Category: Unity Technologies

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Native Google Daydream Support Available in Unity 5.6 Beta

With videogame engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine playing a key role in supporting virtual reality (VR) development, it’s always been important to keep an eye on their latest developments. Unity is one of the biggest, only a couple of weeks ago the company released Unity 5.5, bringing with it native support for Windows Holographic and thus Microsoft HoloLens. Unity Technologies hasn’t been idle since then as this week its released the beta version of Unity 5.6, adding support for Google’s latest mobile head-mounted display (HMD), Daydream View.

Naturally with a new version on the way there’s lots of new features being tested with not all of them included in this current beta release. For VR specifically the beta mainly focuses on native Google Daydream and Cardboard support. Unity has integrated the Daydream NDK to leverage the platform’s asynchronous reprojection and VR performance modes.

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The blog posting for Unity 5.6 also notes: “Compared to the Google VR SDK for Unity released at Google I/O, we now provide a more streamlined workflow, significant optimizations and reduced latency. No prefabs, scripts or manual manifest modifications are required to get started–simply enable VR and add Daydream as a targeted platform to begin making your own virtual worlds.

“We have also made it easy to switch in and out of VR mode so that your applications can easily expand to the Google VR audience.  You can also have your application target Google Cardboard with native support. Applications which target Cardboard will work on older devices so you can reach as many users as possible. At this time, Cardboard support is exclusive to Android with iOS Cardboard support coming soon.”

Other features will be implemented over the new few months as Unity aims for a full release in March 2017. Unity 5.6 will be the last version in the Unity 5 cycle, with a new numbering system being put in place. The new Unity 2017 will make its debut beta release in April 2017, with customers already signed up on Unity subscription plans getting access as soon as it’s available.

Checkout the full release notes on the beta for more information. And keep reading VRFocus for the latest Unity updates.

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Unity 5.5 Launches, Bringing Support for Microsoft Holographic

With videogame development engines such as Epic Games’ Unreal Engine and Unity Technologies’ Unity playing an important role in the continued expansion or virtual reality (VR), VRFocus closely follows the latest improvements of the engines. Today Unity has received its latest major update, v5.5, bringing with it a slew of new features and improvements.

Earlier this month the company revealed details of what to expect during its Unite 2016 conference in California. With today’s release of Unity 5.5 the biggest addition comes for Microsoft Holographic – essentially fully supporting HoloLens. Unity’s blog post states: “Support for Microsoft Holographic is now shipping with Unity 5.5. We also improved the workflow by bringing Holographic Emulation right into the Unity Editor. Developers creating applications for HoloLens will be able to prototype, debug, and iterate on design directly from the Unity Editor without needing to build and deploy to an actual HoloLens device.”

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The update also adds – among other things – a new particle system, line renderer components, improved Animation Window, a new Splash Screen tool and an experimental tool called Look Dev.

There are far too many details to list here, but VRFocus has rounded up all the VR and mixed reality (MR) improvements below for a quick look over. For all the latest Unity updates, keep reading VRFocus.

Features:

  • VR: HoloLens support graduated from the Technical Preview!
  • VR: In-Editor holographic emulation

Changes:

  • VR: Oculus Touch Controllers and Oculus Remote now present themselves as standard joysticks.
  • VR: OpenVR controllers now present themselves as standard joysticks.

Improvements:

  • VR: GUI elements now work with single-pass stereo rendering
  • VR: UnityEngine.VR.InputTracking.GetLocalRotation() and UnityEngine.VR.InputTracking.GetLocalPosition() can now be used to query the position and orientation of Oculus Touch and HTC Vive controllers.
  • VR: Updated the native plug-in support for VR devices. Plug-ins in user projects override native VR plugins when used.

API Changes:

  • HoloLens: Removed the preview mode parameter from PhotoCapture.StartPhotoModeAsync.
  • HoloLens: Spatial mapping component API changes:
    • The “Custom Render Setting” property is now “Render State”.
    • The “Custom Material” render setting is now “Visualization”.
    • “Custom Material” is now “Visual Material”.
    • “volume” property is now “volumeType”.
    • “sphereRadiusMeters” is now “sphereRadius”.
    • “boxExtentsMeters” is now “halfBoxExtents”.
    • “lod” is now “lodType”.

Fixes:

  • VR: Fixed crash when VR Support is enabled but no actual device drivers could be loaded.
  • VR: Fixed rendering issues when using the Global Fog standard asset in VR. (815914)
  • VR: Graphics.DrawTexture places image at incorrect screen location when VR enabled. (696245)
  • VR: Using Deferred Rendering + MSAA + Blur Image Effect, renders black screen. (713551)
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Unity Partnership with Xiaomi Enables Developers to Release Title on Chinese MIUI App Store

The Chinese mobile market is big and growing rapidly. Western companies are very keen on getting a slice of the pie but find it difficult embedding themselves into the market, usually finding co-operation with a Chinese firm a far easier route. Recently Unity Technologies – one of the leading middleware companies – announced a partnership Chinese tech company Xiaomi to enable Unity users to publish on its app store and become the first third-party ad network on any Chinese Android mobile store.y’ll now be able to directly release titles to Xiaomi’s MIUI app store, which has seen approximately 50 billion downloads to date, it claims. Xiaomi provides support negotiating licensing terms, quite often a stumbling block for outside companies.

