Book Image

Enhancing Virtual Reality Experiences with Unity 2022

By : Steven Antonio Christian
Book Image

Enhancing Virtual Reality Experiences with Unity 2022

By: Steven Antonio Christian

Overview of this book

Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as one of the most transformative mediums of the 21st century, finding applications in various industries, including gaming, entertainment, and education. Enhancing Virtual Reality Experiences with Unity 2022 takes you into the fascinating realm of VR, where creativity meets cutting-edge technology to bring tangible real-world applications to life. This immersive exploration not only equips you with the essential skills needed to craft captivating VR environments using Unity's powerful game engine but also offers a deeper understanding of the philosophy behind creating truly immersive experiences. Throughout the book, you’ll work with practical VR scene creation, interactive design, spatial audio, and C# programming and prepare to apply these skills to real-world projects spanning art galleries, interactive playgrounds, and beyond. To ensure your VR creations reach their full potential, the book also includes valuable tips on optimization, guaranteeing maximum immersion and impact for your VR adventures. By the end of this book, you’ll have a solid understanding of VR’s versatility and how you can leverage the Unity game engine to create groundbreaking projects.

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Table of Contents (25 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the example code files
Conventions used
Get in touch
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1
Part 1: Philosophy and Basics of Understanding Virtual Reality
Part 1: Philosophy and Basics of Understanding Virtual Reality
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: Philosophy of Building Immersive Experiences
Chapter 1: Philosophy of Building Immersive Experiences
What is an immersive experience?
What are the essential components of an immersive experience?
Understanding XR, AR, VR, and MR
How does VR work?
Approaching VR development
Summary
3
Part 2: Technical Skills for Building VR Experiences in Unity (Assets, GameObjects, Scripts, and Components)
Part 2: Technical Skills for Building VR Experiences in Unity (Assets, GameObjects, Scripts, and Components)
4
Chapter 2: Building VR Scenes in Unity
Chapter 2: Building VR Scenes in Unity
Technical requirements
Setting up a Unity project
Navigating the Unity interface
VR setup
Headset setup
VR scene setup
Testing in the Editor
Testing on a device
Summary
5
Chapter 3: Working with Inputs and Interactions
Chapter 3: Working with Inputs and Interactions
Technical requirements
Why do interactions matter?
Setting up a demo scene using primitive shapes
Setting up the locomotion system
Adding interactor components
Multiple object interactions
Adding haptic feedback to our VR controllers
Adding attach points to virtual objects
Adding socket interactors to our demo scene
Extending XR Interaction Toolkit
Summary
6
Chapter 4: Using Game Objects, Materials, and Prefabs
Chapter 4: Using Game Objects, Materials, and Prefabs
Technical requirements
Creating a grid with Primitive GOs
Creating a materials library
Assigning custom materials and assets to GOs
Creating a custom VR demo room with ProBuilder
Designing a demo room floor plan with Google Drawings
Converting the floor plan into a 3D room with ProBuilder
Decorating the VR demo room with Polybrush and vertex painting
Creating prefabs with our GOs
Organizing project assets with folders in the Project tab
Exporting project assets with Unity packages and FBX Export
Summary
7
Chapter 5: Implementing Animation – Physics and Colliders
Chapter 5: Implementing Animation – Physics and Colliders
Technical requirements
Introducing Unity’s physics system
Introducing Unity’s animation system
Summary
8
Chapter 6: Lighting Your Worlds and Experiences
Chapter 6: Lighting Your Worlds and Experiences
Technical requirements
Getting to know the Unity lighting system
Simulating indoor lighting
Modifying quality settings for lighting
Introducing post-processing
Summary
9
Chapter 7: Creating Immersion with Sound
Chapter 7: Creating Immersion with Sound
Technical requirements
Getting to know Unity’s audio and sound system
Adding background music with Global 2D audio sources
Adding audio events to our VR rig
Adding spatial audio with 3D audio sources
Summary
10
Chapter 8: Working with C#, Unity Events, and Input Actions
Chapter 8: Working with C#, Unity Events, and Input Actions
Technical requirements
How does C# work in Unity?
Creating custom input actions
Getting to know Unity Events
Creating portals with colliders and events
Switching between scenes with portals
Summary
11
Chapter 9: Unlocking the Power of Render Pipelines
Chapter 9: Unlocking the Power of Render Pipelines
Getting to know Unity’s Scriptable Render Pipeline
Exporting our built-in render pipeline project
Importing our package into Universal Render Pipeline
Importing our package into High Definition Render Pipeline
Enabling post-processing in URP and HDRP
Converting render pipelines within a project
Summary
12
Part 3: Projects: Putting Skills Together
Part 3: Projects: Putting Skills Together
13
Chapter 10: Design Thinking for Virtual Reality Experiences
Chapter 10: Design Thinking for Virtual Reality Experiences
Technical requirements
An introduction to design thinking
Creating our design document
Experienced design
Summary
14
Chapter 11: Adding Audio to a Virtual Reality World
Chapter 11: Adding Audio to a Virtual Reality World
Technical requirements
Adding park audio
Adding car audio
Adding NPC audio
Summary
15
Chapter 12: Building an Art Gallery
Chapter 12: Building an Art Gallery
Technical requirements
Creating a gallery mesh
Adding indoor lights
Adding light switches
Creating a drawing system
Hanging a picture frame
Summary
16
Chapter 13: Animating a Virtual Reality Experience
Chapter 13: Animating a Virtual Reality Experience
Technical requirements
Understanding the animation pipeline
Writing a synopsis
Writing a script
Drafting storyboards
Creating a sequence animatic
Adding audio
Previsualizing a sequence
Setting up cameras with Cinemachine
Downloading 3D characters
Downloading animations from Mixamo
Setting up animated characters
Adding animation clips to our timeline
Adding VFX
Adding background characters
Summary
17
Chapter 14: Recording Virtual Reality Videos
Chapter 14: Recording Virtual Reality Videos
Technical requirements
Working with the Unity Recorder
Building a VR theater experience
Creating a 360° video
Summary
18
Chapter 15: Enhancing Virtual Reality Rigs
Chapter 15: Enhancing Virtual Reality Rigs
Technical requirements
Adding animated hands to the VR rig
Adding and toggling between the ray interactor and the direct interactor
Making the VR rig run
Making our VR rig jump
Making the VR rig crouch
Summary
19
Chapter 16: Triggering Actions in Virtual Reality
Chapter 16: Triggering Actions in Virtual Reality
Technical requirements
Creating and configuring a VR settings menu
Triggering animations in the scene
Adding portals for navigation
Creating and controlling a bouncing basketball
Summary
20
Chapter 17: Destroying Objects in Virtual Reality
Chapter 17: Destroying Objects in Virtual Reality
Technical requirements
Creating a grenade
Making a simple hand cannon
Making a complex hand cannon
Making projectiles
Making projectile variants
Destroying GameObjects with projectiles
Adding health to an object
Creating a shatter prefab
Summary
21
Part 4: Final Touches
Part 4: Final Touches
22
Chapter 18: Optimizing Your Virtual Reality Experiences
Chapter 18: Optimizing Your Virtual Reality Experiences
Technical requirements
Optimization in Unity
Optimizing draw calls
Optimizing material settings
Optimizing camera settings
Optimizing images and textures
Optimizing audio files
Optimizing animation files
Optimizing the lighting system
Optimizing project settings
Applying optimizations to our VR world
Summary
23
Index
Index
Why subscribe?
24
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Preface

