I don’t know about you, but personally, I have been waiting for a year and a half for VR to finally begin to disrupt the market. First there were cardboard Google Cardboards that served perfect gift even a friend, even a wife. Then Microsoft released a colorful video for the Super Bowl finals, showing Hololens' unrealistic capabilities. And of course, in 2016 we watched and read a lot of reviews about incredibly cool freshly baked VR devices, and also played the first high-quality games focused on these devices.

With all this, the popularity of VR applications is still far from the specified applications, but this does not diminish interest in the least. So if a revolution is coming, now is the time to take the banner into our own hands. But how?

Just like one-two-three

You can create mobile apps without having the right smartphone at hand, but building a VR app without the right device is nearly impossible. Therefore, your first step will be to buy any, even a primitive VR adapter.

The next step is to install the correct "engine", which in our case will be Unity. Today he the best way configured not only to create VR applications from scratch, but also to translate existing 3D creations into this format. By the way, wandering around the Internet, you may stumble upon the opinion that the VR option in Unity was originally developed to interact with the Google Cardboard SDK, so using it for iOS will bring a lot of difficulties. The first part is partially true, but the second is not. In any case, no real problems were noticed.

The third and main step is the application development environment, these are standard and well-known IDEs, there is no fundamental difference in this matter.

More help

If we are talking about creating mobile applications, then it is this set of tools that is considered optimal, but depending on the kind of your creation, you can use others.

Unreal Engine
Starting with version 4, you will also have access to the possibilities of working with VR graphics. However, due to some complexity and high cost of the platform, the language will not turn out to call Unreal a priority option.

InstaVR
A web service that allows you to create your own VR application with a few mouse clicks. Perfect for the implementation of simple ideas, whether it is a landscape visualization or a virtual 3D console.

Wonda VR
A specialized service for creating VR videos. It is really easy to do prototyping, video stitching, applying effects here, but the price starts at 499 €. However, there is a 14-day trial version to evaluate the possibilities.

Photo processing app with VR conversion option.

Splash
A similar service available only for iOS. It is still under development, but it already has good functionality.

Differences from game development

There are no fundamental differences. From the point of view of developing VR applications and 3D games, the approach is almost completely the same, the difference is only in small details. Moreover, if the quality of 3D games today directly depends on both the graphic component and the plot, then VR allows one of the aspects to be neglected and remain successful.

Useful literature

Due to the specifics, there is not a lot of useful literature in the world about creating popular and beautiful VR applications. So let's take a look at the superficial teaching literature.

Google VR - let's start with the official guide from Google on how to make wonderful entertainment out of a simple box;

Microsoft VR - similar step-by-step instruction but from Microsoft;

How to make a VR app with zero experience - a useful and visual article that will help you create your first application;

Creating a Gear VR app in Unity Free- and here is a training video on how to create a VR candy with the help of your direct hands and Unity.

Seeing what is impossible.

Development of virtual reality(VR) to order

Virtual reality technology (Virtual Reality, VR) from Network Media will allow you to place your consciousness in any chosen virtual reality universe. Simply put, you can place yourself anywhere: the universe can have its own physics, graphics, properties of objects, etc. Our company also creates VR programs and provides services for developing VR games to order.

Virtual reality has a wide range of applications. With its help you can:

make an impressive presentation of a product or service - for example, visit a non-existent yacht, or, for example, spaceship and see how it will look live
demonstrate the dynamic development process of a project - for example, the construction of a multi-storey complex, modeling weather phenomena, etc.
conduct an interactive tour, for example - on the ancient world dinosaurs or a fictional world such as the anime pirate world
to see a group of people from the other part of the world sitting together at the same table - for example, it will be convenient for virtual negotiations or other kind of socialization
to involve the participants of the presentation, exhibition, any other cultural event into a new format of interactive interaction.

There are a lot of ways to use the "virtual reality" technology. We are ready to create a custom-made virtual reality application for almost any of your ideas and tasks, if it is technically feasible today.