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Developers will also be able to use Unity Ads, and Unity IAP to extend support to the Xiaomi platform so developers can port the in-app purchases directly.

“A Large part of ensuring developer success is providing access to the platforms that matter most,” said Andrew Tang, China Country Manager at Unity Technologies. “By partnering with Xiaomi we can help Unity developers bring their creative vision to a massive audience and accelerate the progress of quality entertainment worldwide.”

“Unity shares our vision for rapid innovation, and we’re excited to partner to accelerate creation and continue bridging the gap between desire and distribution,” said Jingyan Liu, Deputy GM at Xiaomi. “Together, we will be that much closer to allowing developers to tap into the full potential of a global app market.”

The Unity development platform is used by millions of studios worldwide, whether its for 2D, 3D, mobile videogames, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) projects. This deal with Xiaomi will enable VR developers to access this growing market, hopefully providing new revenue streams and encouraging more immersive content to be produced.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Unity, reporting back with the latest announcements.

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Unity Global Authorised Training and Certification Partner Program Launches

If you’ve got an interest in virtual reality (VR) then you’ll most likely have heard of Unity Technologies. The company’s middleware development engine Unity is one of the most popular engine’s on the market for creating VR experiences. Today it’s announced the launch of its global Unity Authorised Training and Certification Partner Program, expanding the network of official partners to deliver Unity Certification Exams and training.

Through the programme thousands more developers will have access to regional training and support in preparation for the exam, with training centres having the means to support a growing community of millions of Unity developers.

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“We’re working hard to close the gap between a booming industry and qualified job-seekers,” said Megan Stewart, Head of Global Education at Unity Technologies. “By opening our doors to partners and allowing them to deliver Unity Certification and Training to their local communities, we can accelerate that process, remove barriers to developer education, and empower even more individuals to find career success.”

The Unity Certification Program has enabled developers across the world to validate their Unity knowledge and skills, and demonstrate foundational proficiency with one of the leading platforms for videogame development. The idea is to help individuals prepare for careers in fields like videogame development, design and VR production.

With the announcement Unity has revealed the first group of partner organisations in key regions worldwide. Eleven organisations have signed up, these are: Ledet Training in the US, Academy Class Limited in the UK, CICE S.A. in Spain, NASKA Digital in Colombia, Media Design School in New Zealand, Feva Works IT Education Centre and Unity Future Optimizer Company Limited, both in Hong Kong, COMAT in Singapore, iAcademy and De La Salle University in the Philippines, and Like Corp in Korea.

“Unity is the market-leading platform for developing a broad range of applications from gaming, and vizsim to the quickly evolving worlds of virtual and mixed reality production. The choice to become the first authorised training partner in the U.S. for Unity was a no-brainer and an honor,” said Sterling Ledet, CEO of Ledet Training. “Our clients are eager to develop for mobile, web and emerging platforms like Microsoft Hololens, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream. Early demand has been great, and we look forward to many more classes to come.”

For organisations wishing to participate or to find a training centre near you, head to certification.unity.com for more details.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Unity, reporting back with the latest developments.

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NVIDIA Build of Unity Natively Supports VRWorks

This week Unity Technologies has been holding its annual Unite conference in California. Yesterday VRFocus reported on the company showcasing its latest Editor VR developments, as well as Google using the event to announce the launch date for Daydream View. Now NVIDIA has revealed a new initiative in conjunction with Unity with a specialist build of the game engine for select virtual reality (VR) partners.

Both companies are looking to help studios that use Unity build great immersive videogame experiences, so today they’re allowing certain VR partners to have early access to an NVIDIA-version of Unity Engine with native VRWorks feature support. This build will also include support for the various NVIDIA VRWorks features, including VR SLI, Multi-res Shading, Lens Matched Shading, and Single Pass Stereo.

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As an added bonus for studios, the graphics card manufacturer will be introducing a plug-in for NVIDIA Ansel technology to the Unity asset store for free, with more GameWorks plug-ins to come.

“Optimizing VR content is always a huge challenge, so we’re very excited to be working with Nvidia on VRWorks. Features like ‘multi-res’, and ‘lens match’ shading (MRS/LMS) are indispensable tools in the quest to make beautiful, interactive, and deeply immersive virtual worlds,” said Ted Carefoot, producer, Cloudhead Games.

As one of the most commonly used engines in the world, Unity is used by a large portion of VR developers. With VRWorks having direct support means integration of its technologies are a lot simpler for developers working on that platform.

“Improvements in performance and quality are of critical importance to VR applications companies like AltspaceVR, and VRWorks is a huge step in the right direction,” commented Eric Romo, CEO, AltspaceVR. “We’re looking forward to integrating these improvements and are excited to work with Nvidia on this next level of VR.”

VR developers interested in getting early access to this build can apply directly to NVIDIA at:  https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-vrworks-and-unity.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of NVIDIA and Unity, reporting back with any further announcements.

