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.