The main areas of business for the application of virtual reality technology:

VR promo for business and state structures in the areas B2G, B2B, G2C, B2C
Production. You will be able to demonstrate how your production line works, what the production process is.
Architecture and construction. You will be able to demonstrate how the future structure will look like, how it will be arranged from the inside.
Military sphere: training for military purposes of soldiers, for example, team battles and training against a non-existent enemy
Luxury segment - sale of complex or expensive goods and their preliminary demonstration
Medicine (interactive simulators of operations in virtual reality)
Tourism (you can demonstrate any location to attract tourists: "travel to Antarctica", "underwater travel to Baikal", "travel to the mountains of Kamchatka" and much more)
Auto business (modding, tuning, airbrushing)
Education (the field of virtual reality opens up new ways of demonstrating and teaching. Now you can show things that were difficult or impossible to explain before. Astronomy - "Flight in space", or "Walking on Mars", Physics - "How does electricity work?" , Biology - "How does the immune system work?" Story - "How did Lincoln get killed?" Etc.)
Distance learning(including challenging simulations) and museum tours (including those that don't exist)
Sphere of innovation (you will be able to demonstrate how your new device works and how it differs from competitors, even before the stage of its creation live)
The sphere of entertainment (from the creation of VR games to order, to the development of VR games-quests for quest rooms)
Scientific sphere (archeology, chemistry, mechanics, ballistics, and other sciences)
Event industry
Film industry and show business (for example, a cartoon in VR, where you can wander around the locations)

What do you get

How Network Media Approaches Custom VR Development

We carry out a full range of work on the creation of virtual reality. This complex, in particular, includes:

rendering of virtual objects... One of the main activities of Network Media is any complexity, including the creation of virtual reality games to order. Therefore, we know how to make the object as realistic as possible, or, conversely, emphasized cartoon
creating object animations.
creation of physics of the world
creation of a virtual world location
integration with other systems and sensors(eg Xbox Kinect or Playstation Move) This allows you to make the object "real". That is, if a virtual object is located, for example, on a table, then it will be possible to walk around it, come closer, examine it in great detail and almost touch it. If he is located on another movable object - for example, on a chair, he will be able to move with the chair
Additional services or rather, possibilities. We can write for you a program that integrates with VR, for example, a server part (allowing you to watch interactivity online), or, for example, a program for emulating an airplane pilot's flight, with variable physics in the program. We also create custom-made VR games, moreover, we were the first to provide services for writing custom-made virtual reality games in Russia. In addition, when ordering the creation of virtual reality applications and games, in addition, we can also transfer individual objects to.

If you like the very idea of virtual reality, but you don’t know how to implement it, our experts are always ready to give you ideas for implementation, to take part in their discussion.

Your benefits

How Network Media Custom Virtual Reality Will Increase Your Profits

Depending on your goals and objectives, using VR technology, you will be able to:

will significantly stand out from competitors due to the WOW effect, the use of advanced technology
attract maximum attention to your product... Your virtual installation will be remembered and discussed, which will contribute to the growth of the popularity of the promoted product
display what cannot be seen with the eye in reality. Do you want to show the world of atoms or open space? This technology will open up truly new opportunities for you.

“If you are constantly in this industry, whether you like it or not, you start to notice certain trends and tendencies. It seems to me that there is really huge potential behind virtual reality "- the words of the creator of the Doom and Quake games, as well as the co-founder of Oculus VR, John Carmack, describe the future of virtual reality in the best possible way.

Experts believe that by 2020 the virtual reality industry will be valued at $ 30 billion, and now VR is moving towards this indicator with huge strides.

With the support of Microsoft, which launched a course on developing applications for virtual reality, we are publishing material on why to learn how to develop VR applications.

French writer and director Antonin Artaud hardly thought that the term "virtual reality" he had introduced would by 2016 turn into one of the most promising and expensive computer industries. For the first time Artaud used this term in the collection of essays "Theater and its Double" in 1938. Of course, there was no talk of virtual reality glasses, software and app stores. Artaud called virtual reality the illusory nature of characters and objects in the theater.

