Virtual Reality with Vrtk4: Create Immersive VR Experiences Leveraging Unity3d and Virtual Reality Toolkit

ISBN-13: 9781484254875 / Angielski / Miękka / 2019 / 353 str.

Rakesh Baruah

Spis treści

Chapter 1:  What is Spatial Computing?

Chapter Goal: To introduce the reader to the broad field of computer vision.

Sub -Topics

1.            Explanation and examples of spatial computing

2.            Overview of principals of spatial computer from self-driving cars to AR

3.            Understanding spatial computing for someone who doesn’t know physics

 

Chapter 2:  What is Virtual Reality Toolkit?

Chapter Goal: To demonstrate how Virtual Reality Toolkit (VRTK) simplifies the science of spatial computing.

Sub - Topics       

1.            A brief history of VRTK framework

2.            Why is VRTK useful?

3.            Overview of how VRTK works.

4.            What readers can hope to accomplish with only VRTK.

 

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Virtual Reality Design in Unity

Chapter Goal: To jump-start the fun of making things with a crash-course into the fundamental building blocks of Unity.

Sub - Topics:      

1.            What is Unity?

2.            I’m not interested in making games, why would I use a game engine?

3.            Unity creates 2D, 3D, AR, VR, and mobile content?  That’s too much to learn!

4.            What are the fundamentals of Unity?

 

Chapter 4: Creating a ‘Camera’ in VRTK

Chapter Goal: To become comfortable with VRTK by first playing with and understanding the principles of ‘camera’ transform.

Sub - Topics:

1.            What is a ‘camera’ in VR?

2.            What if I don’t have a head-mounted display like the Oculus Rift?

3.            Overview of the physics of a VR camera

4.            Exercise: setting up a VR camera with both the VRTK ‘virtual camera’ and the Oculus SDK

 

Chapter 5: Doing Things in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: Empower the reader with the understanding of how to incorporate interactivity and user input into a VR scene with VRTK.

Sub - Topics:

1.            Introduction to VRTK’s ‘actions’.

2.            Exercise: Putting a ‘button’ in your VR scene.

3.            Exercise: ‘Chaining’ user actions

4.            Exercise: Converting complex math into ‘on/off’ actions

 

Chapter 6: Using Gestures in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: To build on user input and communicate the creation pipeline from body movement to digital representation.

Sub - Topics:

1.            An introduction to ‘pointers’ in VRTK

2.            An explanation of the types of pointers in VRTK

3.            Exercise: Step-by-step instructions for implementing pointers in a VRTK scene

 

Chapter 7: Getting Around in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: To expand readers’ understanding of virtual reality (VR) as immersive by connecting interactivity with motion in VRTK

Sub - Topics:

1.            Overview of different kinds of motion embraced in VR design

2.            Overview of how different headsets impact user movement and VR design

3.            An important conversation on motion sickness and the design practices to avoid it in your users

4.            Exercise: How to use VRTK’s ‘teleport’ feature in your own VR design

 

Chapter 8: Making Virtual Reality Interactive

Chapter Goal: To clearly communicate the role of ‘physics’ in Unity by walking the reader through the creation of colliders and interactables.

Sub - Topics:

1.            Introduction to ‘interactor’ and ‘interactables’ in VRTK

2.            Overview of Unity terms ‘rigidbody’ and ‘kinematics’

3.            Exercise: How to use VRTK’s ‘teleport’ feature in your own VR design

 

Chapter 9: Sharing Your Experience

Chapter Goal: To cover the workflow of moving a VR scene from VRTK in Unity through examples covering webVR, Google Cardboard, and Oculus.

Sub-Topics:

1.            Porting a VRTK scene from Unity to a stand-alone device

2.            Sharing a VRTK scene online

3.            Exercise: Publishing your work on GitHub

 

Chapter 10: (BONUS) Oculus Integration w/VRTK

Chapter Goal: To cover the integration of the Oculus SDK with VRTK in enough detail so the user has hands-on experience with the setup procedure for at least one head-mounted display.

Sub-Topics:

1.            Because of the different types of headsets currently available and the myriad designs to follow

O autorze

Rakesh Baruah is a writer and creator with 15 years of experience in new media, film, and television in New York City.  After completing an MFA in screenwriting and directing for film from Columbia University. Rakesh joined the writers’ room of a hit, primetime, network drama as an assistant. The experience opened his eyes to the limits of television and the opportunities promised by 3D, immersive content. In 2016 he began a self-guided journey toward virtual reality design that has taken him through startups, bootcamps, the Microsoft offices and many, many hours in front of a computer.  He shares what he’s learned with you in a style and format designed specifically for the person who in high school, preferred English class to Trigonometry.

Blurb

Virtual reality is quickly becoming the next medium to communicate your ideas.  Once siloed in make-believe world of science fiction, virtual reality can now touch any aspect of your life. This book shows you how to create original virtual reality content using the Unity game engine and the Virtual Reality Tool Kit. By the end of the book you'll be creating your own virtual reality experience using the fundamental building blocks within.

You'll start by reviewing spatial computing, an emerging field that encompasses self-driving cars to space exploration. You'll also create your own virtual reality environments for use on headsets such as those from Oculus and HTC. Using the Unity3D game engine and the Virtual Reality Toolkit on a computer or laptop, you will walk through the fundamentals of virtual reality with as little code as possible. That is the beauty of Unity and the Virtual Reality Toolkit. You will discover how to use buttons in a virtual space, gaze-tracking for user input, and physics for enabling interaction between a human and a virtual space. 

From game design to education to healthcare to human resources, virtual reality offers new and creative ways to engage users, students, patients, customers, and more. Not a coding book, Virtual Reality with VRTK4 shows that you don't need to be a computer or graphics whiz to begin creating your own virtual reality experiences. 

You will:

• Grasp Virtual Reality Toolkit and its interaction with Unity3D
• Explore the fundamental science of virtual reality
• Review the inner workings of Unity3D and its integration with VRTK
• Understand the big picture of C# coding in Unity3D
• Incorporate head and hand movement into virtual experiences