VR hardware and development

Casper FabriciusImmersion FTW

About me

• 16 years of experience as a software developer• Freelance VR developer with Immersion FTW

(immersionftw.com)• Specialized in Unity and web based VR solutions• Special interest in VR for education

How VR lenses work

Hardware available today

Google Cardboard &“plastic cardboards” From kr. 30

+ smartphone

Google Expeditions

Samsung Gear VR

kr. 900+

Samsung Galaxy phone

Labster Forensics Lab

Oculus Rift

€699+

powerful Windows

PC

Apollo 11 VR Experience

HTC Vive

€899+

powerful Windows

PC

Google Tilt Brush

Room-scale VR can be very immersive

Cardboard Gear VR Rift Vive

Pros • No cables• Works with

any smartphone

• Cheap

• No cables• Decent

performance

• High performance

• High comfort

• High performance

• Motion controllers

• Room-scaleCons • Low

performance• Low

immersion

• Closed app ecosystem

• Requires specific phone

• Cables• Requires

powerful PC

(Same as Rift)

Hardware on the horizon

PlayStation VR

October 2016

€399+ PS4 and

PS camera

Oculus Touch

Second half of 2016

$199?

Important technologies for VR

• 3D audio headphones• Motion controllers for

mobile• Depth and room scale for

mobile• Galvanic Vestibular

Stimulation

• Eye tracking• Haptic feedback• Threadmills• Full-body motion

tracking• 3D scanning

Building virtual reality solutions

VR & game development

• Browsers can render hardware-accelerated 3D fast using WebGL – also on mobile phones.• WebVR makes browsers able to render virtual reality

experiences, which works great especially for Cardboard.• A special version of Chrome or Firefox is required to use

WebVR with Rift or Vive, but this is not the case for mobile phones.

VR & web development

Things to consider when building VR• It’s harder to build VR for mobile due to performance constraints.• Native apps are not always the solution: WebVR can be a great for

lightweight VR experiences on Google Cardboard.• The long approval time for iOS apps can make fast iterations

impossible.• GearVR is also a walled garden that requires approval of your app.• Native apps for Rift and Vive can be freely distributed, but Steam and

Oculus Store are still the place to be if you want to sell.

Thank you

@fabricius

www.immersionftw.com