Virtual reality in its usual sense for us was popularized by the programmer, writer and musician Jaron Lanier. In the mid-1980s, his company VPL Research held the rights to most of the VR patents. And the real boom of virtual reality at that time was provided by the films "The Lawnmower" and " Brainstorm", As well as the book" Virtual Reality "by Howard Reingold.

Now everyone knows about virtual reality to a greater or lesser extent. At the end of 2015, the analytical company Statista conducted a study among US residents. All respondents were asked the same question - "Are you interested in virtual reality?" - and asked to rate their interest on a five-point scale. Only 7% rated their interest as one, 5% as two. 44% said they were interested by 5 points and 26% - by 4.

In any virtual reality research, one way or another it boils down to the idea that the industry will flourish. Profit from software products by 2018 it will grow almost 60 times, the number of users by the same year will increase to 171 million, and the profit from the sale of virtual reality helmets will grow from $ 685 million to $ 3.89 billion.

VR is an ideal industry for developers too. It is relatively new, which means that it has not yet been formed and is not filled with specialists, it is interesting, and the volume of investments in it is now catastrophically large. Of course, the developers themselves understand this. There are no statistics on the number of developers in the VR industry, but it is known that only the Oculus Rift Development Kit was bought in the amount of more than 175,000.

According to VR engineer Liv Eriscon, one of the main questions asked by programmers is "How much money and time will I have to invest to learn how to work with VR?" Given the $ 600 price tag for the first versions of the Oculus Rift, this answer would have been less than encouraging in the past. Now that there is a Cardboard, and almost everyone has a smartphone, this is not a problem.

As for the time frame - here the answer is more vague. According to Erickson, a lot depends on the level of training and the ability to learn. “If you’re familiar with C # and Unity, it’s a lot faster,” says the engineer.

The salary of a VR programmer depends on the specialization he chooses, but, in general, is higher than the market average. Professionals working in the medical and financial environment receive the most. Despite the fact that the media attention is drawn to social networks and games, in the field of medicine and business is not less interesting. For example, the startup MindMaze is developing virtual spaces for the recovery of patients after heart attacks. Vivid Vision creates games to treat amblyopia - a disease that impairs vision - and strabismus.

In business and corporate environment, virtual reality is developing at an equal rate. SDK Lab is creating virtual training spaces for mining employees, Autodesk is experimenting with VR in real estate, and IrisVR is creating 3D object modeling tools.

The problem for developers is that there are a lot of VR headsets. Oculus, Microsoft Hololens, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard - these devices are immediately remembered. Then there is HTC Vive, Project Morpheus, Visbox, Fove, StarVR - and in fact there are even more of them. The developers agree that regardless of the platform chosen, the learning principle is about the same. The first step is to learn C ++ or C #, then Unity or Unreal, as these are the most common SDKs that are used when developing virtual reality applications.

Another question is where to start learning. There are currently no more than 10 universities worldwide that offer courses in VR development. Most of them are located in the United States and only a few outside of them, in Norway and Singapore. A good option- study independently. For this, it is desirable to already have development skills. You can get started with video tutorials about the Unity development tool.

Once you are familiar with the Unity environment, you can move on to a more advanced Microsoft course. It is dedicated to creating virtual and augmented reality applications. The course consists of ten modules. The first ones are introductory and devoted to the discussion of the basics of virtual reality, the use of VR headsets and the principles of creating VR programs on Unity.

Towards the end, the course instructors will talk about more complex technical details. For example, the fourth lesson is about creating software for the Fibrum helmet. In the fifth - about the peculiarities of interaction with the user in virtual reality: how to save the user from discomfort and difficulties in management. The last module is devoted to the creation of highly efficient C ++ / DirectX applications.

The course is taught by Microsoft Russia evangelists Dmitry Soshnikov and Dmitry Andreev, technical director of the MAAS marketing agency Alexander Kondratov and founder of the VR-AR Lab company developing VR applications Artyom Pechenyi.

