VR development - Resources - Extended Reality at the Georgia Tech Library

Understanding VR development

1. Understand the Basics:

Familiarize yourself with the core concepts of virtual reality, including immersive experiences, 3D graphics, user interfaces, and interaction design. Gain a solid understanding of how VR systems work and the hardware and software components involved.

2. Choose a Development Platform:

Select a VR development platform based on your preferences and target platform. Some popular platforms include:

Unity: Unity is a widely used game engine that supports VR development for various platforms, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

Unreal Engine: Unreal Engine is another powerful game engine supporting platforms like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality.

SteamVR: SteamVR is a platform developed by Valve Corporation that supports multiple VR devices, including HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. SteamVR provides an SDK (Software Development kit) that enables developers to create VR applications and games using Unity or Unreal Engine.

3. Learn Programming and Game Development:

Develop a strong foundation in programming languages commonly used in VR development, such as C# (for Unity) or C++ (for Unreal Engine). Object-oriented programming.
Explore game development concepts, including physics, animations, rendering, and user input.

4. VR-specific Skills and Tools:

3D modeling and asset creation, shader programming, spatial audio, and user interface design for immersive environments.
Experiment with VR hardware devices to understand their capabilities and limitations of each type of device. Consider investing in a VR headset like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or a standalone device like Oculus Quest to gain hands-on experience. You can also borrow headsets from the library to understand how each of them functions.

5. Online Learning Resources:

Unity Learn: Unity offers a variety of learning resources, including tutorials, courses, and documentation specifically tailored to VR development. Visit the Unity Learn platform for VR-related content.
Unreal Engine Learning: Unreal Engine provides extensive learning materials, including video tutorials, documentation, and sample projects, to help you get started with VR development. Explore the Unreal Engine Online Learning platform.
Linked in Learning- Unity

6. Join VR Communities and Conferences

Recommended Readings

Unity® Virtual Reality Development with VRTK4 by Christopher Coutinho Get hands-on practical knowledge of concepts and techniques for VR development using Unity® and VRTK version 4. This book is a step-by-step guide to learning VRTK 4 for developing immersive VR experiences. Unity is a powerful game engine for developing VR experiences. With its built-in support for all major VR headsets, it's the perfect tool for developers to realize their vision in VR. VRTK is a battle-tested VR solution for Unity; This book focuses on creating deep understanding of how advanced VR mechanics and techniques are built and utilized as a part of a VR framework By the end of this book, you will know how to create advanced VR mechanics that can be used within any VR experience, game, or App; and deployed across several platforms and hardware. Who This Book Is For? Unity game developers conversant with Unity's Editor. Basic knowledge of how Unity Prefabs function, how events work in general, and programming logic would be beneficial.
ISBN: 9781484279328
Publication Date: 2022-03-31
Immersive 3D Design Visualization by Abhishek Kumar Discover the methods and techniques required for creating immersive design visualization for industry. This book proposes ways for industry-oriented design visualization from scratch. This includes fundamentals of creative and immersive technology; tools and techniques for architectural visualization; design visualization with Autodesk Maya; PBR integration; and texturing, material design, and integration into UE4 for immersive design visualization. You'll to dive into design and visualization, from planning to execution. You will start with the basics, such as an introduction to design visualization as well as to the software you will be using. You will next learn to create assets such as virtual worlds and texturing, and integrate them with Unreal Engine 4. Finally, there is a capstone project for you to make your own immersive visualization scene. By the end of the book: you'll be able to create assets for use in industries such as game development, entertainment, architecture, design engineering, and digital education. What You Will Learn: Gain the fundamentals of immersive design visualization Master design visualization with Autodesk Maya Study interactive visualization with UE4 Create your immersive design portfolio Who This Book Is For Beginning-intermediate learners from the fields of animation, visual art, and computer graphics as well as design visualization, game technology, and virtual reality integration.
ISBN: 1484265963
Publication Date: 2020-12-16

Frontiers in Virtual Reality Frontiers in Virtual Reality is a multidisciplinary open access journal that explores the entire breadth of extended reality. This journal can provide readers with an overview of how Extended Reality is being used in industry and applications for these technologies.
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The journal is led by Field Chief Editor Dr. Mel Slater (University of Barcelona, Spain) and explores all the possibilities relating to virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.

The journal covers topics related to Extended Reality in the following areas of virtual reality research:

augmented reality
haptics
technologies for VR
virtual reality and human behaviour
virtual reality in industry
virtual reality in medicine.

In particular, the journal welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 9: industry, innovation, and infrastructure.