Unity 2020 Virtual Reality Projects

Description

Explore the latest features of Unity and build VR experiences including first-person interactions, audio fireball games, 360-degree media, art gallery tours, and VR storytelling Key FeaturesDiscover step-by-step instructions and best practices to begin your VR development journeyExplore Unity features such as URP rendering, XR Interaction Toolkit, and ProBuilderBuild impressive VR-based apps and games that can be experienced using modern devices like Oculus Rift and Oculus QuestBook Description This third edition of the Unity Virtual Reality (VR) development guide is updated to cover the latest features of Unity 2019.4 or later versions - the leading platform for building VR games, applications, and immersive experiences for contemporary VR devices. Enhanced with more focus on growing components, such as Universal Render Pipeline (URP), extended reality (XR) plugins, the XR Interaction Toolkit package, and the latest VR devices, this edition will help you to get up to date with the current state of VR. With its practical and project-based approach, this book covers the specifics of virtual reality development in Unity. You'll learn how to build VR apps that can be experienced with modern devices from Oculus, VIVE, and others. This virtual reality book presents lighting and rendering strategies to help you build cutting-edge graphics, and explains URP and rendering concepts that will enable you to achieve realism for your apps. You'll build real-world VR experiences using world space user interface canvases, locomotion and teleportation, 360-degree media, and timeline animation, as well as learn about important VR development concepts, best practices, and performance optimization and user experience strategies. By the end of this Unity book, you'll be fully equipped to use Unity to develop rich, interactive virtual reality experiences. What you will learnUnderstand the current state of virtual reality and VR consumer productsGet started with Unity by building a simple diorama scene using Unity Editor and imported assetsConfigure your Unity VR projects to run on VR platforms such as Oculus, SteamVR, and Windows immersive MRDesign and build a VR storytelling animation with a soundtrack and timelinesImplement an audio fireball game using game physics and particle systemsUse various software patterns to design Unity events and interactable componentsDiscover best practices for lighting, rendering, and post-processingWho this book is for Whether you're a non-programmer unfamiliar with 3D computer graphics or experienced in both but new to virtual reality, if you're interested in building your own VR games or applications, this Unity book is for you. Any experience in Unity will be useful but is not necessary. Table of ContentsVirtually Everything for EveryoneUnderstanding Unity, Content, and ScaleSetting Up Your Project for VRUsing Gaze-Based ControlInteracting with Your HandsCanvasing the World Space UITeleporting, Locomotion, and ComfortLighting, Rendering, RealismPlaying with Physics and FireExploring Interactive SpacesUsing All 360 DegreesAnimation and VR StorytellingOptimizing for Performance and Comfort. Cover Title Page Copyright and Credits Dedication About Packt Contributors Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Virtually Everything for Everyone What is virtual reality? Differences between virtual reality and augmented reality Applications versus games Types of VR experience Types of HMD Desktop VR Mobile VR How virtual reality works Stereoscopic 3D viewing Head, hand, and body tracking Technical skills that are important to VR What this book covers Who this book is for Summary Chapter 2: Understanding Unity, Content, and Scale Technical requirements Installing Unity Development system requirements Installing Unity Hub Installing the Unity Editor Creating a new Unity project Installing additional packages and assets Getting started with Unity Exploring the Unity Editor Understanding the default new scene Using grid and snap A couple more options Creating a simple diorama Adding a cube and a plane Adding a red ball Changing the scene view Making a Crate Material Adding a photo Using prefabs Creating and instantiating a prefab Editing and overriding a prefab Importing content Creating 3D content for VR Importing from the Unity Asset Store Using Unity Legacy Standard Assets Importing models in supported formats Round-trip geometry workflows Summary Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Project for VR Technical requirements Introducing the Unity XR platform Choosing your target VR platforms and toolkits Enabling virtual reality for your platform Setting your target platform Installing XR Plugin Management Installing the XR Interaction Toolkit Adding the XR camera rig Exploring the XR Rig objects and components Building and running your project Configuring the player settings Building, running, and testing your VR project Building for SteamVR Setting up for OpenVR Installing the SteamVR Unity Plugin toolkit Building for Oculus Rift Setting up for Oculus desktop Installing the Oculus Integration toolkit Building for Immersive Windows MR Setting up for Immersive WMR Installing Visual Studio workloads Installing the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) Building for Oculus Quest Installing the Android tools Setting up for Oculus mobile VR Other Android and optimization settings Installing the Oculus Integration toolkit Using adb Building for Google Cardboard Setting up for Google Cardboard  Targeting Android for Cardboard Targeting iOS for Cardboard Summary Chapter 4: Using Gaze-Based Control Technical requirements Adding Ethan, the walker Artificially intelligent Ethan The NavMesh bakery Scripting a random walk target "Zombie-izing" Ethan! Adding a zombie material Painting models with Polybrush Going where I'm looking The LookMoveTo script Adding a feedback cursor object Observing through obstacles Making a look-to-kill system The KillTarget script Adding particle effects Introducing Unity C# programming Summary Chapter 5: Interacting with Your Hands Technical