Virtual reality (VR) has unequivocally established itself as one of the most revolutionary mediums of the 21st century. It has unleashed a new paradigm in games, entertainment, education, and many other industries, radically transforming the way we interact with digital environments.

Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating interactive, real-time 3D content, plays a vital role in enhancing VR development. The engine’s flexibility, extensive capabilities, and broad compatibility with VR hardware make it the tool of choice for creating VR experiences. Its ease of use for building on Android/Mobile devices and for projects centered around both utility and entertainment opens up an expansive canvas for VR developers.

The importance of learning about Unity for VR development cannot be overstated. This is where Enhancing Virtual Reality Experiences with Unity 2022 comes into play. It encapsulates a three-pillar approach to mastering VR development:

Explore: Understand the principles of VR and Unity’s interface and delve into its features, tools, and utilities that can be harnessed to create compelling VR experiences.

Create: Apply the knowledge gained to create VR projects. From basic to complex, you will build a variety of VR experiences for headsets, computers, and mobile devices.

Innovate: Break the boundaries of conventional VR experiences. Learn how to integrate traditional gaming and animation tools and create immersive worlds that push the frontiers of what’s possible with VR.

Enhancing Virtual Reality Experiences with Unity 2022 is a project-based exploration of VR that bridges the gap between creativity and technology. It leverages my years of experience in VR development to deliver a comprehensive guide that combines both creative and technical skills to develop and improve your VR workflow.

The book presents a development framework to kickstart and scale your VR projects, introducing you to the basics of creating VR projects, and deepening your understanding of Extended Reality (XR) development. You will learn to utilize many features and tools of the Unity game engine, helping you build truly immersive experiences.

In essence, this book provides you with a solid foundation in VR and the Unity game engine, empowering you to create innovative projects that push the boundaries of what is currently possible in VR. It’s time to embark on your VR development journey and shape the future of this exciting medium.

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