Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Virtual Reality Blueprints
Virtual Reality Blueprints

Virtual Reality Blueprints: Create compelling VR experiences for mobile and desktop

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Palmer Profile Icon John Williamson
Arrow right icon
$24.99 $35.99
eBook Feb 2018 250 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Palmer Profile Icon John Williamson
Arrow right icon
$24.99 $35.99
eBook Feb 2018 250 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Billing Address

Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Virtual Reality Blueprints

Building a Solar System for Google Cardboard

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."
- Aristotle

The process of learning by experience and reflection, better known as experiential learning, is central to my teaching philosophy. Throughout this book, we will explore virtual reality development processes by completing projects designed to illustrate the power of VR and the ease of use of the Unity 3D engine. Your role is to use these projects as a starting point for your own work. Complete the projects, reflect on the process, and expand upon them to enrich your learning and creative curiosity.

Our exploration will begin with a visualization of a newly discovered solar system. This project is a dioramic scene, where the...

Platform setup

Before we begin building the solar system, we must setup our computer environment to build the runtime application for a given VR device. If you have never built a Unity application for Android or iOS, you will need to download and install the Software Development Kit (SDK) for your chosen platform. An SDK is a set of tools that will let you build an application for a specific software package, hardware platform, game console, or operating system. Installing the SDK may require additional tools or specific files to complete the process, and the requirements change from year to year, as operating systems and hardware platforms undergo updates and revisions.

To deal with this nightmare, Unity maintains an impressive set of platform-specific instructions to ease the setup process. Their list contains detailed instructions for the following platforms:

  • Apple Mac
  • Apple...

Google Cardboard setup

Like the Unity documentation website, Google also maintains an in-depth guide for the Google VR SDK for Unity set of tools and examples. This SDK provides the following features on the device:

  • User head tracking
  • Side-by-side stereo rendering
  • Detection of user interactions (via trigger or controller)
  • Automatic stereo configuration for a specific VR viewer
  • Distortion correction
  • Automatic gyro drift correction

These features are all contained in one easy-to-use package that will be imported into our Unity scene. Download the SDK from the following link, before moving on to the next step: http://developers.google.com/cardboard/unity/download.

At the time of writing, the current version of the Google VR SDK for Unity is version 1.110.1 and it is available via a GitHub repository. The previous link should take you to the latest version of the SDK. However, when...

Setting up the Unity environment

Like all projects, we will begin by launching Unity and creating a new project. The first steps will create a project folder which contains several files and directories:

  1. Launch the Unity application.
  2. Choose the New option after the application splash screen loads.
  1. Create a new project by launching the Unity application. Save the project as Trappist1 in a location of your choice, as demonstrated in Figure 2.2:
Figure 2.2: New project window

To prepare for VR, we will adjust the Build Settings and Player Settings windows.

  1. Open Build Settings from File | Build Settings.
  2. Select the Platform for your target device (iOS or Android).
  1. Click the Switch Platform button to confirm the change. The Unity icon in the right-hand column of the platform panel indicates the currently selected build platform. By default, it will appear next to the Standalone...

Building the TRAPPIST-1 System

Now that we have Unity configured to build for our device, we can begin building our space themes VR environment. We have designed this project to focus on building and deploying a VR experience. If you are moderately familiar with Unity, this project will be very simple. Again, this is by design. However, if you are relatively new, then the basic 3D primitives, a few textures, and a simple orbiting script will be a great way to expand your understanding of the development platform:

  1. Create a new script by selecting Assets | Create | C# Script from the main menu. By default, the script will be titled NewBehaviourScript. Single click this item in the Project window and rename it OrbitController. Finally, we will keep the project organized by dragging OrbitController's icon to the Scripts folder.
  2. Double-click the OrbitController script item to...

Building the application

To experience this simulation in VR, we need to have our scene run on a head-mounted display as a stereoscopic display. The app needs to compile the proper viewing parameters, capture and process head tracking data, and correct for visual distortion. When you consider the number of VR devices we would have to account for, the task is nothing short of daunting.

Luckily, Google VR facilitates all of this in one easy-to-use plugin.

The process for building the mobile application will depend on the mobile platform you are targeting. If you have previously built and installed a Unity app on a mobile device, many of these steps will have already been completed, and a few will apply updates to your existing software.

Note: Unity is a fantastic software platform with a rich community and an attentive development staff. During the writing of this book, we tackled...

Summary

Our goal for this book is to provide an experiential learning approach to development. We want to guide your learning, but we will also provide many opportunities to augment your learning with additional creative challenges and links to external sources to expand upon the projects described here.

