Virtual reality blueprints : create compelling VR experiences for mobile and desktop / Charles Palmer, John Williamson ; foreword by Jesse Schell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Palmer, Charles, author.

Williamson, John, author.

Contributor:

Schell, Jesse, writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Virtual reality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (229 pages) : color illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham, [England] ; Mumbai, [India] : Packt, 2018.

Biography/History:

Palmer Charles: Charles Palmer is a faculty member and administrator at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, a STEM-focused, private, four-year comprehensive university dedicated to ensuring institutional access for underrepresented students and linking learning and research to practical outcomes. As the Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies, Professor Palmer oversees the design and development of ventures in new and emerging technologies, serves as Program Lead for the undergraduate Interactive Media program, is an adviser to the Learning Technology Masters of Science program, coordinates a high school video game academy, and mentors university students on research projects in the fields of augmented/virtual reality, mobile computing, web application development, digital media and interactive games. As a technologist and public speaker, Charles uses virtual reality, 3d printing, gamification, interactive storytelling, social media and simulations to discuss how training and performance can be improved with the inclusion of the latest technological advances. Professor Palmer is also a co-author of the recently released Alternate Reality Games: Gamification for Performance available from CRC Press and Amazon. Williamson John: John Williamson has worked in VR since 1995. As a producer/designer, he has shipped over three dozen games (America's Army, Hawken, SAW, and Spec Ops) in nearly every genre (RTS, FPS, Arcade, Simulation, Survival Horror) on nearly every platform (iOS, Android, Wii, Playstation, Xbox, web, PC, and VR). He is also an award-winning filmmaker and has taught game design at DigiPen and Harrisburg University. Now, he works in VR, creating immersive training for a wide range of high-consequence trainers for the US Air Force, Army, and NASA

Summary:

Are you new to virtual reality? Do you want to create exciting interactive VR applications? There's no need to be daunted by the thought of creating interactive VR applications, it's much easier than you think with this hands-on, project-based guide that will take you through VR development essentials for desktop, mobile, and web-based games.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright and Credits

Packt Upsell

Foreword

Contributors

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: The Past, Present, and Future of VR

The history of virtual reality

Through the looking glass

Making a static image dance

The bigger the better - panoramic paintings

Stereoscopic viewers

Link Trainers and Apollo

Interactivity and True HMDs

1960 - TelesphereMask

1961 - Headsight

1968 - Teleyeglasses

1965 - The Ultimate Display

1968 - Sword of Damocles

1968 - The mother of all demos

1969 - Virtual Cockpit/Helmet Mounted Sight

1969 - Artificial Reality

1995 - CAVE

1987 - Virtual reality and VPL

1989 - Nintendo Powerglove

1990s - VR Explosion

1991 - Virtuality Dactyl Nightmare

1993 - SEGA VR glasses

1995 - VRML - Virtual reality Markup Language

1995 - Nintendo Virtual Boy

1995 - Hasbro Toaster

2013 - Oculus Rift

2014 - Google Cardboard

2015 - Samsung Gear VR

2018 - Magic Leap

Summary

Chapter 2: Building a Solar System for Google Cardboard

Platform setup

Google Cardboard setup

Setting up the Unity environment

Building the TRAPPIST-1 System

Building the application

Android Instructions

Building an Android application

Invalid command Android error

iOS Instructions

Preparing your Unity project for iOS

Building an iOS application

Chapter 3: Building an Image Gallery System for the Gear VR

A virtual image gallery

The Samsung Gear VR platform

Process overview - Part 1

Getting started in VR

Prepping for VR

Acquiring the Oculus SDK package

Constructing a panoramic skybox

Creating the Gallery prefab

Optional custom fonts

Building the galleries

Creating the image display element (FullImage)

Creating a controller and a scene controller script

Creating a gallery prefab.

Summary

Chapter 4: Adding User Interactions to the Virtual Gallery Project

Facilitating user interaction

Raycasters

StandaloneInput module

Image selector

Setting touch control

Creating feedback for the user

Scene controller

Image collection

Adding imagery

Use a highlight material as feedback

Assigning values

Finalizing user interaction

Using Event Triggers for user feedback

Creating an osig file

Preparing your Android device

Chapter 5: Fighting Zombies on the Oculus Rift

Playing with zombies

The Oculus Rift platform

Creating the Player GameObject

Graphic Raycaster

Adding a 3D camera

Building the game environment

Constructing gameplay boundaries

Setting the mood

Creating spawn points

Optimizing the experience for VR

Frame rate is key to performance

Reducing excessive scene geometry

Removing unnecessary objects

Using planes

Occlusion culling

Lightmapping

Creating the zombie prefab

Animating the zombie assets

Adding transitions

Chapter 6: Scripting Zombies for the Oculus Rift

Scripting the zombies

Summoning zombies

ZombieSpawner script

Controlling the zombie prefab

ZombieController script

Fighting back

PlayerController script

Update function

Shoot function

OnDrawGizmos function

Testing the PlayerController

Targeting reticle cursor

Building an executable

Expanding the experience

Chapter 7: Carnival Midway Games - Part 1

Recreating carnival games

Preproduction

Special production note

Requirements

Preparing Unity for VR development on the Rift

Loading the OVRP.

Setting up the project

Creating the player avatar

Designing the play area

Building the game booth

Adding 3D text

Creating the booth prefab

Planning the midway activities

Adding clutter to the scene

Combating VR sickness

Eliminating non-forward motion

Consider adding UI overlays

Reducing acceleration

Reducing yaw

Reducing vection

Using appropriate motions

Implementing movement

A gaze-based teleportation system

Mapping touch controller buttons

Deactivating stick movement [Optional]

Making objects grabbable

Chapter 8: Carnival Midway Games - Part 2

Backing up the project

Local backup

Unity Collaborate

Software version control services

Midway booth games

Wacky Mole props

The GameTable

The mole

The Score Board

Crispy UI Text

The mallet

Animating the mole

Building an animation state machine

Scripting the mole asset

Scripting the mole game controller

Finishing the Wacky Mole game

Milk Bottle Toss props

Game props

Scripting the Milk Bottle Toss game

Expanding the game

Appendix A: VR Hardware Roundup

VR hardware roundup

Google Cardboard

Google Daydream

Gear VR

Oculus Rift

Vive

Sony PSVR

HoloLens

Headset costs

Appendix B: VR Terms and Definitions

VR terms and definitions

Primer of best practices

Input

Movement

User interface and experience design

Motion sickness

Motion sickness prevention, there is no cure

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Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed March 21, 2018).

ISBN:

9781786465030

1786465035

OCLC:

1463578600