Mobile VR

Mobile VR - Getting Started Guide

Having access to a VR device is easier than you think, you just need a mobile phone and in some cases, an affordable Mobile headset. These are some options we recommend, whatever option you choose, just make sure that they are able to fit your phone. You won't need extra controllers or fancy additional gadgets.

Inspiration

Below you will find a list of online resources that you can test for inspiration, we hope you enjoy them and hopefully, they will help you get started.

Google Expeditions App

This google app, available for both Android and IOS devices, allows you to access lots of content for both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. You might need a Mobile VR Headset to experience the VR content. click here to visit

Sketchfab Website

This is an online community for 3D model creators, all models have an option to view in VR found in the bottom right corner of each 3D model window. click here to visit

WEB VR Experiments - Google

This is a very cool website where you can experience different types of content using your mobile phone click here to visit

Youtube VR

This is the official youtube channel for VR content, you will find lots of immersive videos from creators around the world. You might have to install the youtube app on your mobile device. click here to visit

Software


There are many different tools you can use to create VR content, some will allow you to create simple content fairly easily and some will help allow you to create very robust interactive applications but will require more effort, here we provide a list of different tools along with a description.
A-Frame

This is a fun to use online tool that will require you to do some basic coding, they have very cool and ready to test projects on their webpage. This is a list of useful links if you want to start exploring it.

A-FRAME website
Youtube tutorial list

Unity 3D

This is a very popular opensource Game Engine, this is the kind of tool professional VR Developers use to create content, it will require more effort to learn how to use it but it will allow you to take things to the next level.It is also worth mentioning that we do have lots of experience supporting students developing projects in this platform so feel free to contact us if you need support, bellow you will find a list of useful links to get you started.

Setting Up Unity
Official Tutorials for beginners intro
Official Tutorials for beginners

Buying a Mobile VR Headset

Amazon US
ETVR 3D VR Headset

Amazon UK
KINGA VR Glasses

Aliexpress
Box Movie 3D Goggles

We are here to help

If you need technical support for your Mobile VR Project, please contact our VR technician Alejandro Escobar, just send an email to j.escobarramirez@arts.ac.uk

Mobile VR -Setting Up Unity

Setting Up Unity

  1. Download and install Unity 2019.2.0f1.
    Previous versions might also work, however, this tutorial was made using Unity 2019.2.0f1 (please read the following instructions before installing Unity).

  2. Create a Unity personal account. To use Unity you will have to create your own account as you will be prompted to login when you start running the software.

Android and/or IOS build support

To compile mobile applications on your computer, you will need to make sure to download the Android and/or the IOS build support. Please be aware that both Windows and IOS computers might allow you to compile Android apps, however, IOS apps require you to use a MAC computer running Xcode as IOS build is not supported on Windows PCs.

Please keep in mind that in most cases you won't need both Android and IOS build support, think about the kind of device are you planning to use to test/show your project. We found that in most cases, students use just one device. Also, keep in mind that building an app for two different platforms might add significant complexity to your project as you might need to test/debug your app on both platforms.



AR-vuforia-setup1-f.png

When installing either of these SDKs you might find your self facing three different scenarios, first, you might be installing 2019.2.0.f1 for the first time, second, you might have Unity already installed on your computer and you are missing the SDKs, finally, you might have a previous version installed on your computer, it does not have the SDK installed and, for some reason, you can't install Unity 2019.2.0f1, all these situations require different procedures that will be explained in the following lines.

Installing Unity 2019.2.0f1 for the first time

First, we recommend installing the Unity HUB as it will make your life a lot easier when installing and using Unity 2019.2.0f1. After installing the HUB, you just need to go to visit the Unity Download Archive, find the Unity 2019.2.0f1 version and click on the button that says "Unity HUB" this will automatically open the HUB and then run the installation wizard.

AR-vuforia-setup1-c-1.png

AR-vuforia-setup1-c-2.png

You will see a list of all the available Unity components, you just need to make sure that the Android and/or the IOS build support is selected before continuing with the installation. AR-vuforia-setup1-b.png

Do notice that the Android build support includes the Software Development Kit (SDK), the Native Development Kit (NDK) and the Java Development Kit (OpenJDK). Just make sure all of them are selected before continuing. After this, you just need to follow the final steps of the installation process.