Introduction to Virtual Reality

Copyright 2018 © Virtual Reality at Berkeley

Learning the Lingo

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Technologies that manipulate our senses to present artificial environments or experiences.

What is virtual reality?

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Historical context

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Morton Heilig’s Sensorama, 1962 Ivan Sutherland’s Sword of Damocles, 1968

Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, 1995

VR AR MR XR

Different terminology

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Virtual Reality

Replaces vision entirely with a virtual environment.

VR AR MR XR

Different terminology

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Augmented Reality

Augments regular vision with virtual overlays or objects.

VR AR MR XR

Different terminology

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Mixed Reality

The spectrum of ratios between real life and virtual objects...or...

Virtual overlays that seamlessly interact with the real world in synchronous time...or…

A Microsoft buzzword...

VR AR MR XR

Different terminology

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Cross Reality

Umbrella term that references all forms of digitally influenced “realities”.

Adopted by Unity in version 2017.2.

Different kinds of headsets

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Mobile PC Tethered Standalone

Different kinds of input devices

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Hover Select Remotes Tracked (3 DOF or 6 DOF)

Variables at play

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▰ Resolution (PPD)▰ FOV▰ FPS▰ Comfort▰ Durability▰ Features▰ Cost!

About this Class

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Three goals

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1. To get you excited about VR2. To teach you VR design principles3. To teach you practical Unity skills

Who we are

15Vedant Saran

James Lin

Tom Cheng Andy Kang

Paxtan Laker Eric Feng

Class structure

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In Class Outside Class

1st HalfLectures

HomeworkLabs

2nd Half Final Project

Administrivia

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Unity

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Recommended version: 2017.1.1https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

Policies

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▰ Homeworks and labs are due at the start of next week’s class▻ e.g. HW assigned this week would be due 2/13 5pm▻ No late HW or labs accepted

▰ Lowest HW score is dropped▰ Allowed two unexcused absences▰ Bring a mouse to class!

Office Hours

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▰ 3 hrs / week for first half▰ 6 hrs / week for second half▰ Do’s

▻ Ask for help/advice on class material▻ Try out VR games and apps▻ Invite friends and introduce VR to them

Grade breakdown

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▰ Attendance (20%)▰ Labs (30%)▰ Homework (20%)▰ Final Project (30%)

▻ Project Grade (20%)▻ Peer Evaluation (10%)

Laptop login

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Username: vrab

Password: ThisIsOurUmbrella