Dmitry Soshnikov,evangelist for Microsoft Russia

The course itself is more of a technological one; it teaches the basics of developing virtual reality applications for mobile devices. To develop a successful application or game, you need a few more components: an idea that fits well with virtual reality, skills in developing games in Unity, skills in creating 3D models for VR, and a business model - ideas for the possible commercialization of the application.

In any case, you have to try. Come up with an idea and try to put it into practice. Even if some components are missing, this is not a reason to postpone the process. The market for VR applications is still fairly free, and we need to start acting now! At the same time, from a technological point of view, everything is not very difficult, in our experience it is possible to learn how to create VR applications in a couple of days.

For our part, we support developers on our platform, for example, in December, a VR / AR hackathon was held, at student competition The Imagine Cup was a number of student VR projects that won prizes. We must begin to act and change this world for the better.

VR will change many industries. First of all, of course, games and entertainment come to mind. In addition, a separate class of applications is 360-video or telepresence, when the user can “virtually” be transported to another place. Such projects make sense in the field of education, tourism, and so on.

But in reality, the most interesting thing is to look at how VR or AR can be used in non-gaming applications. For example, in teaching, VR can allow students to look inside a phenomenon or process, be it the movement of planets or an atomic reaction. Probably, VR can also change the style of communication of people, because it was not for nothing that Facebook acquired Oculus VR at the time.

Design Dossier specialists create virtual reality worlds using an innovative tool for effective interaction with the audience. Fantasy, professionalism, talent and new technologies allow us to implement virtual travel in strict accordance with the business goals of the Customer. What opportunities does virtual reality open up for solving business problems, for holding exhibitions and major events?

What is virtual reality?

A virtual reality(artificial reality, electronic reality, virtual reality,VR, 3d virtual reality)- an artificially created simulated computer world into which a person plunges. However, getting into the virtual world, we realize that we are in an artificially created space, that is, we are able to separate reality from virtuality.

VR is a virtual recreation of life or any other environment using computer modeling. Virtual reality affects the user's vision, hearing, making him feel the illusion that he is inside the computer world.

Virtual reality for the Moscow Government at the "Golden Autumn" exhibition

To create a virtual world, when using virtual reaction technology, certain virtual reality systems, 3D displays / monitors, special virtual reality glasses, VR helmets plus are used software and, of course, simulated content - what the viewer will see and hear in virtual space.

Observing the development of technologies and a wide range of virtual reality use, today we can safely talk about VR as a new effective and demanded communication channel.

Where can virtual reality technology be used?

Virtual reality technology today is in demand not only in computer games ah and in the cinema. VR is used to interactively attract buyers of goods and services and engage in interaction with content. The possibilities of the virtual world allow you to transfer a person to different dimensions, spaces and geographical points of our world, to see what is hidden from the eyes in reality.

Virtual reality is actively integrating today into various business segments: consumer, commercial, entertainment, travel, education systems are actively introducing VR technologies into the learning process.

How and where does virtual reality help businesses?

Goods and services. The virtual presentation of products and services is an effective tool for communicating with potential consumer... Virtual reality systems are used as a virtual showcase, with the ability interactive creation by the buyer of the goods that he needs. These are virtual showcases of furniture, buildings, cars, etc. Consumers who have had prior experience with a product / service through a mobile VR application believe that it is

- significantly saves time spent on choosing and making a purchase decision,

- allows you to get an emotional impression from the use of a product / service prior to its acquisition through close acquaintance with it, or through testing them in a virtual environment.

VR in tourism and travel... Sitting on the couch in virtual reality glasses, you can, for example, take a virtual tour of the hotel or resort of interest, find yourself in Bora Bora, in any other corner the globe etc. If you wish, you can experience a parachute jump, for example, or fly on hot-air balloon over the selected area.
Architecture, engineering, design. With the help of virtual reality, you can present real estate objects even before the start of construction. It could be virtual presentation appearance, layouts, interiors. VR technologies help to see future real estate objects in conditions as close to reality as possible. This helps to avoid possible financial losses when correcting errors made in the project during construction. Virtual reality helps to see flaws in projects, work out ergonomic issues, and evaluate intermediate construction stages. Physical mock-ups can be replaced with virtual ones, and designers and customers have the opportunity to study the designed objects in VR-glasses to make sure that the project meets all the requirements.

