Hey! We are a VR Technology developer studio. We are looking for an employee to test the VR OKO helmet, designed for watching movies of exciting content in virtual reality format.

REQUIREMENTS

• Gender: Doesn't matter
• Age: from 18 ***
• Education: Matters ****
• Employment: immersion in work with head *****
• Schedule: from 10:00 to 19:00 ******
• The experience of watching videos of extremely exciting content in the laboratory.
• Knowledge of key adult movie plot development patterns ("1vs1", "1vs2", "1 vs "plug in" and "wall to wall").
• The ability to prevail over your feelings in a situation of peak tension.
• Knowledge of the plot of the film "Lawnmower Man" in 1992 and the ability to avoid repeating the fate of the protagonist of this film.
• Knowledge of basic human concepts and the ability to take out of the market. *******
• Ability to quickly and accurately compile a report on the watched video (daily, weekly, monthly).
• Proficiency level English language- sufficient to understand plot twists and turns and lengthy dialogues, as well as the ability to make a list of recommendations for improving the quality of the viewed VR movie.
• Knowledge of other languages ​​********
• Active page in social networks Vkontakte, Instagram, Facebook.
• Sociability.

Conditions

• An agreement with a minimum number of tricks.
• A team of friendly, sexy, flexible people who are set up for fruitful teamwork.
• Oh, this is not exactly your team, but yours will also be nothing like that.
• A clear understanding of where and what to poke.
• Convenient office from which sometimes it will be necessary to leave (this is recommended by doctors).
• Something you have never seen before.

If your candidacy is suitable for all points of this vacancy, then we offer to pass the test task. We are aware that the vacancy itself does not require serious mental and physical abilities from the candidate. However, we want to conduct testing as openly as possible for our consumer.

Therefore, we will consider only those candidates who will repost this vacancy on their page in social network Vkontakte or Facebook and send a link to repost on .

We will announce the selection results on 12/01/2017 on our official website, where we will publish the name of our new tester.

Sincerely yours,
VR technology team.

* READ BEFORE READING! We sincerely sympathize with people suffering from epileptic seizures, people of deep faith, members of various feminist organizations and people who hold any beliefs, as well as people with a limited sense of humor and recommend that you refrain from reading this work.

** Depends on candidate's skills. P.S.: payable by depositing the full amount in paper terms for the panty elastic; P.P.S.: buy tighter panties with an elastic band in advance;

*** candidates over 65 years of age - our sincere respect and request to adequately assess their capabilities;

**** believe me, it will come in handy;

***** literally;

****** processing at own expense;

******* in any way it is necessary.

******** you will need to listen to a lot of foreign vocabulary, mostly Eastern European languages ​​and dialects;

The PS VR helmet has finally arrived at ZOOM.CNews. We have been testing the helmet for over a week, trying out many different games and other content. So, in this article you will no longer find emotions from the first acquaintance with the product, on the contrary - facts and only facts.

PS VR test

Appearance and connection

PS VR is the most comfortable VR headset we've ever tested. It's also the most affordable, especially if you already own a PS4. True, a branded camera is additionally useful for the PS4 and a pair of PS Move motion controllers will not interfere, but they are far from being needed in all games, and in general they are not mandatory.

PS VR virtual reality helmet

PS VR comes with a special processor unit that connects to the PS4 with two cables: HDMI and micro-USB to USB - so when working with PS VR, one of the PS4's USB slots will be occupied.

A pile of wires is a little depressing, of course

Additionally, the processor module requires a separate power supply, and its power supply is external, unlike the PS4 itself, where the power supply is built-in.

Also from the processor module, you can output the picture to the TV via HDMI - this is not for the PS VR user himself, but for family members or friends who want to watch you play. Although normal communication with observers will still not work - VR immerses you into the game more than a TV. Add a headset here, although it is not necessary to use it - and now you are already cut off from the world.

4 cables come from the processor module

The cable for connecting the helmet itself has a length of a little more than a meter, but a special extension cord for another 5 meters is supplied in the kit. PS VR plugs (with or without extension cable) into the processor module.

On this cable, next to the helmet, there is a small block with 4 buttons: on / off PS VR, on / off microphone, volume plus, volume minus.

The volume buttons protrude slightly above the case - they are easy to find

The helmet is put on the head and fixed with a clip at the back; additionally, you can tighten the clip with a wheel.

The block with lenses in front moves back and forth when you press the button at the bottom. The lenses themselves (the distance between them, the focal length) are not regulated in any way. If you have poor eyesight, you can use PS VR with glasses, there are no particular problems with this, except that the glasses will put more pressure on the bridge of the nose and the viewing angle will be slightly smaller than if you use PS VR without glasses and move the block with lenses as close to eyes.

Lenses do not adjust to vision in any way - you can only move the block away or bring it closer

The movement of the helmet is tracked using a camera - there are several LEDs in the helmet for this. We did not notice any problems and twitches, including if someone suddenly walks between you (the helmet) and the camera. But there are problems with tracking the position of the controllers (this applies to Dualshock 4 and PS Move), so the elements of the game “attached” to the position of the controllers may tremble slightly.

This is what a man in a PS VR helmet looks like

Calibrating the position of the helmet in any game and out of the game is simple: look ahead and hold down the Options button on the Dualshock 4 controller or Start on PS Move. True, we often encountered the fact that such a calibration only affects the positioning of the center of view in the vertical, but not horizontally. We have not been able to figure out what causes this, and you can “treat” it either by turning PS VR off and on or simply by turning towards the center of your gaze.

Playing with a PS Move controller in PS VR

In-ear headphones are also supplied with the helmet. They're pretty handy and plug into that little block of buttons. It is better to play them to achieve maximum immersion in the game, and it is better to turn off the sound on the TV - it is slightly delayed and an echo effect is obtained. We have no particular complaints about the quality of the bundled headphones, although the sound depth is a bit lacking. But we do not recommend using external headphones - it is inconvenient. Unless you have really high-quality in-ear headphones.

Graphics

If you look at the history of game consoles, you can see two fundamentally different approaches to the technical capabilities of games.

The first is to squeeze everything you can out of the console, drawing the most beautiful picture, without really caring about performance. FPS crashes? Nonsense - gamers will suffer for the sake of beautiful picture. Just 30 FPS in a fast-paced arcade race? But how beautiful!

Mafia 2 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 looked amazing, but FPS dips were everywhere and frankly annoying

Second approach: we don't know anything, but a dynamic game should run at 60 FPS. And how it will look - the tenth question, the main thing is that the playability is at its best.

Super Mario Sunshine came out on the GameCube in 2002 and ran at a fair 60 FPS.

By the way, it still looks good adjusted for resolution

The problem is that, as a rule, games for PS4 (as well as for previous PlayStation consoles) were designed using the first approach. The only thing that exclusives still fought for a stable, albeit low frame rate. However, the same Uncharted 4 30 FPS do not interfere, rather the opposite - they create the right cinematic mood. But the Driveclub circuit races or even the cartoony Ratchet & Clank still require higher FPS. However, these requirements are rather marketing ones, and in marketing, with proper skill, you can always replay in your own way.

But with PS VR, this is no longer the case. PS VR technically requires 60 FPS - after all, changing the position of even a static image, if the user has turned his head, should be done as smoothly as possible, quickly and without any lags or delays. In addition, for PS VR games, anti-aliasing is also a priority (although not in all games). Imagine a "pixelated" picture without anti-aliasing - what happens to it if you tilt your head? Lines that seemed even and straight (vertical and horizontal) will turn into ladders. Small fonts will become completely unreadable.

In general, where only 30 FPS were squeezed out of PS4, now, in PS VR, you have to squeeze 60 FPS. Moreover, if for playing on a TV the video chip of the console renders only one picture, in VR it must render two - one for each eye. Both are at 60 FPS. With vertical sync, of course. And all this - on the same PS4, which did not work faster. The PS4 Pro isn't out yet, and don't expect games to look better on it just by default. This “better” should be laid down by the developers themselves, and we doubt that absolutely all developers will not be too lazy to do this.