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Unity Continues VR Improvements with Latest Update

While most of the news at present revolves around the PlayStation VR launch Unity Technologies has released its latest update for its middleware engine. Unity has now been updated to version 5.4.2, and with it several fixes and improvements to its virtual reality (VR) support.

The company has now updated its Oculus plugin to version 1.8 as the main improvement, whilst fixing issues with ‘WaitForEndOfFrame when VR is active’, ‘Recreate when Oculus service requests restart’ and ‘Removed audio output warning when Unity Audio is Disabled’

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Whilst not a get deal of VR additions it continues Unity’s stance on supporting VR – it’s one of the most popular engines being used by VR developers on the market.

The previous version, 5.4.1 saw a much greater selection of VR updates when its arrived early on in September, upgrading SDKs of GearVR to 1.7.1 and OpenVR to 1.0.2., as well as the Mac version of the editor can now add OpenVR as a VR platform when targeting the Windows player and Stereo View and Projection Matrices can be set individually through scripting API.

As for further additions the Unity roadmap currently doesn’t list anything VR specific, but its does state that the Beta 5.5 version will include Microsoft’s mixed reality (MR) head-mounted display (HMD), HoloLens. Unity does already support the headset, so what’ll be coming in the scheduled November version isn’t clear yet.

As Unity unveils further support for VR/MR and augmented reality (AR), VRFocus will let you know.

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Unity Awards Finalists Include Tilt Brush, Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption

Unity Technologies middleware development engine Unity is one of the most popular pieces of software for creating videogames and virtual reality (VR) experiences. Today the company has now announced the finalists for the 2016 Unity Awards, which recognises the best in 2D and 3D titles, VR, visuals and much more.

There are eleven categories in total with two dedicated to VR, Best VR Game and Best VR Experience. These include Fantastic Contraption by Northway Games and Radial Games; Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes from Steel Crate Games; theBlu by Wevr and The Body VR from The Body VR LLC to name a few.

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Voting is now open, so head to the official 2016 Unity Awards website to vote for your favourite. All the categories and finalists can be seen below, and for the latest updates from the awards, keep reading VRFocus.

Golden Cube (best overall)

  • Includes all finalists from all categories

Best Desktop/Console Game

  • Enter the Gungeon (Dodge Roll)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • INSIDE (Playdead)
  • Satellite Reign (5 Lives Studios)
  • SUPERHOT (SUPER HOT Team)
  • Virginia (Variable State)

Best Mobile Game

  • Hungry Shark World (Future Games of London, a Ubisoft Studio)
  • Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montreal)
  • Prune (Joel McDonald)
  • Reigns (Nerial)
  • Skyforce Reloaded (Infinite Dreams)
  • The Room Three (Fireproof Games)

Best VR Game

  • Fantastic Contraption (Northway Games and Radial Games)
  • Ghostbusters Dimension (The VOID)
  • Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
  • Land’s End (ustwo games)
  • Unseen Diplomacy (Triangular Pixels)

Best VR Experience

  • Apollo 11 VR (Immersive VR Education)
  • Tilt Brush (Google)
  • theBlu (Wevr)
  • The Body VR (The Body VR LLC)
  • The Lab (Valve)
  • We Wait VR (Aardman Animations)

Best 3D Visuals

  • Armello (League of Geeks)
  • Epistory (Fishing Cactus)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • INSIDE (Playdead)
  • ReCore (Armature Studio)
  • The Room Three (Fireproof Games)

Best 2D Visuals

  • Burly Men at Sea (Brain&Brain)
  • Jotun (Thunder Lotus Games)
  • Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base)
  • Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
  • Seasons after Fall (Swing Swing Submarine)
  • Slain! (Andrew Gilmour)

Best VizSim Project

  • accuraSeat (mindtrigger)
  • Elbphilharmonie Touchscreen (Neutral Digital)
  • Factory I/O (Real Games)
  • Virtual Production and Virtual Cinematography (Digital Domain)
  • The Mercedes-Benz-AMG Powerwall (All Things Media)
  • Journey to the Center of the Cell (UNSW Australia)

Best Non-game Project

  • Apollo 11 VR (Immersive VR Education)
  • Augmented Climbing Wall (Augmented Climbing Wall)
  • Grand Designer (Ignishot)
  • Intel Realsense Dancer (Mirada Studios)
  • The Body VR (The Body VR)
  • Tilt Brush (Google)

Best Student Project

  • Chambara (Team Overly Kinetic at USC)
  • Code 7 (Goodwolf Studio at Cologne Game Lab)
  • Lily, Colors of Santa Luz (Lily Team at ISART Digital)
  • Pine (Twirlbound at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences)
  • Into the Black (Naomi Kotler at National Film and Television School)
  • Rogues with Benefits (The Rogues at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht)

Asset Store Award

  • Amplify Bloom (Amplify Creations)
  • AVPro (Video RenderHeads)
  • Dungeon (Architect Code Respawn)
  • Koreographer Professional Edition (Sonic Bloom)
  • Pro Camera 2D (Luís Pedro Fonseca)
  • TextMesh Pro (Stephan Bouchard)