How to Start Developing in Virtual Reality?
There are four prominent areas you are advised to explore when you are creating a VR project:
VR Hardware
To develop VR, you will need hardware that is capable of running advanced graphics and complex computations. Secondly, you will need a VR device to create an engaging virtual world. Here are the best VR devices to work with currently:
Oculus Rift: Oculus Rift is a tether-less headset that uses Oculus Link to connect to computers, and the device utilizes hand tracking for a more intuitive VR experience.
Oculus Quest: Deemed as a cost-effective alternative to the Rift, the Quest is the first model with standalone six degrees of freedom (6DOF).
HTC Vive: HTC’s Vive boasts of room-scale technology that enables you to move around and use motion-tracked hand controllers to interact with the 3D virtual environment.
Design and Prototype Tools
Here are some of the leading professional tools for VR app creation:
Sketch: Designs user flows and mobile interface screens. It includes a plug-in to transform sketches into a 360-degree view.
Blender: Creates custom 3D models to import to your game engine.
3DS Max and Maya: Use these for modeling, sculpting, animation, lighting, and visual effects.
Game Engines
The game engine is crucial as it comprises the essential framework required to develop VR apps for a system. Some of the best game engines are:
Unity: This engine uses C to write commands and it supports all major VR devices and formats including 3D Max, Maya, and Cinema4D.
Unreal: It supports most platforms including HoloLens 2, Windows, iOS, and Android. Unreal uses C++ to write commands and offers more realistic visuals.
Platforms and SDKs
Here are some of the best SDKs for VR development:
Oculus SDK: Oculus SDK is a development platform that includes various engine-specific kits, assets, samples, and audio packages that you use to build your VR apps.
SteamVR SDK: It gives access to controllers, models, and enables content preview in Unity play mode.
How to Start Developing Augmented Reality?
Creating an AR project involves exploring the following areas:
AR Hardware
The best AR development hardware you need to have is:
HoloLens 2: A holographic computer in a headset offering a hands-free experience where voice and hand gestures are used to interact with holograms.
Google Glasses: An enterprise tool built on Android, which mainly targets the manufacturing, medical, and construction markets.
Install Development Applications:
Install the following development applications:
HoloLens Emulator: HoloLens Emulator allows you to run Windows Holographic without the HoloLens device. One also needs to get Hyper-V for this to function.
Visual Studio: An integrated development environment where you write code and run the HoloLens Emulator. Install both Visual Studio 2015 with Update 3 and Visual Studio 2017 for it to work adequately.
SDKs
The SDKs to be used for AR development are:
Holo ToolKit: A collection of scripts and components to accelerate project development on the HoloLens.
Vuforia: Use this to create Holographic applications that can recognize objects in the environment.
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