In this chapter, we looked at the base Unity workflow for developing VR experiences. We provided a stationary solution so that we could focus on the development process. The Cardboard platform provides access to VR content from a mobile platform, but it also allows for touch and gaze controls, which we will explore in the next chapter. Our second activity, an interactive image gallery, will be built for the Samsung VR Gear, but it can also be built for the Google Cardboard platform.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • • Develop robust, immersive VR experiences that are easy on the eye.
  • • Code 3D games and applications using Unity 3D game engine.
  • • Learn the basic principles of virtual reality applications

Description

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 and mobile-based games and applications. Explore the three top platforms—Cardboard VR, Gear VR, and OculusVR —to design immersive experiences from scratch. You’ll start by understanding the science-fiction roots of virtual reality and then build your first VR experience using Cardboard VR. You'll then delve into user interactions in virtual space for the Google Cardboard then move on to creating a virtual gallery with Gear VR. Then you will learn all about virtual movements, state machines, and spawning while you shoot zombies in the Oculus Rift headset. Next, you'll construct a Carnival Midway, complete with two common games to entertain players. Along the way, you will explore the best practices for VR development, review game design tips, discuss methods for combating motion sickness and identify alternate uses for VR applications

Who is this book for?

If you are a game developer and a VR enthusiast now looking to get stuck into the VR app development process by creating VR apps for different platforms, then this is the book for you. Familiarity with the Unity game engine and the C# language is key to getting the most from this book.

What you will learn

  • • Use Unity assets to create object simulation.
  • • Implement simple touch controls in your application.
  • • Apply artificial intelligence to achieve player and character interaction.
  • • Add scripts for movement, tracking, grasping, and spawning.
  • • Create animated walkthroughs, use 360-degree media, and build engaging VR experiences.
  • • Deploy your games on multiple VR platforms.

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Feb 28, 2018
Length: 250 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781786465030
Vendor :
Unity Technologies
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Billing Address

Product Details

Publication date : Feb 28, 2018
Length: 250 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781786465030
Vendor :
Unity Technologies
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 153.97
Virtual Reality Blueprints
$43.99
Unity Virtual Reality Projects
$54.99
Augmented Reality for Developers
$54.99
Total $ 153.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

11 Chapters
The Past, Present, and Future of VR Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Solar System for Google Cardboard Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building an Image Gallery System for the Gear VR Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Adding User Interactions to the Virtual Gallery Project Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Fighting Zombies on the Oculus Rift Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Scripting Zombies for the Oculus Rift Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Carnival Midway Games — Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Carnival Midway Games — Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
VR Hardware Roundup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
VR Terms and Definitions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

How do I buy and download an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Where there is an eBook version of a title available, you can buy it from the book details for that title. Add either the standalone eBook or the eBook and print book bundle to your shopping cart. Your eBook will show in your cart as a product on its own. After completing checkout and payment in the normal way, you will receive your receipt on the screen containing a link to a personalised PDF download file. This link will remain active for 30 days. You can download backup copies of the file by logging in to your account at any time.

If you already have Adobe reader installed, then clicking on the link will download and open the PDF file directly. If you don't, then save the PDF file on your machine and download the Reader to view it.

Please Note: Packt eBooks are non-returnable and non-refundable.

Packt eBook and Licensing When you buy an eBook from Packt Publishing, completing your purchase means you accept the terms of our licence agreement. Please read the full text of the agreement. In it we have tried to balance the need for the ebook to be usable for you the reader with our needs to protect the rights of us as Publishers and of our authors. In summary, the agreement says:

  • You may make copies of your eBook for your own use onto any machine
  • You may not pass copies of the eBook on to anyone else
How can I make a purchase on your website? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you want to purchase a video course, eBook or Bundle (Print+eBook) please follow below steps:

  1. Register on our website using your email address and the password.
  2. Search for the title by name or ISBN using the search option.
  3. Select the title you want to purchase.
  4. Choose the format you wish to purchase the title in; if you order the Print Book, you get a free eBook copy of the same title. 
  5. Proceed with the checkout process (payment to be made using Credit Card, Debit Cart, or PayPal)
Where can I access support around an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • If you experience a problem with using or installing Adobe Reader, the contact Adobe directly.
  • To view the errata for the book, see www.packtpub.com/support and view the pages for the title you have.
  • To view your account details or to download a new copy of the book go to www.packtpub.com/account
  • To contact us directly if a problem is not resolved, use www.packtpub.com/contact-us
What eBook formats do Packt support? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Our eBooks are currently available in a variety of formats such as PDF and ePubs. In the future, this may well change with trends and development in technology, but please note that our PDFs are not Adobe eBook Reader format, which has greater restrictions on security.

You will need to use Adobe Reader v9 or later in order to read Packt's PDF eBooks.

What are the benefits of eBooks? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • You can get the information you need immediately
  • You can easily take them with you on a laptop
  • You can download them an unlimited number of times
  • You can print them out
  • They are copy-paste enabled
  • They are searchable
  • There is no password protection
  • They are lower price than print
  • They save resources and space
What is an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Packt eBooks are a complete electronic version of the print edition, available in PDF and ePub formats. Every piece of content down to the page numbering is the same. Because we save the costs of printing and shipping the book to you, we are able to offer eBooks at a lower cost than print editions.

When you have purchased an eBook, simply login to your account and click on the link in Your Download Area. We recommend you saving the file to your hard drive before opening it.

For optimal viewing of our eBooks, we recommend you download and install the free Adobe Reader version 9.