-arcade-machine/
VR Game Platforms (Obsolete or Small Communities)
Game Maker Studio allows a developer to create games compatible with iOS, Android, Windows and even HTML5 Coscos2D is as the name suggests, a two dimensional gaming platform. It was at one point one of the most popular of all open source gaming option
Marmalade SDK is one of the better options available in the market for virtual game development
Unity
Unity is perhaps one of the most popular ones to date
Introduced to the market back in 2005 by Unity Technologies, what’s unusual about this game engine is that it provides support for the development of both two and three dimensional games
Unity provides support for all mobile, desk, web and console platforms Reasonably priced with a very vast community of developers. With
excellent editing tools easily extended via plug-ins, this platform supports a surprising huge range of asset formats
Unreal Engine
Unreal, a product of Epic Games, it is the game engine attributed to being behind the majority of high end, high powered games with exceptional graphic and features overall
Supporting only the C++ development language, Unreal Engine is a gaming platform that gives incredible gaming performance
It has the biggest developers community providing the best support Support all major operating platforms for mobile and PC
Lumberyard
If you are looking for a VR game engine that offers you the full convenience of developing games, this should be the one. Offered by Amazon
It is comparatively a new entry in this segment and it is free with full source. This also means that one can tweak the engine if felt necessary
This could be an excellent platform for developing
online games and don’t need to worry about hosting a robust game https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard/
3ds Max Design
3ds Max Design software is a comprehensive 3D design, modeling, animation, and rendering solution for architects, designers, civil engineers, and
visualization specialists
Maya 3D
Maya® 3D is used for animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software.
Maya helps artists tell their story with one fast, creative toolset
Conclusions
Exist many resource and tools to develop VR applications
Exist also interest for Social VR, Collaborative VR, Distributed VR, but you need more hardware resources for that
Unity and Unreal Engine are the most used tools to develop VR Games
Questions
1. Enumerate software tools used for VR app developing 2. What tools do you use for your project?
Bibliography
● Sherman, W.R., Craig, A. B. (2003) Understanding Virtual Reality. Elsevier, Science.
● Jiang, c., Xu, X., Wan, J., Li, W., You, X. (2007) Large Scale Distributed Virtual Environments on the Grid: Design, Implementation, and a Case Study.
International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design CSCWD 2007: Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design IV pp. 384-395.
Links
● Spinning Up in VR — Part 3: Virtual Reality Hardware
https://medium.com/@mnrmja007/spinning-up-in-vr-part-3-virtual-reality-hardware-e91825465f4d
● Unity or Unreal – Which Is the Best VR Gaming Platform?
https://appreal-vr.com/blog/unity-or-unreal-best-vr-gaming-platforms/
● Unity vs Unreal Engine for XR Development: Which One Is Better? https://circuitstream.com/blog/unity-vs-unreal/
● Comparing Virtual Reality Software Engines https://pixovr.com/2019/06/12/comparing-vr-software-engines/
● Top VR Game Engines
https://filmora.wondershare.com/virtual-reality/state-of-vr-games-the-game-engines-and-present-convention.html
● Best VR Game Engine Software https://www.g2.com/categories/vr-game-engine
● Understanding Collaborative Virtual Environments https://learningflourishing.com/writing-research/cve/
● Collaborative Virtual Environments https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-environments/collaborative.html
● Collaborative Virtual Environment – How It Works?
https://appreal-vr.com/blog/collaborative-virtual-environment-how-it-works/
● Social VR, Facebook Horizon And The Future Of Social Media Marketing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2020/08/30/social-vr-facebook-horizon--the-future-of-social-media-marke ting/
