Virtual Reality with Vrtk4: Create Immersive VR Experiences Leveraging Unity3d and Virtual Reality Toolkit (Paperback)

Chapter 1:  What is Spatial Computing?

Chapter Goal: To introduce the reader to the broad field of computer vision.

Sub -Topics

1.            Explanation and examples of spatial computing

2.            Overview of principals of spatial computer from self-driving cars to AR

3.            Understanding spatial computing for someone who doesn’t know physics

Chapter 2:  What is Virtual Reality Toolkit?

Chapter Goal: To demonstrate how Virtual Reality Toolkit (VRTK) simplifies the science of spatial computing.

Sub - Topics       

1.            A brief history of VRTK framework

2.            Why is VRTK useful?

3.            Overview of how VRTK works.

4.            What readers can hope to accomplish with only VRTK.

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Virtual Reality Design in Unity

Sub - Topics:      

1.            What is Unity?

2.            I’m not interested in making games, why would I use a game engine?

3.            Unity creates 2D, 3D, AR, VR, and mobile content?  That’s too much to learn!

4.            What are the fundamentals of Unity?

Chapter 4: Creating a ‘Camera’ in VRTK

Chapter Goal: To become comfortable with VRTK by first playing with and understanding the principles of ‘camera’ transform.

Sub - Topics:

1.            What is a ‘camera’ in VR?

2.            What if I don’t have a head-mounted display like the Oculus Rift?

3.            Overview of the physics of a VR camera

4.            Exercise: setting up a VR camera with both the VRTK ‘virtual camera’ and the Oculus SDK

Chapter 5: Doing Things in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: Empower the reader with the understanding of how to incorporate interactivity and user input into a VR scene with VRTK.

Sub - Topics:

1.            Introduction to VRTK’s ‘actions’.

2.            Exercise: Putting a ‘button’ in your VR scene.

3.            Exercise: ‘Chaining’ user actions

4.            Exercise: Converting complex math into ‘on/off’ actions

Chapter 6: Using Gestures in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: To build on user input and communicate the creation pipeline from body movement to digital representation.

Sub - Topics:

1.            An introduction to ‘pointers’ in VRTK

2.            An explanation of the types of pointers in VRTK

3.            Exercise: Step-by-step instructions for implementing pointers in a VRTK scene

Chapter 7: Getting Around in Virtual Reality

Chapter Goal: To expand readers’ understanding of virtual reality (VR) as immersive by connecting interactivity with motion in VRTK

Sub - Topics:

1.            Overview of different kinds of motion embraced in VR design

2.            Overview of how different headsets impact user movement and VR design

3.            An important conversation on motion sickness and the design practices to avoid it in your users

4.            Exercise: How to use VRTK’s ‘teleport’ feature in your own VR design

Chapter 8: Making Virtual Reality Interactive

Chapter Goal: To clearly communicate the role of ‘physics’ in Unity by walking the reader through the creation of colliders and interactables.

Sub - Topics:

1.            Introduction to ‘interactor’ and ‘interactables’ in VRTK

2.            Overview of Unity terms ‘rigidbody’ and ‘kinematics’

3.            Exercise: How to use VRTK’s ‘teleport’ feature in your own VR design

Chapter 9: Sharing Your Experience

Chapter Goal: To cover the workflow of moving a VR scene from VRTK in Unity through examples covering webVR, Google Cardboard, and Oculus.

Sub-Topics:

1.            Porting a VRTK scene from Unity to a stand-alone device

2.            Sharing a VRTK scene online

3.            Exercise: Publishing your work on GitHub

Chapter 10: (BONUS) Oculus Integration w/VRTK

Chapter Goal: To cover the integration of the Oculus SDK with VRTK in enough detail so the user has hands-on experience with the setup procedure for at least one head-mounted display.

Sub-Topics: