Vision of Virtual/Augmented Reality
Technology has exponentially grown since the industrial revolution, giving all of us incredible new experiences and abilities multiple times within our lifetimes. More recently, PC's, internet, and mobile phones have dominated the way we interact with the world and one another.
I believe by 2040, VR/AR devices will be just as common place, if not more so than our mobile phones today. As mobile phone, computing and internet technologies improve and developers are open to develop experiences across platforms - this technology has the power to revolutionize how we interact with the world around us, in a positive way if we take the rights steps and precautions.
Here is an introductory video describing what VR and AR is.
My Journey as a deisgner into VR/AR development
VR/AR Concepts I've Developed from scratch
CarniVR
Purpose:
To learn how to implement multiple VR interactions in a single experience to refer back to specific mechanics when developing future concepts.
Goals:
- Learn as many different interactive mechanics as possible.
- Develop creative solutions and creating custom code.
- Understand game architecture and implement optimization concepts.
Conclusion:
In the end I was able to put together an immersive and fully interactive carnival experience using my existing skills, learning new concepts and C# as well as utilizing existing frameworks and assets.
Stay tuned for more updates and the video and demo link!
High Level Process
Development
Converting concepts to action items is crucial to make sure we keep mechanics simple and to the point - but also work as intended within gameplay or interaction loops. These high level concepts kept me on track during the development process.
Below are some examples of the programs I used to develop the concept.
Art Gallery Concept
This is my first VR project which I was able to complete from start to finish. A client of mine wanted to visualize her art work in a real art museum , ARG gallery in Baltimore Maryland - and gave me the task of translating her art work into a 3D digital medium, exactly as it is perceived in real life.
This includes paintings transferred onto muslin hanging from the ceiling allowing users to see the pieces hanging and rippling from the air and wind in the room, in virtual reality.
Other features include the pinkish painting which is actually a clear acrylic laser cut piece with a light shining through to give a glowing and transparent effect in real life as well as virtually.
Lastly, the gallery space has a view of the street view, and to keep the experience true to real life, I researched and recreated the entire outside block to give the most honest and realistic representation of what it would feel like to view an artists work in a real life gallery.
By gathering images online and images on the ground, I was able to recreate the immediate area in Maya and import the environments into Unity to create a realistic representation of a real life location.
On the left hand side we can see a Google Earth birdsdeye view and on the right is my Maya3D textured models imported into Unity.
On the left hand side we can see a Google street view and on the right hand side is my Maya3D textured models imported into Unity.
Use your phone to peer into small windows into the world of low poly animals! See them move around their natural habitats and maybe even one another!
More details and videos coming soon!