Building Virtual Reality with Unity and SteamVR (2^nd Ed.)

Building Virtual Reality with Unity and Steam VR takes a hands-on approach to getting up and running with virtual reality using the Unity game engine. By utilizing the free SteamVR 2.x libraries, this book and its example code are compatible with the main virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays currently available. This book also looks at some of the main issues surrounding virtual reality, such as motion sickness and performance issues, providing practical ways to reduce their impact to make better VR experiences.

Key Features:

• Discusses some of the key issues facing virtual reality and provides helpful tips for making better VR experiences
• Practical examples geared to work with any headset compatible with SteamVR, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index
• Uses the SteamVR Interaction system for interactions such as picking up and throwing objects, operating user interfaces and capturing input events for your own scripts
• Explore advanced spatialized audio with Steam Audio.
• Discover how to build user interfaces for virtual reality, as well as discussing some best practices for VR-based user interface design
• Written by a games industry veteran with a proven track record, having worked for IBM Research in educational VR research projects and having made and launched VR experiences.

Chapter 1 ◾ A Brief Introduction to the Virtual World 1

Chapter 2 ◾ Healthy VR Experience 25

Chapter 3 ◾ Getting Set Up for Unity SteamVR

Chapter 4 ◾ The SteamVR Interaction System 55

Chapter 5 ◾ Building a Main Menu 69

Chapter 6 ◾ Advanced Interactions 121

Chapter 7 ◾ Making the Most of Virtual Reality with Audio 141

Chapter 8 ◾ Building Seated or Static VR Experiences 175

Chapter 9 ◾ Virtual Reality Sickness 185

Chapter 10 ◾ Hands-On, Practical Techniques for Reducing VR Sickness in Unity 193

Chapter 11 ◾ Unity Engine Polish and Optimization 213

Jeff W. Murray has written two books: Game Development for iOS with Unity3D and C# Game Programming Cookbook for Unity3D, both published by CRC Press. In his game development career spanning more than 20 years, he has worked with some of the world’s largest brands as a Game Designer, Programmer, and Game Director before finding his new home in VR.