VR-Design: a look into the virtual world

This article is the first in a series about the qualitative development of VR projects. Links to other materials will be found in the review article .

Putting on 3D glasses, users can dive into the virtual world. At the same time, head movements are exactly transferred to VR, as a result of which a sense of presence is created.

This fact means that when designing the design of our films, games and applications, you need to think differently, since we no longer have control over the camera.
')
This is one of the most significant differences between VR and classic media. Using a virtual camera poses new challenges for us, and here it is worth being careful.

So, if at this stage we make the wrong decisions, it will lead to the nausea and headache of the user, to the so-called “Motion Sickness” or VR disease.

It is of fundamental importance that the 3D world and all virtual elements always react to the turns of the users' heads. And this applies not only directly to the game world.

This also applies to the menu, when the game is paused or when the transition to the next level occurs, any movement of the head should always be fully transferred to the virtual world.

In the SteamVR API, they got to the point where they began to show an empty tiled room during the moments when the VR application is not productive enough to calculate the required number of frames per second. This ensures that there will not be a fixed “hung” picture in sight, and this state will not confuse the user.

Freedom of action brings new challenges

This principle of interaction introduces new problems. Since when we cannot control the camera, players can, for example, stick their heads in a wall or even run into it.

In classic character games, you can just stop, and in VR we don’t have that option. In any case, without negative effects.

However, firstly, due to the deep immersion in the virtual world, users very rarely want to go through the virtual wall. Too large internal resistance of the subconscious.

And, secondly, we have the technical capabilities to deprive the players of such a scam. One of the options, the so-called portal in the wall, is described in this article "Through the walls: overcoming obstacles . "

Another possibility is to look at this feature as an advantage and take advantage of it in the virtual world. For example, Audi did just that in its VR presentation of the new car. Anyone who puts his head in the hood of the car will be surprised by the beautiful display of the inside of the car.


Audi allows you to discover the inner world of the car.

Bump into a real wall

Freedom of movement in unlimited space adds the following practical problem: how do we protect the user from being stuck on his chair or even crashing at full speed into the wall of his room?

The best solution at the moment is the tracking system (Chaperone System), which looks like a notification in the virtual world when we are too close to objects from our real room. Thus, we can always be sure that we will not cripple ourselves or anyone else.

Because of these kinds of problems, a great feature was developed in Vive: a camera built into VR glasses. If necessary, we can always develop our own implementation of such notifications. For example, for more style matching the design of our virtual world.

Control the camera when necessary

It is so that when developing your VR applications, you will most likely control the camera, and there are a couple of fundamental rules.

First of all, you should never change the rotation (rotation) of a camera or perform similar manipulations. Secondly, it is hardly necessary to change the position (position) of the camera, in any case, the movement must be very slow and have a clear direction, as if the platform on which we are standing is moving, moreover, the position of the head must be reproduced very accurately.

The group of VR-developers Everest realized the movement of the camera in exactly the same way and also added another interesting detail: while moving the camera, the VR scene is replaced by the usual 2D scene. Only in scenes with interaction the user again sees the picture at 360 degrees.

Another good approach is blinking.

One of the good approaches is the so-called blink system (Blink System). This approach assumes that users are transferred in the virtual world directly to a new point.

When teleporting, the picture turns black for a moment. It feels like blinking and looks surprisingly good. Denny Unger from Cloudhead Games very clearly explains this approach in the following video:


The game Budget Cuts adopted and improved this approach and introduced it into the game mechanics. You can transfer to a new position using a small portal that is attached to the controller and view the space from different points of view.

Attract attention

We cannot control the viewing angle and the borders of the visible area, so it is necessary to look for other means in order to explain the script of our VR application to the user.

First of all, for these purposes, we can borrow proven methods of actors of the theater and circus. Since it is in these areas that attention has always been an important task, because some artistic elements and important scenes should not elude the viewer.

The thoughtful use of light, sound, and motion is an extremely important aspect, and we will touch on this extensive topic in more detail in future articles. Proper use of these delicate techniques allows you to create incredibly exciting and lively projects in which you can take advantage of the new media to the fullest.

Understanding of technology

Knowledge of the features of handling a virtual camera will help us understand the technical principles of VR development in the following articles.

After all, when we understand what is happening behind our back, we know what to look for when developing high-quality VR projects.

Next, we will explore the basics of optimization in the article “Rendering and Optimization in VR Development”.