requirements Setting up the scene Defining a balloon game object Making the balloon prefab Creating a Balloon Controller Using an Input Manager button  Polling the XRI_Right_Trigger button Controlling balloons with the input trigger Creating balloons Releasing balloons Inflating a balloon while pressing the trigger Using Unity events for input Invoking our input action events Subscribing to input events Tracking your hands Parenting the balloon to your hand Forcing balloons to float upright Interacting with a balloon gun Introducing the XRI Interactor/Interactable architecture Creating a grabbable balloon gun Handling Activate events Using the XR Interaction Debugger Popping balloons Making the balloons poppable Adding a popping explosion Disabling rigid physics while in hand Throwing a ball projectile Resetting the ball position Summary Chapter 6: Canvasing the World Space UI Technical requirements Studying VR design principles Making a reusable default canvas Creating a default canvas prefab Initializing the default main camera Including an Event System component with XRUI Input Module Implementing a HUD Creating a visor HUD The windshield HUD Hiding the panel using Canvas Group The in-game world space UI Making a scoreboard Using TextMesh Pro Info bubbles The reticle cursor Adding a canvas reticle to gaze-based interaction Adding a reticle to the XR interactor hand controller Adding a gaze-based reticle using XRI Building an interactive dashboard  Adding a dynamic water hose Creating a dashboard with a toggle button Stopping the ray interactor at the canvas Direct interaction with UI elements Building a wrist-based menu palette Summary Chapter 7: Teleporting, Locomotion, and Comfort Technical requirements Implementing basic glide locomotion Moving forward with the thumbstick Rotating with the thumbstick Moving in the direction you're looking or pointing Avoiding obstacles Climbing a wall Building a wall with grab holds Adding the XRI Interactor and Interactable components Adding a ClimbController script Adding the GrabPull script and actions Falling Using the XRI Locomotion System Understanding the Locomotion System Turning in a snap Integrating scripts with Locomotion System Teleporting between locations Installing the XRI examples Adding teleportation Restricting interaction to a specific layer Ray interactors for teleportation Switching between Interactors Locomotion and comfort in VR Other locomotion mechanics Managing VR motion sickness Summary Chapter 8: Lighting, Rendering, Realism Technical requirements Lighting and rendering strategies Choosing a Render Pipeline Choosing Lighting Settings and GameObjects Setting up our demo scene  Using the SampleScene Disabling baked lighting Creating a menu panel Using environment lighting Environment lighting source Adding Environment Light Intensity Adding a Fog effect Using PBR materials and URP Shaders Using Light objects and Emission surfaces Using Light Probes and Reflection Probes Enhancing your scenes with post-processing effects Summary Chapter 9: Playing with Physics and Fire Technical requirements Understanding Unity physics Creating bouncy balls Managing the GameObject life cycle Removing fallen objects Setting a limited lifetime Implementing an object pool Building a headshot game Serving a ball Adding sound effects Hitting the target Building a Paddleball game Creating a hand paddle Building a shooter ball game Making a shooter wall Shooting balls toward the player Improving the ball Juicing the scene Great balls of fire Skull environment Audio synchronization Summary Chapter 10: Exploring Interactive Spaces Technical requirements Using ProBuilder and ProGrids Using the ProGrids editor interface  Using the ProBuilder editor interface Constructing the art gallery building Using a floor plan sketch Creating the floor Creating the walls Making holes for entrances Creating a roof and skylight Assembling the scene Replacing the building materials Tuning the lighting Creating the artwork rig Defining an artwork rig Adding a spotlight The exhibition plan Adding pictures to the gallery Managing art info data Using lists Using data structures Using scriptable objects Displaying the art info Adjusting for image aspect ratio Teleporting around the gallery Room-scale considerations Summary Chapter 11: Using All 360 Degrees Technical requirements Exploring 360-degree media Understanding equirectangular projections VR is hacking your field of view Stereo 360-degree media Having fun with photo globes Seeing crystal balls Rendering globes Handling magic orbs Viewing 360-degree photos Viewing 360 images from the web Adding an image viewer UI Playing 360-degree videos Using Unity skyboxes Six-sided or cubemap skyboxes Spherical panoramic skyboxes  360-degree video skyboxes Capturing 360-degrees in Unity Capturing cubemaps and reflection probes Using third-party capture tools  Summary Chapter 12: Animation and VR Storytelling Technical requirements Composing our story  Gathering the assets Creating the initial scene Timelines and Audio tracks Using a Timeline to activate objects Recording an Animation Track A growing tree A growing bird Using the Animation editor A wafting nest Animating other properties Animating lights Animating a scripted component property Using Animation clips Shaking an egg Using Animator Controllers ThirdPersonController Animator Living Birds Animator Defining the fly-to targets Using Animator hashes and DOTween to animate Using a Signal Track in Timeline Making the story interactive Look to play Resetting the initial scene's setup Summary Chapter 13: Optimizing for Performance and Comfort Technical requirements Using the Unity Profiler and Stats windows The Stats window Overview of the Profiler window Analyzing and diagnosing performance problems Optimizing your art Decimating models Levels of detail Optimizing your scene with static objects Setting up the scene Lighting and baking Occlusion culling Optimizing the rendering pipeline Optimizing your code Understanding the Unity life cycle Writing efficient code Runtime performance and debugging Summary Other Books You May Enjoy Index