So, in reality, games on PS VR look pretty poor. Add here a screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (Full-HD), which is used to display an image in both eyes. Those. each eye in theory sees half - 960x1080 pixels, in practice it happens even less - some games artificially limit the field of view to reduce the effect of motion sickness. Well, since the helmet, in fact, is equipped with magnifying lenses, the pixels on the screen are still visible. But if the game has good anti-aliasing (not in all games) - this is not a big problem.

However, playing with PS VR on PS4 - it's like playing PS3 in the very first weeks of its release, and sometimes it can be compared with PS2. Visually low resolution, minimal effects, blurry textures - get ready to return to the past generation of game consoles.

Games

But any gaming system does not live without games. Let's take a look at how PS VR games are doing today.

The first thing to note: there are a lot of games. Really a lot. Quantity, as we remember, does not always mean quality, but let's focus on quantity just for a moment. If you get PS VR right now, you will at least have something to play. What's more, PS VR has a lot of completely free game content (for example, the free Playroom, which we liked much more than its non-VR version).

And one more thing: there is a lot of multiplayer content for PS VR. Even more than that - almost any "full-fledged" game for PS VR is, first of all, a network game. Eve: Valkyrie, RIGS, Battle Zone - all of them not only support multiplayer, but are created for it. Although they also have single missions (in RIGS these are not really missions, you can just play with bots).

As for the quality ... here the moment is twofold. On the one hand, as we have already written, high demands are placed on games - now it is simply not permissible for a game to work with a frame rate (FPS) less than 60. This is not just a nominal frequency, this is a minimum frequency. And this has a positive effect on responsiveness, and, in general, the perception of games, but negatively on the quality of graphics.

But the quality of the game - it's not just graphics. However, even here VR games are inferior to conventional ones - in terms of content. On the other hand, is it worth playing 30-50 hours in VR at all?

Below we have mentioned a few VR games - this is far from a complete range, but what should be said, in our opinion.

Drive Club VR

This game makes me want to buy PS VR. And this game is the most disappointing. On the one hand, we have written more than once that racing is the best fit for VR. The developers, for example, tried to make it seem like the most realistic look from the driver's side - even glare was applied to the glass of the driver's helmet. Only when you play on TV, not being able to easily and comfortably turn your head in the direction of the turn of the track, does the race turn into hell. In reality, the driver of a car sees much more than trying to imagine racing games on a TV with a view from the cab.

And VR just solves this problem. Perfect review. Full immersion "in the car." For once, really useful mirrors - everything is like in a real car. But there is one problem...

Driveclub and in the original version was not so ideal from a graphical point of view - if we take ring racing (i.e. not an open world), then Forza Motorsport on Xbox One (which is 6, which is 5) "cleaned up" it cleanly. And more detailed cars, and more detailed and realistic tracks, and 1080/60p graphics with nice anti-aliasing. All this was not in Driveclub - 1080/30p, selective anti-aliasing, cartoonish tracks. What took the visual component of Driveclub - so it's weather and atmospheric effects. Already here the developers have surpassed all competitors - there is simply nothing to compare with. Fogs, rains, snowfalls, different times of the day - and it's not even about how it looked (and it looked amazing, it hasn't been done anywhere better yet), but about realistic dynamic changes in the same weather.

You will never see such a picture in Driveclub VR

And, alas, none of this is left in Driveclub VR. The change of weather in the VR version is limited to the "clear" and "cloudy" modes, while the second differs from the first with a couple of small liquid clouds. And no dynamics - the whole race is either clear or cloudy. Rains, snowfalls, storms, fogs - all this is not in Driveclub VR.

Lighting effects are also at a minimum - forget about realistic shadows from all objects. Reflections were also completely removed, replaced with the good old "chrome effect" as in Need For Speed ​​3: Hot Pursuit of 1998, when one translucent texture of supposedly reflections "stretched" over the car and changed its position when cornering.

Need For Speed ​​III: Hot Pursuit, 1998 - all the reflections on the car were not real

Add here sprite (two-dimensional) trees (not all, however, but where there are a lot of trees - they are sprite, even if close to the road) and soapy textures of the environment.

Well, as a cherry on the cake: you will have to pay some money for Driveclub VR even if you have already bought the original Driveclub. This is a separate game, and your saves, too, by the way, will not be useful, there is not even an import function: all championships will have to be played again. And if we can still forgive the graphics, then such a negative level of customer-oriented Evolution Games - by no means.

RIGS

Pretty nice and beautiful network game (with the ability to play alone with bots) about the fight of mech robots in the arena. The highlight is that you are the pilot of the fur, you sit as if inside it and control everything. Powerful, spectacular, impressive, even though the arenas are small, smaller than a football field. Perhaps, Best game for PS VR today - if you can even enjoy this kind of genre.

The most beautiful game for PS VR

The game has two minuses: a long non-switchable tutorial (prepare to listen to boring stuff and perform stupid tasks for an hour and a half) and ... it really makes you sick. Robots move quickly, sharply - it will take a long time to get used to the game. But it's worth it.

Eve: Valkyrie

Again, the online game is a first-person space shooter. You are the pilot of the ship and you need to fight with other pilots (in a team) and complete various missions.

Eve: Valkirye is impressive, but spaceflight is a serious test for the vestibular apparatus

Quite exciting and spectacular, there is a single player mode with no even a plot, there is a pumping of abilities and ships. From frequent maneuvers, it may well be motion sickness - at the same time check whether you would have turned out to be an astronaut.

London robbery

When we wrote , we had a warm response to the London Heist demo, where we liked to shoot gangsters from a van racing at full speed. As it turned out, a full-fledged game from it was not planned - this is only part of the paid collection of VR demos PlayStation VR World, where, among other things, you can find diving into the ocean and meeting with a shark, and much more

Nevertheless, London Heist turned out to be a very high-quality product, and even the language does not dare to call it a "demo". Rather, it's a short film. The whole story can be completed in an hour, it is uncomplicated, but interesting - all the more so, we do not just watch a movie, but participate, and even in virtual reality - i.e. not from outside, but from within.

The graphics are so-so, but the gameplay is incredibly addictive

In principle, if there is a lot of content like London Heist for PS VR, it will even fully justify its (PS VR) existence. Such games-attractions are ideal for short-term gaming sessions - and you won’t get sick and you won’t be distracted from your family for a long time. And the London Heist production itself is ideal even for people with a weak vestibular apparatus - if you get seasick during the shooting chase, you can “rest” in the next episode, where you, for the most part, will only have to watch the scene played out in front of you ( such episodes in London Heist constantly alternate with action).

All sorts of horror

To be honest, there were no horror fans in our editorial office. In any case, such horror films that are now fashionable to do: with monsters abruptly jumping out of the dark and all sorts of freaks there. We prefer a subtle game with the psyche, but we did not find such a game for VR.

Horror movies on PS VR at least don't get sick

But if you like attractions like the "cave of horrors" - then you will be satisfied: at least 4 horror movies for PS VR are already available. Moreover, both a VR copy of such an attraction (the game Rush "n" Blood based on Until Dawn), and those where you have to walk - for example, Here They Lie.

2D content

The last question that is important to cover is what about content (games, applications) that does not support VR? We hasten to assure you - everything is fine, this content can still be launched, even in VR. True, you will not get any VR in it, you will just play as if on a huge TV, sitting close to it. It's impressive, it's more interesting than playing on a projector, especially since the color rendering quality of projectors is still low.

On the other hand, the detailing, of course, will be lower, although the pixels in the game will become less noticeable, such a paradox. It's pretty hard to explain, you have to see it for yourself, so just believe that when you run 2D content in PS VR, you kind of get your personal huge TV, but lose in resolution.

Total

Like any new product, PS VR gives off "dampness". You will have something to do the first week with this helmet - while you try all the content and at the same time understand what you like and what you don't; where you are unpleasantly swayed, and where everything is fine. What will happen next - time will tell. Further development PS VR will depend on developers themselves understanding what works best in VR. It is also very important to understand what exactly the PS4 Pro provides, including for VR - we don’t know this ourselves yet. Here's the same Driveclub VR - will it on PS4 Pro look not like a PS2 game, but like a full-fledged modern race?

It will not be superfluous to replenish the collection of media content for VR. All sorts of VR films, panoramas, demonstrations.

Well, and most importantly, such a situation, as with Driveclub VR, simply should not be. Paying full price for a VR version of a game that's been stripped of all the fun, plus they haven't even added the ability to import saves? This is clearly overkill.

