HTC VIVE & OCULUS RIFT - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Minimum specs. - VR Machine:
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
CPU: Intel i5-4590
equivalent or greater
Memory: 8GB RAM
Video output: Compatible HDMI 1.4 video output
USB
Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports
OS: Windows 7 bit or newer
Recommended specs. - VR Machine:
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 equivalent or
greater
CPU: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
Memory: 16GB RAM
Video output: Compatible HDMI 1.4 video output
USB
Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports
OS: Windows 7 bit or newer
MOBILE VR - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Which phones/tools that are used during the development process is up to the participant. However, the finished project must run smoothly on one of the below listed cell phones/VR platforms (chosen by the participant).
Samsung Gear VR
Samsung Galaxy S6 or later
Google Daydream
Google Pixel (32GB storage)
Google Cardboard
iPhone 5 or later
Samsung Galaxy S II or later
USEFUL WEBPAGES
There are many websites with useful information about VR-development. We recommend you
go exploring on the web.
Listed below, are some central web pages pertaining to the various virtual reality platforms. Furthermore, some advice and links are provided regarding the issue of motion sickness that some people experience when trying VR.
OCCULUS/HTC
Oculus Rift
https://developer.oculus.com/
HTC Vive
https://www.htcvive.com/us/develop_portal/
MOBILE VR
Google Cardboard
https://developers.google.com/vr/concepts/overview-cardboard
Google Daydream
https://developers.google.com/vr/concepts/overview-daydream
Samsung Gear VR
https://resources.samsungdevelopers.com/Gear_VR
https://developer3.oculus.com/documentation/mobilesdk/latest/
ENGINES / STEAM
Unity
https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/topics/virtual-reality/getting-started-vr-development
Unreal
https://www.unrealengine.com/vr
Steam portal
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1131-WSFG-3320
MOTION SICKNESS/SIMULATOR SICKNESS
When creating VR projects, consider the issue of motion sickness (simulator sickness) and think about how to avoid causing it.
Information about motion sickness in VR can can be found online. Here are a few web pages with such information:
https://developer3.oculus.com/documentation/intro-vr/latest/concepts/bp_app_simulator_sickness/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/vr-motion-sickness-field-of-view/
http://phys.org/news/2016-03-virtual-reality-creators-motion-sickness.html
http://www.livescience.com/54478-why-vr-makes-you-sick.html
MOVEMENT IN VR
When designing how the player can move over a distance, try to do it in a way that minimizes the risk of motion sickness.
Generally speaking, there exist three alternatives to move over a distance in VR:
1. Locked: The viewer moves physically within a
defined area (eg. 2x2 meters) and perhaps jumps to other nearby locations by using "teleportation".
2. On rails: The viewer moves forward automatically, as a passenger, on a set path without the possibility to significantly influence the direction of the journey.
3. Cockpit: The viewer can, with some mode of transportation, actively control the direction of the travel in the experience, e.g. like a pilot in an airplane.