Creating Augmented and Virtual Realities

Chapter 8. Three Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Development Best Practices

Vasanth Mohan

Developing for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Is Difficult

And that is probably why you are reading this book in the first place.

But it is important to understand the sheer complexity before diving into development. So, let’s break down first what makes development much more complicated than most fields.

Let’s begin with the tools. Throughout this chapter, we work with the Unity game engine. Initially released in 2005, Unity has helped countless developers around the world to get started building three-dimensional games, everything from mobile to console to desktop. And although it has served as the backbone for 3D development for many people and has fostered an amazing community over the years, it is by no means perfect, especially as design paradigms for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are continually evolving. Since modern VR development kits first began releasing in 2013, Unity’s built-in tools and external plug-ins have significantly improved, but certain tasks such as cross-platform development and multiplayer are still not quite as simple as enabling a button. Keep that in mind as you continue through this chapter.

Next, the hardware. More than the tools, the number of different pieces of hardware can tremendously increase complexity. From the Oculus Rift to PlayStation VR to an iPhone running ARKit, each device has its own set of restrictions that will ...