To date, PS VR is the most affordable VR helmet, not counting mobile (). On the other hand, even if you have a PS4, it will not be superfluous to replace it with a PS4 Pro - and together with PS VR it will cost about 70 thousand rubles. True, it will still turn out to be more profitable than the same HTC Vive, which is sold from 70 thousand without a computer at all.

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the entry of VR technologies into the end-user market, as well as the hype that surrounds them to this day. 2015 was named the year of VR, then 2016, now 2017 is also the year of VR, and there is no doubt about the fate of 2018. Year after year, the industry expects a VR helmet to appear in every layman and take its place next to a smartphone or personal computer. But that moment will never come.

Why didn't he come? I will go over the features and disadvantages of popular virtual reality hardware solutions and talk about how VR platforms are evolving towards the perfect VR headset.

Diffusion of innovations

The VR market continues to evolve, fueled by billions of dollars in investments, and key players are looking for more and more new mechanics and applications in an attempt to increase market share. Like all new technologies, virtual reality conquers the market gradually, step by step. This process is best illustrated by the innovation diffusion model.

The process of adapting technology to the consumer begins with innovators - 2.5% of people who try everything new and interesting. Next come the early adopters, who take a cue from the innovative minority and already thoroughly test the technology. If everything is fine with the technology (or a product based on it), the early majority joins in, and the mass expansion of the technology to the market will begin.

At this stage, it is important to have a ready-made and stable product, ensure its availability on the open market, democratic pricing, as well as simple and understandable positioning that allows you to answer the consumer’s question “why do I need it?”. But, as you can see from the example of excellent products that have not found their niche (like the same Google Glass), all this does not guarantee success, although it contributes greatly to it. The transition point between early adopters and early majority is critical for the technology, and it can only be overcome if the above conditions are met.

What today?

It is difficult to assess the current state of adoption of VR technologies, but most likely it is in the stage of early adopters. The complexity of the assessment is due to the fact that there is a huge difference between the millions of VR devices statistically present on the market and the number of devices actually used by consumers. Why are we at such an early stage, when a VR headset can be bought at any electronics store, new VR content is produced by thousands of companies, and Sony has sold more than 1 million PSVRs?

Unfortunately, the quality of user experience and usability are not yet sufficient for mass expansion. The situation is also complicated by the high cost of a complete set of equipment, which is not yet affordable for an ordinary man in the street.

Relatively speaking, there are two main areas: stationary VR (PC-based, Console-based - when logic and rendering are processed on a PC or console) and mobile VR (smartphone-based and standalone - when calculations take place in a helmet or smartphone inserted into this helmet). Both have a lot of shortcomings (partly even mirror ones), which manufacturers and developers are trying to eliminate.

VR without wires

What is the most inconvenient thing about a stationary VR helmet? That's right - wires. A thick cable with HDMI and USB should be long enough to move freely in space, and thick enough to protect the wires from damage. The cable becomes a serious source of discomfort, restricts movement, gets in the way and creates a whole niche for accessories for organizing wires. Mobile VR headsets do not have these problems, as they do not need cables to communicate with the computer, which is why they are called mobile.

The obvious solution is to create wireless helmets and broadcast VR content over the air, but there are no such helmets on the market yet. This is a technologically challenging task that companies have been struggling with for years.

One of the criteria for high-quality VR software is a comfortable feeling of presence and the absence of motion sickness, when the brain is not ready to believe in the picture that the VR helmet puts in. Developers want to do "beautifully", and this "beautifully" usually imposes performance restrictions on the hardware. In case of insufficient hardware power, delays in rendering graphics will increase, and, consequently, the reaction time of the program or game to user actions will begin to increase. This alone is already causing discomfort.

Now add to this the wireless connection of the helmet. It is necessary to send through the air a picture of at least FullHD (and then 4K) with a frame rate of at least 60 fps over the air. This should also not affect latency and impact the user experience. At the same time, the device must have adequate battery life, low weight and, of course, affordable pricing. The task is not easy.

Despite these difficulties, in November 2016, a wireless adapter for the HTC Vive was announced, created by TPCast with the help of investments from the HTC VR fund. The device is already capable of forwarding a picture of 2160x1200 pixels (standard Vive resolution) at 90Hz with a delay of 15ms, while having some performance margin. True, while the device is sold only in China.

Many companies are also trying to solve this problem before the helmet manufacturers themselves and find a niche for themselves in the current changing conditions. For example, startups KwikVR and RivVR plan to offer the market universal devices, providing a wireless interface to both Oculus and Vive. The thing is, they need to bring a commercial product to market before helmets become wireless on their own.

Backpacks

A similar fate awaits specialized VR backpacks. When developers faced the described difficulties, PC manufacturers came to the rescue, deciding that if a VR helmet cannot be wireless, then why not offer a wireless computer to the market.

So the first prototypes of backpacks began to appear on the market, inside which powerful laptops and extended batteries were placed. The target audience for these backpacks are VR entertainment centers that were trying to give players more freedom of movement and were looking for a solution on their own.

These ideas were taken to the attention of MSI, HP and other manufacturers and soon announced their own standalone gaming PCs in a backpack form factor. The stated battery life of such PCs does not exceed 1.5 hours, but this is compensated by two batteries with support for “hot swap” mode.

With prices starting at $1,899 (roughly double the price of a typical 'VR Ready' PC), home usability is questionable, and market availability is limited, VR backpacks will likely remain a niche product. .

mixed reality

In 2015, Microsoft first showed the world HoloLens - a mixed reality device (Mixed Reality, MR), which can not only project three-dimensional objects onto the world but also to interact with it. For example, the helmet sees where your walls, floor, or furniture are, and characters in some games can even sit on the couch with you. Mixed Reality is a capacious concept that involves mixing conventional and virtual reality in various proportions. This is not only the projection of virtual objects into the real world, but also the display of real objects in virtual reality.

For clarity, imagine that you use your own hands instead of controllers or calmly move around the room, not being afraid to stumble upon interior items, as you can see their translucent 3D models without removing your helmet. This is at least more convenient than tracking systems using beacons and sensors placed around the room that are on the market. This approach is also called Augmented Virtuality or Inside-Out VR and is considered by some media to be the key VR trend of 2017.

With the release of HoloLens, Microsoft began to actively promote the concept of MR, and at the end of 2016 announced a whole series of MR helmets in partnership with Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and 3Glasses. If this approach really shows its effectiveness, then complex systems sensors and beacons that require calibration before starting work will no longer be needed, and stationary VR (or MR) will become much more mobile.

Entry threshold

Like other technologies, stationary VR has its own entry threshold that users face. Let's divide it into two parts - price and moral. At the time the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive helmets entered the market, the cost of a productive computer that could be labeled as VR Ready fluctuated around $2,000. Hardcore gamers turned out to be better prepared for the arrival of VR, it was enough just to purchase a helmet for $600-700.

The situation began to improve with the release of new generations of graphics adapters (Nvidia's 10xx GeForce series and AMD's RX-4xx Radeon series) and processors. The average price tag for a VR Ready PC has dropped to $1,500, and the most budget-conscious will even find options below $1,000. Also thanks to the GeForce 1060 line of graphics adapters, VR Ready laptops have appeared, which allow you to get an all-in-one mobile solution for VR starting from $1300. At the beginning of March, Facebook lowered the prices of the Oculus Rift helmet and Oculus Touch controllers, now the kit can be purchased for $600 (against the starting $800). So far, this is the first price reduction for a VR helmet, and I want to believe that it will not be the last.

Speaking about the moral threshold of entry, it is worth remembering the complexity of organizing the first “immersion” in VR. Connecting a VR headset requires several (up to 5) free USB 3.0 ports to connect components, and also wraps everything with wires. Setting up for Room-scale (a scenario for VR where you can move around the room) for the HTC Vive requires the correct placement of sensors on the walls of the room, calibration and subsequent adjustment of the helmet. Oculus Rift for a similar scenario generally requires the purchase of an additional beacon and plugging it into another USB port.

Console users will find it a bit easier to adapt as they are already used to plugging in different optional equipment like Kinect or PlayStation Camera, so they can get to grips with PSVR or something a little faster. The software also needs to be installed additionally, configured and linked to a credit card to purchase content. In the case of the HTC Vive, you will also need to choose whether to buy content through the proprietary Viveport or use SteamVR.

