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(Last updated 13th September 2019)
Background
Background
A few years ago I bought a Gear VR. I used it once or twice then put it in the cupboard. At the being of 2019 I was bored so got it back out and found an app called Altspace VR. A virtual social media platform which ran on the Gear VR. This was the start of my journey into developing for VR.
Altspace VR
Altspace VR
It's a great platform if you want to start getting into making stuff for VR that you want to show off and share without any knowledge.
You can create environments directly from within Altspace VR, but I do find it rather cumbersome and slow. The alternative is to use Unity and a 3D modelling package like Blender to make objects for your 3D worlds.
Before I started using Altspace I had never used either Unity or Blender but with in a week had learnt the fundamentals of both packages to create a few worlds which used physics to move objects in the world. The video to the right are a few simple world I created the were shown at the one of the SDK meetups in April
I ended up making a roller coaster, but due to the limitations of Altspace had to use a few tricks & illusions with hidden cameras to make it seem like you were actually riding on the roller coaster. This worked really well and fooled quite a few people. The video to the right show the world being demonstrated at the weekly SDK Meetup in March. I improved the lighting on this world later.
As I got more into Altspace I found quite a few limitations as I was not able to upload scripts I had created in Unity to make intractable objects.
The Expanse
The Expanse
I can't remember how I exactly found out about The Expanse but it was basically the same as Altspace with no restrictions. It was created by Shane Harris who was also frustrated by the restrictions in Altspace
As a test I created a very simple demo with a script that activated a lift when a sphere object was touched by the avatar. This worked really well.
The only issue I had was that the scripts needed to be set up in a certain way so that they could be recognised and used in the expanse. To overcome this and automate this process I created a Unity package to do this automatically which which is available for anyone to download in the link below
13th September 2019
Yesterday I set myself a challege the logo for "The Expanse" has change to looks like an impossible cube in cube so I thought of seeing if I could turn it into a 3D model. Took a bit of working out but I managed to do it with a bit of an optical illusion. I plan to 3D print it and send it to Shane. I want to do a bit more work on it first
New Logo
My 3D model looks like the new logo
If you look from the side you can see how I have done it
Future Plans
Future Plans
Shane Harris is a pretty amazing guy for creating The Expanse and is open to any suggestions. Even though I haven't made much more than the above demo just to test that scripts will work I will be definitely making a few useful apps for the expanse which will include the following:
A Mini map editor - This will allow you to create environments very easily while in The Expanse with a user friendly interface
Leap Motion integration - Currently using the Gear VR I only have one control input and with the Leap Motion I will be able to use both hands in VR. I have done some work on this with a sub test project (Click here to find out more)
A few mini games for The Expanse - Want to do this to tone up my unity and blender skills
VR via 3d monitor - One thing I find irritating about VR is having to where a VR headset so my plan is to make a plugin for the expanse for my DIY 3D Monitor (Click here to follow my progress on the DIY 3D monitor)
Would you like to help out?
Would you like to help out?
Some of the projects I work on can sometimes be very costly and I fund them myself. If you interested in helping and would like to become a patreon please click here --->
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