My Early VR and AR Experiments

Some pretty random AR and VR apps from 2018-2019 when I started learning XR design and development

I got hands-on with AR and VR development around 2018 when Unity started publishing an API for Apple's ARKit. My progression by device and API starts with Vuforia for AR, ARKit, Oculus GO, and now Oculus Quest. And, of course, I spent a lot of time learning Unity.

Mystical Pictures

This was an experiment where I had to get underneath the hood to customize AR interactions. This AR app detects photos that I hung a wall and immediately initiates playback of a video along with VFX that extend the content into 3D space. So the feel of the experience is basically a picture that comes to life when you point your phone at it.

Portals

Portals was an AR app that I was using to have some fun with creating particle system VFX in Unity. It's pretty simple: tap the plane indicator to place a portal on the ground. This was fun—I rarely get a chance to spend a large chunk of time creating one visual effect—and I can't wait to work on VFX like this again.

Weird Rube Goldberg Game For Oculus Go

I used this small game project for the Oculus Go to sharpen my Unity, VR dev, and 3D skills. I built a tutorial scene, 4 different levels of gameplay, a teleport locomotion system, a gameplay menu, and a scoring system.

And this is the project where I first encountered the performance constraints for mobile VR. I had to simplify all 3D geometry, remove all dynamic lighting, and make sure my game objects and material settings were optimized for mobile. And also figure out how to use Unity's profiler.

Two Of The Four Rube Goldberg Contraptions and Game Levels

And A walkthrough Of the Tutorial Scene

AR Game Prototype

Another AR experiment, and this one was a game designed to make players move around and explore a small space in order to complete levels or rounds. I did much more customization of interactions in this mini-project: a start screen that mixed 2D UI with 3D particle VFX, a customized ground plane indicator (particle system VFX), 3D models and particle VFX that spawn after placing an object, and a very basic UI or HUD element (a horizontal score/completion bar).

VR Exploration

This mini-VR project was the first VR app I actually completed. And I surprisingly put a lot of process work (a design phase, prototype dev work, product dev, art dev, and multiple testing sessions) into this despite it being a really short and simple experience. This project is where I became more familiar with some of the essential systems of VR: player locomotion, controller input and interactions, environments (room and skyboxes/cube maps) and diegetic UIs.