In general, there are many difficulties. That is why Microsoft's approach of Plug&Play headsets that connect with two wires and just work can finally save users from complex manipulations, thereby reducing the complexity of entering VR. The same Pokemon Go earned half a billion dollars just because it used the available mainstream technologies.

All kinds of VR attractions in shopping malls and various quest rooms with VR had a detrimental effect on the mainstream audience and fixed the image of something complex, close in perception to "5D cinemas" for VR. Therefore, manufacturers of VR equipment have to repeatedly convey to consumers that these devices are intended for home use.

Mobile VR empowers

Symmetrical to its older brother, mobile VR is trying to work on the bugs and deal with the shortcomings and limitations that the form factor imposes. When we talk about mobile VR, we are talking about a bunch of smartphone + VR helmet. The most technologically advanced and expensive element in this bundle is a smartphone, which means that most of the shortcomings of mobile VR are projected onto it. If you think about the list of the main disadvantages that cause discomfort, then insufficient performance, overheating, short battery life and poor tracking quality will definitely fall into it.

While smartphones are already more powerful than the personal computers that were on desktops 10 years ago, no one will deny that their performance for VR cannot yet compete with their stationary older brothers. This is a powerful argument in terms of user experience, because influences the consumer's purchasing decision. When a person sees low-poly models instead of a realistic VR world, he will say “I don’t believe it!” and may be disappointed in the purchase. Each such disappointment will be reinforced by word of mouth and delay the moment when a VR helmet will be in every home.

It so happened that smartphones are “weaker” than computers, they were not required to be more powerful. Microelectronics manufacturers are fighting Moore's law and releasing new chipsets that are faster and more energy efficient. Unfortunately, the performance gap is still extremely large, and there are no more developers who are willing to spend months on optimization.

Most smartphones are not designed to handle the long peak times that VR applications provide. Their cooling system was designed for everyday tasks with occasional high-performance gaming, so devices overheat during VR. If the average session length does not exceed 15 minutes, then someone may never encounter such a problem at all, but someone spends many hours in VR and is forced to modify the smartphone cooling system on their own.

Battery life at peak loads is also unsatisfactory, because for last years no breakthrough in the field of energy has ever happened. The average battery capacity of the flagship ranges from 2000-3000 mAh, which is about an hour of work in VR mode.

Well, since mobile VR is getting closer and closer to stationary VR in terms of functionality, why not start launching serious VR projects on it, big AAA games? The simplest solution in this case would be to stream a picture from a PC to a smartphone screen, as services like GeForce Now, Xbox Streaming or PlayStation Now do.

In all these services, network delays will be the main criterion affecting the quality of the delivered content. Only in the case of streaming VR content, our mobile VR headset will also need to send a large amount of data about the positioning of the head and controllers in space to the server, and do this with a high degree accuracy and minimal delays.

There are several companies on the market that deal with the issue of VR streaming, and they approach this task in different ways. For example, in Russia there is a Dive Into VR team that has streamed a number of Oculus Rift games for mobile VR over regular 5GHz Wi-Fi with a latency of around 30ms. This is not a bad result for home equipment, but the level of comfort will greatly depend on the player's vestibular apparatus.

Tracking and sensors

Each smartphone has a basic set of sensors necessary for the functioning of mobile platforms. These are various combinations of gyroscopes, compasses, accelerometers and other components that differ significantly between the flagship and budget models, because each of them affects the cost. The question is not only in quantity, but also in quality, because. until recently, there was no talk of any standardization. Samsung did the easiest way by declaring support only for flagship models, fixing the minimum required performance, and also integrating high-precision sensors directly into the GearVR headset.

Google decided it was time for standardization and released the Daydream platform to the world. The platform includes a reference helmet and reference specifications for the main components and sensors that a smartphone for VR should have. These sensors, together with the specialized subsystem and drivers integrated into Android 7 Nougat, guarantee a quality VR experience. It remains only to teach developers how to make good VR applications on the Daydream SDK.

Standardization is a normal practice in the industry, but it is rarely done by a single company. The first to come to mind is Intel's Ultrabook platform, which was developed as a counterweight to the Macbook Air and distributed to all OEMs, ushering in the era of thin Windows laptops. At least 5 Daydream-enabled devices have been announced on the official Daydream website, including smartphones from ZTE, Lenovo, Huawei, and ASUS.

Daydream looks and feels like a high quality product. This is not to say that mobile VR has reached a qualitatively new level, but most of the “childhood diseases” have been overcome, and Daydream and GearVR can be considered the best mobile VR platforms on the market.

While stationary VR uses sensors and beacons to track the helmet in space, mobile VR can only exploit the mechanics with the “trolley” effect and limit interactivity. Qualcomm decided to fight this discrimination by showing a prototype helmet with Inside-Out tracking at CES 2017, which theoretically works similarly to Microsoft's MR helmets.

At the last Oculus Connect conference, which took place in October 2016, Mark Zuckerberg announced the next generation of Oculus Rift helmets, which can also implement Inside-Out tracking functionality.

At the same time, there is Google Tango, which implements similar AR mechanics using a depth camera, which will be integrated into the new Daydream smartphone from Asus - ZenFon AR. It is not yet clear whether Asus will create its own Daydream helmet and implement Inside-Out VR functionality with it and make ZenFon AR the first MR smartphone.

At CES 2017, HTC introduced the Vive Tracker, a standalone device that acts as a marker and helps bring real objects into the virtual world, turning any object into a VR controller, which can also be used in mobile VR.

Helmets

Since the advent of Google Cardboard, mobile VR headsets have not made much progress. First of all, because it is not easy to reinvent a set of two lenses and a smartphone mount and make money from it. And also because any really interesting implementation will be instantly cloned in China and launched into the world at a bargain price. Only a few companies can innovate in this area.

When talking about mobile VR to consumers, most often they tell stories about the fact that a helmet can be taken with you everywhere and used at any time in any place - on vacation, on a plane, in nature ... And each time he is silent about the fact that others will be wary look at a person with a cardboard / plastic box on his head. Despite hundreds of experiments with helmet form factors, their main problem was bulkiness and unnatural appearance, and then came the Daydream View.

Google designers have spent almost 2 years since the release of Cardboard to turn the VR helmet into a stylish and ergonomic accessory that is light and pleasant to the touch. They were able to achieve a very important thing - now the VR helmet does not look like a strange plastic device for geeks, and this is a huge step forward in adapting the technology.

Mobile controllers

Interaction with the virtual world in mobile VR on initial stage was severely limited due to the ability to interact with the game world solely with the help of the head. The first version of Google Cardboard had a special magnet that could be used as a clicker button, but most smartphones behaved incorrectly next to it. The magnet affected the built-in compass, causing the effect of "drift" and adversely affecting the vestibular apparatus, so in the next iteration it was replaced with a "button" that clicks on the smartphone screen.

Samsung did the smartest thing - they integrated a touch gamepad into Gear VR and focused on its usability, asking new standard mobile VR interactivity. But the older stationary brothers already had controllers with 6 degrees of freedom, which were not only much more convenient, but also organically fit into the virtual space, emulating hands. When we see hands (or their emulation) in the virtual world, it is easier for the brain to believe in the veracity of the picture, and this significantly reduces the risk of motion sickness.

The first high-quality and inexpensive implementation of a 6-axis controller was boasted by Google with Daydream View, after which other manufacturers began to catch up, including Xiaomi Mi VR for Chinese market. Well, already this year, at MWC 2017, Samsung also confirmed the correctness of the motion vector, showing a new generation of Gear VR with an external controller that is functionally similar to Daydream.

Search for the golden mean

According to Strategy Analytics in 2016, the share of mobile VR reached 87%, while stationary VR took 13%, most of which is accounted for by PSVR. Despite this, stationary VR dominates in terms of profitability, accounting for about 77% of the money in the industry.

The development of VR has spurred the display manufacturing industry, the PPI (points per inch) coefficient in small diagonal screens has begun to grow. Resolution was not critical for mobile devices when consuming content at arm's length, but in the case of VR it became important competitive advantage. Comments like “That pixel grid on the screen again” are starting to slowly fade into the past.