VR - Tour of the Digital Business Space

Virtual reality in education. The use of virtual reality technologies in educational processes is one of the most popular directions for VR development, opening up new effective learning opportunities. The advantage of VR over the classical learning process is obvious - this factor of involvement and virtual "proximity" of the object of study. Agree, it's one thing to read about the construction of the Colosseum in a history textbook, and quite another to watch the process in real time. In medicine, virtual reality is already being used to improve the qualifications of surgeons.

What are the obvious benefits of VR training:

Visibility. With the help of 3D modeling, it is possible to detail and visualize various processes hidden from view, for example, to show chemical processes down to the atomic level.

Immersion and involvement. The virtual world envelops the student from all sides, in 360 degrees, allowing them to fully concentrate and delve into the material.

Security. Training in professions whose work involves interacting with complex systems, working in critical ones, allows interactive trainings in a virtual space, without a threat to life. For example, training the professional skills of firefighters or doctors (especially surgeons).

Virtual reality in medicine

Already today, VR helps the rehabilitation, socialization and inclusion of the elderly. VR can be beneficial for mental and physical exercise... According to a study by the Danish University of Aalborg, virtual reality can inspire older people to walk more often, leave the house, exercise. physical activity. Physical activity helps them keep fit and distract from chronic back and joint pain.

Virtual reality opens up the opportunity for elderly people with limited mobility to travel: to see the places of their childhood, to move to any geographical space. The possibility of using VR to help patients with phobias and mental disorders, for rehabilitation after mental disorders and stressful situations.

Virtual reality for museums and exhibitions

The use of VR technologies in exhibition spaces is probably one of the most active developing directions... VR offers a unique visualization toolkit. Virtual reality allows visitors to get acquainted with museum collections located at a great distance from humans, see long-lost historical and cultural artifacts, examine in detail microscopic objects, and move to any historical epoch. In addition to virtual tours of museum expositions, today it is gaining popularity virtual travel inside the paintings.

What VR technologies can be used in museum exhibitions?

Virtual tours and excursions.
Stands and showcases with a virtual reality system.
Creation of virtual exhibits.
Shooting and creation of panoramic and spherical (360 degrees) video, with the possible integration of 3D graphic models into real video.

Virtual tour of the exhibition "12 centuries of fishing"

Virtual travel "TimeCode Malevich" for the festival of discoveries "Malevich fest"

Impact of VR on consumers

Virtual reality makes communication with consumers as efficient as possible.

Firstly, the time of interaction with the content and information presented in the virtual space increases.
Secondly, virtual reality is always interactive, which ensures the involvement of the consumer in the interaction, and this, in turn, helps to remember large quantity information and creates the empathy necessary for the WOW effect.
Thirdly, VR is always emotional involvement.

A YuMe / Nielsen study found that VR content evokes 27% more emotion and is used for a third longer.

Virtual Reality Game "Drone Racing"

What are the benefits of using virtual reality technology?

Using virtual reality to promote goods / services and stimulate sales has a number of undeniable advantages.

Interactive virtual interaction with the product / service attracts a potential client.
Demonstration of consumer qualities and advantages of products and services is clear and understandable, allows you to convey maximum information. This allows you to demonstrate any project that has not yet been implemented - a virtual tour / presentation can become a test sample of consumer properties of products.
Comfortable, easy, playful acquisition of information also contributes to stable memorization.
WOW factor - wow factor, it plays important role in the formation of an impression of a product or service. Modern screens with high resolution allow you to achieve maximum realism of the picture, be it a big battle or a demonstration of the work of a complex mechanism.

A virtual trip with a 360-degree view over industrial Moscow

Virtual panoramic video with 360-degree views is becoming more and more in demand in the market. For the Hannover Messe 2016 exhibition for the Moscow Government, we have created a 7-minute video with a 360-degree view of the capital. Panoramic virtual reality is a kind of tour of the technological capital: everyone can see Moscow sights in combination with promising industrial zones and industrial parks for investments.

What is the cost and what are the stages of work?

The cost of implementing each project is calculated individually on the basis of a technical assignment or a brief provided by the Customer or jointly developed.

When forming the cost of the project, such factors as are taken into account:

The cost of software development.
The cost of design development (rendering of 3D models, interfaces, animation, etc.) depends on the complexity of the script, the quality of drawing the characters, and the features of the graphics.
The cost of renting equipment for augmented or virtual reality (based on the number of shifts).
The cost of the work of the technical staff on the site.

Virtual tour of the services of the OPTI24 brand, Gazprom Neft "

Stages of work on a project

Technical task
Concept and scenario development
Low and high detail prototyping
Application design and preparation of 3D models
Programming
Creating an anchor point (label)
Testing
Refinement
Launch of the project

If you are not sure which technology is best suited for the implementation of your marketing tasks and business goals - 3d Virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) - we, together with you, based on the terms of reference, will analyze the situation and offer you a strategically optimal option. solutions and take care of all the implementation. Call us!

Video report "Virtual tour of the central control center" at the "Open Innovations" forum

United 3D Labs interactive graphics laboratory develops virtual reality solutions, including:

industrial VR simulators;
simulators in virtual reality;
museum exhibitions and interactive VR installations;
virtual tours;
games.

We work with all common virtual reality glasses - HTC Vive, HTC Focus, Oculus Rift, Samsung Odyssey, Windows Mixed Reality. We use VIVE Tracking tracking systems, Leap Motion, Myo and Kinect controllers. We use software Unreal Engine, Unity and Unigine.

Virtual reality developed by United 3D Labs for the MIREA branch in Fryazino.

Virtual reality puzzle

Virtual reality (VR) is perhaps the most mysterious and popular part of computer graphics. Many science fiction books and films extol its benefits and scare you possible consequences use. Virtual reality takes the user to an artificial world created by developers. Unlike augmented reality, where the basis is a real image transmitted by a video camera, in virtual reality all objects are created in computer graphics development programs.

Various applications of virtual reality technologies have been known for several decades; they are actively used in the military sphere, the space industry, and medicine. Ordinary users have actually encountered virtual reality quite recently - with the appearance in wide sale in 2016 of the virtual reality glasses Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as well as all kinds of VR helmets for mobile phones.

Not only VR glasses

It should be noted that virtual reality is not only glasses and helmets. Multi-screen configurations, CAVE rooms (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment), Virtual Reality Video Walls with a viewing angle of more than 180 degrees, etc., all of these solutions are also designed to transfer the user to the virtual world. These systems are very expensive and extremely complex from a technical point of view, but at the same time, they have a number of advantages, starting with the main one - no need to wear rather uncomfortable virtual reality glasses.

Virtual reality applications

Of course, first of all, the creators of computer games seized on the opportunities offered by the available VR glasses - transferring the user to the virtual world of the game, of course, is much more interesting (and promises much greater profits) than showing this very world on a monitor screen. But relatively cheap consumer virtual reality glasses have more serious uses. What was previously available only to the military, who bought a pair of glasses for $ 50,000, is now available to museums, schools and institutes. All kinds of realistic virtual tours, reconstructions of objects and events, virtual experiments, the opportunity to see with your own eyes what is impossible to see in real life- this is just a small part of the possibilities offered by virtual reality glasses. And of course, for unique opportunities virtual reality to create realistic simulators and simulators seized on industrial enterprises.

Standalone virtual reality headset

It is worth paying special attention to the segment of wireless virtual reality glasses, such as HTC Focus or Oculus Go. They, of course, lose to their older brothers Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in terms of complexity and quality of graphics, but they have a huge advantage - portability. They are not tied to a stationary computer by a wire. And they have enough computing power to show projects of the same architectural visualization or a small simulator.

United 3D Labs interactive graphics laboratory invites you to our demo room. We will be happy to show the virtual reality solutions we have developed and demonstrate the main models of VR glasses that exist on the market, tell about their strengths and weaknesses.