Hesburgh Libraries

About the Series

This is a 3-part demo and discussion series about building VR environments for an entry-level user.  Participants will discuss the concepts and skills that a potential VR developer will need to consider in order to stage success.

The series will define three “tiers” of VR use.

Tier 1 – Viewing Tier 2 – Navigation Tier 3 – Reaction/Manipulation

Demonstrations will be done using Unity to prep an HMD environment using Oculus hardware.

Workshop Overview

Prior to beginning any VR projects, developers need to understand their resource limitations and to define (and maintain) a projects scope.

Tier 3: Reaction/Manipulation (Boxer) Used when the need is for the viewer/player to manipulate objects and assets within the environment they are navigating. The user becomes an active participant in the VR environment. Additional variations could include animated additional assets/avatars or visceral changes in environmental scenarios; falling rocks, shakey bridge, attacking robot hordes, etc.

Safety becomes of even more concern as the increase in VR sensory stimuli will result in a decrease in the user/player’s spatial awareness within the “real world”. Obstacles, walls, cables, etc. need to be managed outside of simulation. Stable assets should be placed within the VR environment to help protect player and equipment. Key constraints of this tier would be a higher dependence on scripting/programming needs as well as a scenario’s goal or objective.

This workshop is open to all graduate students and postdocs.