With the advent of Mixed Reality devices on the market and the large spread of streaming, the situation may change if you look at the future for the next few years. So, for example, Microsoft focuses primarily on this direction and believes that VR in its current form is a temporary phenomenon. HoloLens was the first MR product that Microsoft brought to the open market, and its target audience was and still is corporate customers. It is they who have millions of tasks and scenarios that are ideal for MR, as well as the resources to implement them using a device that will not be ready to enter the mass market soon.

Facebook is currently the only company that has a significant market share in both mobile and stationary VR and can combine them within a single ecosystem. The company puts a lot of effort (and spends billions of dollars) to create a unique VR environment for social interaction and has every chance of making it the new standard for online communications.

In each of its presentations, Facebook highlights the benefits of virtual communication, the sharing of VR content, positioning social VR as a prominent part of its strategy. At the same time, the new helmet in the Oculus lineup, announced on Oculus Connect, positioned as a standalone device, can become the main tool for implementing this strategy.

Google, in turn, is focusing on democratizing mobile VR and competing with Facebook for audiences by focusing on promoting Daydream as the mobile VR standard. It is not known whether Project Tango is planned to be used as an MR component for Daydream, but in light of current trends, this would be a very interesting decision. Whether Google can turn Daydream View into a stylish and ergonomic accessory for everyone, time will tell.

The market sees the future and investments in VR/AR continue to grow and have collectively exceeded $2 billion, including a large chunk of Magic Leap. And it is clear why - at stake is 120 billion dollars, which will potentially spin in the industry in the next three years.

Looking at the charts above, you can see that VR content makes up the majority of potential revenue, and big brands have already recognized this fact. Disney, 21st Century Fox, HBO and many others are already investing in VR projects. The first AAA titles are coming to VR like Resident Evil 7, Batman: Arkham VR, Robo Recall and this is just the beginning.

Moreover, analysts predict that AR / MR technologies will be dominant by 2020 and will three times exceed VR in terms of revenue. In the short term, 2017 is already being called the year of MR in VR, and the dynamics of announcements over the past six months promises the release of many new interesting devices.

I (and my colleagues at the company) really hope that the market can truly open up the moment (and if) Apple brings the right balance between VR / AR / MR to the market and makes everyone believe that the time of the “fourth rebirth” , as analysts like Robert Scoble call it, has really arrived. We love bold experiments, therefore, since the first transformation from social games to mobile, from mobile games messengers, we continue to believe in the possibility of a new transformation.

What is the result?

Mobile VR by leaps and bounds is approaching the possibilities of stationary in terms of the quality of content provision, it is becoming more convenient and ergonomic for everyday use. As an example, I have already started taking the Daydream View kit with me on trips and regularly spend some part of my free time in virtual reality. Stationary VR is increasingly moving towards mobility and MR, getting rid of wires and unnecessary tracking devices. I see a very big future for Mixed Reality and am optimistic about what Microsoft is doing in this area with the launch of a new line of devices for Windows Holographic.

The reference MR device for me is still HoloLens. Microsoft, according to rumors, does not plan to update the platform until 2019, which means there is every chance that the device will become smaller and the viewing angle will become more comfortable. Closest to the golden mean, it seems to me, are approaching Google and Facebook, but from different angles. Facebook will try to realize its vision of the golden mean through the new standalone helmet of the Oculus line. The description looks promising, but there is still not enough information, and how it will turn out final product, one can only guess. Of one thing you can be sure - he best solution for communication in VR. Google, in turn, is developing Daydream into the most functional platform for mobile VR, which, thanks to the support of smartphone manufacturers and high ergonomics, will be able to compete for the hearts of consumers and finally bring VR adaptation to next level.

Thanks to the low cost of entry for end users and consumers, the mobile VR market is growing rapidly, with hundreds of new applications appearing every month. In 2016, thanks to the release of Oculus Rift and HTC Viveо, as well as the imminent start of sales Sony PlayStation VR about the availability of virtual reality has finally become known to the general consumer; VR is showing up at many public events and shows.

While Cardboard is only supported on Android (iOS is not mutually compatible with it), developers can conveniently publish their apps to the Play Store; there we already see a bunch of cheap, low-quality VR applications that do not provide any pleasure from the gameplay. Therefore, the Gear VR and Daydream App Stores (when released) will perform quality control.

Of course, this creates additional barriers to publishing applications, but at the same time, end users receive a guarantee of a certain level of quality, which will accelerate the adoption of VR: thanks to high quality, users will play their games more often and try to purchase new ones. In the short term, quality control turns out to be a headache for developers, but in general it is better for everyone, because it helps VR to get into the mass market.

Restrictions

Mobile VR has its own limitations that you need to consider before choosing a supported platform. First, as the name implies, mobile VR content is provided by mobile devices, not powerful computers. Although the newer devices have much more processing power, there are still limits to the depth and complexity of a scene rendered in 3D (if you choose to go that route). Of course, this does not mean that the devices are completely inefficient: in order for a 3D-generated scene to be convincing to users, it does not need to be photorealistic. Low-poly worlds generated on mobile devices are quite interesting and effective in VR, while they provide high performance.

Another aspect is that despite being independent of the computer and giving the user freedom of movement without cables, it is not yet possible to track the movement of glasses in space: no matter how the user moves, the camera position is updated only in three directions. This means that many of the full VR experiences that tethered VR has (crouching, approaching characters from any angle, moving freely within a room) are not available in mobile VR. However, the development of equipment is underway, which should sooner or later solve this problem.

So, mobile VR has less computing power and it is impossible to track the position of the head there; it's understandable why it's dominated and well-supported by photo and video panorama apps. However, they lack any means of real interaction, the user can only look at something, which is why some do not consider this to be the “proper” VR. Others also believe that with improvements in mobile VR and growth in computing power, developers should aim for full, high-quality VR because the gap will only narrow and if you develop mobile VR apps today, they will soon become obsolete within months or years due to with the rapid development of equipment.

Preparation for development

Publishing apps to the Google Play Store is easier and a great place to start if you're comfortable releasing content for free, but I'll mainly focus on developing for the QA content store offered by Oculus for Samsung Gear VR; all recommendations will also hold true for the Google Daydream VR glasses ecosystem, which will be released later this year.

Development environment, SDK, and how to become an Oculus developer

To create a 3D VR application, you need a 3D development environment that supports the required Software Development Kits (SDKs) for VR. In our case, this is the Oculus Mobile SDK. The best 3D engine for this is Unity which has free and paid versions. The free version has certain limitations and requirements for use, while the paid version already contains everything you need to publish mobile VR for Android devices(for example, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream VR) and iOS (which doesn't really have strong VR support yet, although iPhone VR apps are supported by Google Cardboard); you do not have to pay for these features separately, as in older versions.

After installing Unity, you need to download the Oculus Mobile SDK for Unity and become an Oculus developer. For this you need to go simple registration to create an Oculus ID to sign in to the website and set aside an area where you can then write your apps in for review before publishing. The Mobile SDK has gone through many iterations, making it ready to go and has very detailed documentation. You can also download the Audio SDK along with the Mobile SDK to make optimal use of Oculus' audio positioning features, which add an immersive experience to VR app users. It is also now user friendly and well documented.

Once you've set up your Oculus ID, you can also join the Oculus (as well as Unity) forums to find answers to any questions, troubleshoot issues, and become part of the growing community of VR developers.

Equipment

We've looked at software, but for professional development and building quality apps, you'll also need hardware so you can build, test, and run your apps locally before submitting them to the store. If money is not an issue, try to find as many supported Samsung mobile devices as possible to test the application and verify performance. If you don't have enough money, buy the "lowest common denominator" - Samsung S6 to make sure that the application works at least with the minimum supported requirements. Having testing hardware also means you can let users test your app before release and get feedback. Usability and user experience are key elements of VR development, very important so that the user does not get "sick" in your VR applications! But that's a topic for another post...

