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    Imerssive Virtual Reality Using the Oculus Rift

    Abstract


    Before the Oculus Rift there was virtual reality, full faced goggles, then 3D goggles. What the Oculus Rift did was combined those features along with the introduction to unprecedented motion sensing VR capabilities. The Oculus Rift includes those 3 functions along with gyroscopic head tracking, as seen in the Oculus Rift development kit 1. Before the Oculus Rift, users were limited to monoscopic views and movement in game was only reliant on a mouse and keyboard. The Oculus’ Gyroscopic head tracking allows for the user to turn his or her head in real life and have the in game character repeat the same motion. Newly introduced into the development kit 2 was infrared head tracking. This allowed for the users to be immobile in game but still be able to look around objects and get there head closer or further away. The infrared accelerometer adds to the gyroscopic up/down left/right head movement and now allows for users to navigate the 3D X, Y, and Z axis with just their head. These immersive functions will be integrated with navigable 3D environments, stereographic photos. This enables users to virtually experience and work within the simulated environments through stereographic 3D.


    Project name

    Oculus Rift Development


    Project Purpose

    The purpose of my project is to evaluate the Oculus Rift’s ability to simulate field of vision stereoscopically, gyroscopic head tracking, and infrared head tracking. I will integrate Oculus Rift's Virtual reality capabilities with my own Virtual environments that utilizes the head movement tracker on the device. Creating 3D, stereographic, and video footage, environments for the Oculus Rift expands my basic knowledge of virtual realities capabilities by breaking the surface of the vast potential uses virtual reality has to offer. Working with 3D environments tests the interface’s level of immersion . Working with stereographic photos shows the potential integration of virtual reality headsets for electronic tours/traveling or advertisement in real estate. In addition to photographic environments, video footage filmed from two , eye distance apart, cameras on small aerial drones or a human, establish a immersive cinematic experience for the VR user. HD video footage allows for the environment to appear hyper realistic rather than low resolution CGI but since the footage is not real time head movement VR functions would be unused . All my areas of focus on the Oculus Rift are meant to open up new uses for virtual reality and find ways these uses can be further developed and obtain many practical functions in everyday life.



    What will you measure

    After using the Oculus Rift and evaluating the infrared head tracking and gyroscopic head tracking capabilities, I will utilize the Oculus Virtual reality capabilities by using it to view stereographic photos. Once I see how well the Oculus Rift works with my stereographic photos, I will use Blender, a 3D modeling software, to digitally model a 3D environment. With the environment I will input the mesh as a interactable asset in Unity, a 3D game rendering engine, to program the keyboard movement controls and make it Oculus Rift enabled. This means the Blender Model becomes playable when ran on Unity and the depth of field and head tracking will be utilized while using the Oculus Rift. In addition to using the Oculus Rift for virtual environments I will also make The Oculus compatible to be used with aerial videos filmed on a drone. I will be able to make the real life footage simulate depth of field by putting two GoPro cameras eye distance apart. With the footage I would pair the left camera video to the left eye screen on the and pair the right video with the right eye screen on the Oculus . Oculus Rift integration with real life aerial footage creates a more realistic experience than video games because it is streaming HD videos rather than lower quality 3D rendered environments.


    What tools will you use to measure this

    -Oculus Rift Development Kit 2

    -Phantom Drone - By DJI

    -GoPro cameras - 2 Hero 3 Black


    What resources do you need

    -Unity Pro 4 software

    -Blender software

    -Computer

    -Oculus Rift firmware for DK2 (Development Kit 2)

    -Phantom 2 Drone - By DJI

    -GoPro cameras - 2 Hero 3 Black


    What impact will your project have (HPA, locally, globally)

    My team and I will bring new technology to HPA and my community in order to encourage others to pursue their own virtual reality experiments with the Oculus Rift. I hope that more encouragement of The Oculus Rift experiments will motivate people to create new ways to use virtual reality for creative and innovative uses. With virtual realities growing popularity I hope that the Oculus Rift and other virtual reality systems will, one day, be used globally and have many practical applications.


    What legacy will your project leave?

    My team and I will extend virtual reality research and introduce advanced functions of the most recent VR capabilities into HPA community in hopes that our project will be adopted and expanded by other students after I graduate. My project will start off the development of more virtual reality uses in hopes that one day HPA will integrate VR into all student and faculty life.



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