Make sure that mobile device switched to developer mode and it allows installation of applications from unknown sources. To enable developer mode in Android go to Settings > About device > Build number (Settings > About device > Build number) and tap seven times Build number (build number). Then go to Settings > Application Manager (Settings > Application Manager), select Gear VR Service, and then Manage Storage. Touch several times VR Service Version until the switch appears developer mode. Switch it to turn on Oculus Gear VR Developer Mode. And finally, we need to allow the device to install and run apps from unknown sources, because when testing an app, it doesn't download from Oculus or Google Play Stores. To do this, go to Settings > Security (Settings > Security) and enable the option unknown sources (unknown sources), and then select OK in the dialog box. After that, the mobile device will be able to run the developed applications for testing and demo checks. Note. If option Gear VR Service missing, you need to insert the device into the Gear VR glasses and then complete the installation and setup process for the Oculus Gear VR software, drivers and app - yes, that means you have to buy the glasses!

The last element to create a connection between equipment and software- obtaining OSIG mobile device to insert it into Samsung test builds so that they work in the Oculus Gear VR system, not being a verified application. To do this, you first need to download the Device ID app from the Google Play Store and then run it to get the Device ID of your devices. Once you have them, go to the OSIG Oculus generator website and enter the Device ID to get a unique OSIG file. Once downloaded, paste it into your app package in Unity to ensure that builds of the app run on the mobile device.

Hardware and software are clear, but what about design and development?

Of course, not every app you develop needs to be released and made available to the public, so it's a good idea (especially in the case of VR) to build a first series of prototypes and implement simple ideas before moving on to full development of a highly polished app. Google has created a huge number of interactive prototypes for Daydream VR that are simple and effective for developers to understand the possibilities that will become available with new hardware and an input controller. If you're new to VR development, you'll need to learn them too to understand what works and - most importantly - doesn't work in VR, and to understand the current limitations of mobile VR. If your application slows down or is inconvenient to use, it will not be published.

Keep it simple

Due to the limited input options in mobile VR, simple ideas and interactions work well. Of course, there are Bluetooth controllers for Android, and they are supported by Samsung Gear VR, and Google Daydream VR is said to come with a compatible controller, but most users don't have Bluetooth gamepads yet. So if you're developing an app (usually a game) that only works with a bluetooth gamepad and doesn't support a touchpad on the side of the glasses, then you're significantly reducing the size of the potential market for the buyer audience.

The touchpad on the side of the Gear VR (v1) is embossed and resembles the D-pad of a game controller, so it's harder to perform diagonal swipes and interactions, but for new VR users, it's easier to learn how to swipe forward, backward, up, and down using the bump. marks the center of the touch area of ​​the button. Available for pre-order a new version Gear VR 2, which will be released later this year, has returned to the flat touchpad design of earlier Innovator Editions. This is a good solution from a design point of view because it can track the more complex movements of the user's fingers.

The main downside of the touchpad on the side of the device is that new VR users usually grab the goggles with both hands and get used to the VR experience. This often results in the app randomly exiting or pausing, depending on the design, which is confusing and makes demos harder to show because unlike tethered VR, you can't see what users see unless what's happening on the phone is shown on some display.

Keep in mind that for most users trying your app, this may be their first VR experience: if the input method is simple, they will get used to the technology much faster, which can be amazing for them in itself. Fortunately, the popularity of VR is growing, more and more more people have access to VR, so this factor will need to be taken into account less and less; hope that in next year we don't have to worry about it at all.

Stable Performance

For an app to be approved and user-friendly, it must be able to consistently deliver 60 frames per second (FPS) on the Samsung Gear VR. This is necessary because such a bar is recognized as the minimum comfortable VR frame rate for most users. Any drop in frame rate, even for a short time, can lead to motion sickness in users, as the virtual world will jerk and twitch to match head movements.

This can be tricky if you're not used to using 3D engine optimizations or geometry simplification. Every frame of your VR scene needs to display 50,000 polygons (max 100,000), so you need to think things through, calculate ahead of time, and use Unity's tricks to ensure a good picture without forgetting about stability.

Luckily, the latest version of Unity 5.4 supports single-pass rendering, so you can get the same result with less hardware overhead; the engine takes care of the VR elements - it doesn't draw everything twice, but renders the frame from slightly different angles to create the area of ​​view of each eye and the necessary 3D depth effect.

John Carmack, co-creator of DOOM, now works at Oculus and spends a lot of time working on tools and development for mobile VR. As a result, Gear VR has the long-supported asynchronous timewarp, a technique used by the SDK to smooth out dropped frames and allow developers to get rid of stuttering on mobile hardware. But this does not mean that you can use it as a "crutch" and not optimize your code! It has its limitations and will not always be able to save you and users.

Oculus says the following limitations should be considered when designing mobile VR for the Gear VR glasses:

• 50-100 draw calls per frame
• 50,000-100,000 polygons per frame
• As few textures as possible (but their size can be huge)
• 1-3ms to execute scripts
• Efficient CPU and GPU throttling to control heat, battery consumption, and scene speed

Note. All other Android APIs and SDKs (such as Google Cardboard) generally do not provide access to direct control of the mobile device's CPU and GPU, only Oculus provides for select Samsung device models through partnership assistance in creating Gear VR and mobile SDKs. Now is the time to look at different helpful tips and tricks related to general guidelines and VR design to provide novice and advanced users with a great VR experience.

• The VR market is still quite small, although it is already possible to sell 100,000 copies of the popular VR game on the Oculus Gear VR store. Don't expect to become a millionaire overnight until that's the level of Angry Birds popularity.
• The VR developer community is open, welcoming, friendly and helpful. If you get confused, there are many forums on Unity, Oculus, Gear VR and Android, as well as VR community channels on Slack. Find and attend a local VR developer meetup to meet and discuss your findings and concerns.
• Don't be afraid of the Unity 5 VR Tutorials, there are quality, simple and clear examples of VR design, ranging from objects, explaining scale, performance, interaction types, and just about everything you need to understand the basics of VR development.
• Oculus' guides to VR design and mobile and audio SDKs are also invaluable sources of information, tips, and detailed code examples for high performance and VR optimization.
• For development and testing before publishing the application, you will need all the target hardware, or at least a model with minimum supported specifications, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6. (Strictly speaking, some Gear VR models support the Samsung Note 4, but only experienced developers should build and support applications for this model, because the chipsets of this device will require very serious optimization to ensure a stable 60 FPS in VR.)

VR design

• Make the duration of the game convenient for newcomers to VR; provide short (about 15 minutes) and comfortable gaming sessions.
• The duration of the gameplay segments will also help users to monitor the battery drain and heating of the mobile device, allowing you to recharge or cool the device if necessary, without losing game progress.
• If you're making a horror game, make it clear, especially when testing, so users can decide whether or not to keep playing. Immersion in VR feels very real, surprises and sudden shocks affect users much more.
• Interaction Level: Initially, provide users with only simple controls so that beginners can enjoy the process; don't overwhelm them by making them understand the controls, they're already pretty overwhelmed by their first VR experience. Complex or advanced controls can be introduced later by adjusting the game design accordingly; complication with a gradual increase in skills allows the user to feel experienced and skillful when mastering more complex controls.
• For the user's comfort, the scene should always respond to the movements of the user's head, even in menus and cutscenes.
• In addition, you do not need to independently control the user's field of view and "move" his head, this is extremely unpleasant for the senses.
• Avoid moving the user around the stage, and in case of moving, he must move with constant speed no acceleration or deceleration. If the user needs to be moved, put them in the cockpit of a vehicle, if possible, and let them focus on something in the foreground.
• Avoid changing the user's point of view. Do not switch between first and third person cameras: the user will feel that the world is “floating away” from under him.
• If possible, allow the user to adjust the comfort level so that players who are prone to motion sickness can turn on features that reduce discomfort, and more experienced users can turn them off. The following features can be used to reduce discomfort:
  • Discrete rotation of the user's character;
  • Darkening the field of view when moving and teleporting to a new location;
  • Darkening and disappearance of data visible in peripheral vision when turning.

User Interface

• Don't forget that you are developing a stereoscopic application! All elements must be rendered twice and must be embedded in the world for immersion, not on top of it as in traditional UI.
• If you need to use a traditional UI, then project it onto a surface rather than directly onto the screen to maintain a sense of depth in the world. It is generally considered that it is most comfortable to place it at a distance of 1-3 meters from the user.
• Whenever possible, "embed" the UI into a logical, appropriate 3D world object, such as a book, scroll, mobile phone or a wrist display so that the user can interact with it in a natural way.
• Design the UI layout so that it sits naturally within the user's comfort zone and doesn't have to move their head much to see all the menu options or to navigate; he can move his head to select items, but moving to items far to the left or right causes neck strain.
• As mentioned before, input is usually limited to touchpad interaction because most owners won't have a bluetooth gamepad with buttons to select menu items. Therefore, you need to think about alternative input mechanisms that use VR properties.
• In mobile VR applications, gaze interaction is often used, when a virtual cursor is displayed that follows the movements of the user's head. If enabled, the user only needs to look at the menu item to interact with it. Typically there is a dial that gradually fills up as the user looks at a particular menu item; after filling the scale, the element is selected.
• While interaction with a glance is easy to use, consider touch selection for advanced or impatient users: multi-level UI menus can be tedious and slow when navigating with a glance.
• If the UI is displayed on top of a running application, clearly let the user know that they are in the menu and not in the world. Depending on the purpose of the menu, you can pause the game when it is displayed, or at least adjust the lighting and focus while in the menu.
• A static icon in one corner of the screen, following the movements of the user's head, constantly reminds that he is in the menu, even if he looked too left, right or back and lost sight of the panel. Even better, if the entire menu follows the movements of the head, so that the user always sees it.
• Use the physical button on the Gear VR glasses to allow users to navigate back in layered menus, or even enable front-to-back swipe, although this can be confusing if the menu is in the form of a library where the user can swipe through many content cells, such as a catalog photos or videos.

Performance optimization and testing

If you've read this far, after we've already covered why it's worth building mobile VR apps for the Samsung Gear VR (and getting ready for Google Daydream VR a bit), how to set up your development environment, and general VR design guidelines, you're still with us, then you should be interested enough! So now we will assume that you have at least basic knowledge and an understanding of 3D asset creation and application development, because I'll move on to more specific terminology to cover key aspects of design and development in detail. So remember, I warned you...

Performance optimization

Optimizing the performance of a mobile VR app is a key factor in ensuring user experience (forget about horror games for now) and passing validation as a publishing process in the store.

There are several aspects of performance: overall application performance, 3D optimization and battery consumption. All of them play an important role in ensuring that users play the game for as long as possible, leave good reviews and tell friends and acquaintances about it.

• Optimize the game for 60 frames per second. Dropping frames is unacceptable: although Asynchronous TimeWarp can hide and smooth out some complex scenes, don't rely on it completely.
• Don't rely on the frame counter in the Unity editor because it does double work when running the scene on the computer. Even though he gives good performance about the performance level, build and test the app on the target hardware to ensure a smooth gaming experience.
• Users often cannot recognize whether an image or scene at a virtual distance greater than 20 meters from them is stereoscopic or monoscopic. Take advantage of this to unload distant skyboxes to reduce rendering load on a mobile device.
• Use Unity's built-in tools: profiler (profiler) and Frame Debugger. They will show you if your application has lag or scenes that are too "heavy", allowing you to explore the construction of the scene frame by frame by stepping through the draw calls. It is very likely that you will find objects that do not need to be rendered, which will reduce total draw calls.
• Also, batch draw calls whenever possible using the tools built into the Unity editor. Static Batching and Dynamic Batching.
• Trim surfaces of 3D geometry that will never be visible to get rid of unnecessary polygons.
• Also use occlusion culling to avoid rendering meshes that are invisible, such as the geometry of a room behind a door that is not yet open.
• Simplify 3D meshes as much as possible to have the lowest level of object detail without losing the right information.
• Keep the number of overdraw operations as low as possible so that fewer objects are drawn one on top of the other. Scene View control panel in Unity ( Scene View Control Bar) will give you an idea of ​​what can be optimized.
• Also, use lightmapping to bake shadows on objects instead of using resource intensive dynamic shadows.
• If you need to render a 3D object that is far away, use a low level of detail (LOD) model with fewer triangles, and change it to a high LOD model when you get closer to the user.
• Make sure CPU and GPU throttling is enabled, because failure to initialize these values ​​will cause the application to run by default in an underclocked environment. Gear VR apps are usually limited by the CPU speed, so targeting it rather than the GPU can often improve performance. However, if the application is well optimized, it is possible that both the CPU and GPU will slow down, which will increase battery life, and therefore the duration of the game session.

Testing

The key to creating a quality app is regular testing with iterations between each session including suggestions and improvements on gameplay, interface, development and design instead of postponing all changes to the last minute when you think everything is 100% ready. In this way, you can constantly make small improvements that require less effort overall than suddenly discovering a major design flaw found too late and requiring huge amount efforts for revision and correction.

As a developer, you are too immersed in the process and may not notice the problems and bugs of the application, so user testing, starting early and continuing throughout the development process, is critical so that you do not miss something obvious that the user will immediately notice . However, there are tests that you can and should run before showing the app to others.

The main types of testing you'll be doing are related to functionality and performance, to ensure that the app has a basic level of functionality that's good enough for players to enjoy. You can write unit tests to test different aspects of functionality, but you still have to do manual testing and find problems yourself.

If you decide to manage the development process using the Agile methodology, you can create test cases based on your own feelings and user stories to ensure that the application works and contains all the necessary features. Otherwise, you will need to think of test cases that can effectively test and capture all possible conditions and actions: not only expected user behavior and actions, but also what the user can do to disrupt the process and potentially "get stuck" in the game (not tick the right box or not get enough points to go to the next level without the retry option).

Testing VR for functionality is more difficult than testing standard, flat app because it's best done on a device with VR glasses, but that means you won't be able to quickly switch to a spreadsheet or notepad to quickly jot down issues you find. Therefore, it is recommended to perform pair testing, in which one tester is in the application and performs all the tests, and the other writes down the comments spoken aloud first.

But until you get to this point, you can run the app directly in the Unity editor to test functionality and performance without building and installing the app on your mobile device. As described in the section on performance optimization, Unity's profiler, Frame Debugger and Scene View allow you to perform initial performance testing, and the editor itself informs the developer about extreme exceptions and errors in the code.

User testing

User testing requires more preparation and time to ensure quality feedback is about the app, not the technology. As I mentioned in my post earlier, about 9 out of 10 people still haven't tried VR, so using them as novice testers requires management to prepare in advance.

During the process of organizing a user testing session, each tester should have time to familiarize themselves with VR and “acclimatize” after which they can begin to try testing the application. If testers are new to VR, this will give them a chance to not only be blown away by the technology and feel immersed in another world, but also be helpful by providing feedback directly about your VR app. When they know what VR can do and how it works at a basic level, they will be ready to test your application, understanding more clearly how it should work and what feelings and sensations it should evoke. Good examples of getting to know Gear VR apps include Samsung Introduction to Virtual Reality (free) and Welcome to Virtual Reality by SliceVR (paid).

Prepare a set of questions to ask users about your app testing session, to get useful feedback and information about how they felt, how easily they understood what to do, where they had problems or difficulties, and what aspects they had to them uncomfortable (in terms of performance, not content, especially in the case of horror).

Keep in mind that content shown on a mobile VR device is more difficult to display on a separate monitor, and so you won't be able to see in real time what they're looking at (or pointing at in the air). Make a set of printouts of important screens and application menus so that after a testing session, users can look at them and describe the different screens and panels they have seen (but they will not necessarily call them by the same names that you gave these elements).

If your budget is large enough, you can use the services of companies offering VR testing services to reduce your own labor and time costs. Testronic Labs offers a VR pair testing service for functionality and compatibility, and Player Research is a leader in user research and user testing, the company creates and provides developers with detailed reports after tests that can be used as part of the service.

So, your application is already stable at 60 FPS and does not contain errors (as far as it is possible for software), it has been tested and found to be comfortable and easy to use for target audience end users. It's time to submit your app to the Oculus Store and get ready for release!

Shipping to the store

The process of sending to the store

To be eligible to sell a Gear VR app on the Oculus Store, the app is required to be reviewed by the Oculus Store team for comfort, performance, and general compliance, and then given a green light to release the app.

This is a fairly straight forward process, but it does require a bit of internal customization on your part. The amount of work required for setup depends on the features used in the application (for example, the availability of in-app purchases (IAP), organizing matches for several users, achievements, leaderboards, etc.). Many items require an internal API and ID setup, so you need to go back to your app project in Unity to make sure the correct values ​​are being used to unlock each achievement, in-app purchase, etc.

You should have already set up your Oculus ID, but if you haven't already, go to oculus.com. In chapter Developers > Dashboard need to choose Create a new organization to be able to create an application profile. Make sure that the important information about your organization is entered correctly (address, financial information, etc.) so that you can receive the equipment, and more importantly, the monthly payments for your app purchases.

Basics

After setting up the organization, you can start setting up the application: go to the section My Apps > Create New App and enter the required information.

IMPORTANT! There is currently no way to completely delete an app once it's created, so make sure all the details are correct during the creation process - you can go back and change the app info at any time, but if you like a clean panel like me, do it right straightaway!

The first step is platform selection: we are shipping a mobile VR app, so choose Gear VR and enter the full application name to create the first entry.

After creating the first application profile with a name and platform, Oculus generates a unique application ID that must be used in the Unity project to initialize various Oculus APIs, especially those related to in-game purchases and license checks for the final version.

Also, after entering financial information, you can create any IAP tokens and IDs, which can then be called in the Unity project for the appropriate actions via Edit Details > Platform > IAP.

App Store Information

The main information for your app in the Oculus Store is in Edit Details > Submission Info. Here enter the full and short description, select genre, features, supported peripherals, age limit, and cost.

Some of these elements you choose yourself, some require the conclusion of third parties (for example, age restrictions); regarding the cost, the Oculus Store will contact you and agree on a suitable amount. Don't forget that by default all apps are considered free and if you want to sell them, you need to change the price before submitting!

Another time consuming element, as with any store submission, is the art assets that need to be created in order for the app to have its entry. Images required various shapes and sizes depending on how and where the post will be displayed in the store, however, the instructions are clear and easy to follow (for example, about the need and location of the logo so that the included dynamic sales banners do not cover it).

There is one interesting asset that can be added to Gear VR apps (which is not yet supported by Rift apps): a cube texture image so that potential buyers can see a panoramic screenshot of your app in Gear VR when they visit the store.

Assemblies

Of course, the information is very important, but you also need to upload a build of the application for review and for download after purchase. Before submitting, you need to run the Oculus Submission Validator tool on your APK file and make sure you have the following:

• The manifest XML file and installation location are correct - the Gear VR apps must be installed on the device, not on an external drive.
• The version code is specified - usually 1.0 if this is your first version of the app, or greater value in case of loading a new assembly after checking the previous version.
• A signed APK so that once it has been reviewed and confirmed ready for release, it can exist without the need for further downloads.

The build management section allows you to download builds for various channels: Alpha, Beta, Release Candidate, and Live. Keep in mind that many journalists have access to the Release Candidate channel, so if you haven't worked on PR or marketing for the app prior to release, be prepared for them to accidentally stumble upon it and release a review article without warning. So before uploading a build to this channel, it's best to get in touch with them to fix any issues if the app isn't 100% ready for release!

Application ready to ship

If you decide that all the data is entered, you can send the information in the section Submission Info > Submit, which has a handy list with the current status of each desired section. When the beautiful row of green flags finally appears, you will have one last opportunity to check the entire list and all the details before clicking on the (SUBMIT FOR VERIFICATION) button. Once the app has been submitted, the Oculus Store Gear VR staff will review the app's information, test it, and contact you with proposed changes that will make the app ready for release.

THAT'S ALL! You've come all the way - great job, good luck with your mobile VR development, share links to the apps you've created in the comments.

SteamVR Performance Test Overview | VR-Ready and VR-Capable

Two weeks ago, in preparation for HTC Vive pre-orders, Valve released a test SteamVR Performance Test. The utility is freely available and is designed to evaluate the current configuration of your PC for readiness for VR content. If the computer does not meet the requirements, the benchmark will suggest the best option for updating.

We spent the whole last week behind this utility. The specifications of our test system are close to those of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR HMD. It is equipped with an Intel Core-i5-4670K processor running at 3.5 GHz, 8 GB DDR3-1600 RAM and two separate SSDs for installing games and operating system. In other words, we took a fairly common configuration (except for the GPU) instead of a PC with the most top-end hardware.

On this computer, we tested 16 different graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia. Most of the GPUs taken meet the requirements of VR. But we also picked up a few graphics cards that didn't meet the minimum requirements. We were interested in how products of different classes will affect the experience of virtual reality.

Test system configuration
CPU	Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.5 GHz
Motherboard	Asus Z87WS
RAM	8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3-1600
Storage device	SanDisk Ultra 128GB x 2
BP	Corsair RM850 850W
OS	Windows 10 Pro

Test Methodology

Two-minute performance test SteamVR Performance Test runs several different scenes from the Aperture Science Robot Repair demo, measuring the total number of frames rendered, the number of frames below 90 FPS, overall quality and whether the CPU is the bottleneck. At the end of the test, you will get fairly generic results: "Not Ready" (not ready), "Capable" (suitable) or "Ready" (ready), as well as suggestions for improving performance.

We didn't feel like that was enough, so we ran FRAPS and recorded the minimum, average, and maximum frame rates, as well as collected frame time data.

Approach to testing in SteamVR Performance Test different from most comparison tests we perform in our labs. Instead of running the same sequence of actions at the same graphics detail settings, Valve's benchmark adjusts the image quality (accuracy) to stay below 90 FPS. The result depends on the average level of quality that your hardware supports, as well as the average frame rate (Valve does not disclose all the details of the method for generating results).

When Valve and HTC finally revealed the price and shared launch details with Vive VR buyers, the recommended hardware requirements were also revealed. However, the minimum hardware requirements were intentionally not specified.

SteamVR Performance Test - quality score (more is better)

Valve, HTC, and even Oculus recommend top-end graphics cards, so it's no surprise that the GeForce GTX 950 has fallen out of favor. Actually, we did not expect that this card will be able to provide a "capable" result. With it, our system scored 2.3 points, exchanging low quality for the highest possible frame rate for it.

In fact, we added the GTX 950 to the comparison to combine them in SLI. A pair of 950s are close in performance to the GeForce GTX 970, so we were hoping to get more power out of this configuration. But SLI doesn't work with VR because Nvidia hasn't perfected how it renders images from different GPUs onto two separate screens yet. As a result, the system's score fell to 1.2 points, with a score of "not ready".

The GTX 960, also based on the GM206 GPU, was marginally better. One Zotac GTX 960 Amp card! Edition scored 3.3 points, which is enough to achieve average quality. However, with the addition of the second card, the score dropped to 2.2 points. And since the frame rate was below 90 FPS almost 25 percent of the time, Valve's utility called the dual-GPU configuration "not ready."

Mid-range graphics cards from AMD performed better than Nvidia's solutions, especially in multi-processor configurations. The XFX R9 380 4 GB reached an average quality level of 3.3 points, and by the standards of the test SteamVR Performance Test fit for virtual reality. We added a second R9 380 (2GB model) and tested both cards in CrossFire. The score increased slightly to 3.7 points, and the visual quality remained at an average level. This configuration was also found to be "suitable".

We then tried our luck with the PowerColor R9 380X Myst Edition, which is just one notch below the recommended AMD Radeon R9 390. The Myst Edition is overclocked by the manufacturer and can claim "ready" results. However, despite the high average quality score of 4.6, the R9 380X is only rated "capable".

SteamVR Performance Test - AMD GPU frame rate, fps (higher is better)

SteamVR Performance Test - Nvidia GPU frame rate, fps (higher is better)

Suitable, but not quite "ready"

If you have a GTX 960, Radeon R9 380X, or even a pair of R9 380s and think you can play VR games on your system, don't get too excited. There is a big difference between VR-ready and VR-capable.

A system with a VR-ready rating meets the requirements set by HTC and Valve for developers as a benchmark for creating virtual reality games. Ironically, Oculus sets roughly the same hardware requirements for its VR system. Developers are free to optimize their games to run on lower-end hardware, but it's likely that most of them will focus on making games that run smoothly only on GTX 970 or R9 290 cards. Even if the test SteamVR Performance Test says your system is "suitable", it doesn't mean you will be able to run all games and enjoy smooth gameplay.

Here's what it says on the results page when a system is rated "suitable".