VR Tunnelling Pro – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

February 16, 2018

VR Tunnelling Pro: Unity-Plug-in soll Motion Sickness in VR reduzieren

Motion Sickness in VR kann immer noch ein Problem sein und ist mit der Übelkeit auf Schiffen oder im Auto verwandt. Einige Tipps können zwar helfen, jedoch sind auch die Entwickler gefragt. Diese können schon bald auf das Plug-in VR Tunnelling Pro (VRTP) für die Spielentwicklungs-Umgebung Unity zurückgreifen, das von den Machern von Sublevel Zero Redux stammt.

VR Tunnelling Pro soll Motion Sickness in VR reduzieren

Das Unity-Plug-in VR Tunnelling Pro – abgekürzt VRTP – soll Entwicklern Werkzeuge zur Verfügung stellen, um Spieler vor Übelkeit in der virtuellen Realität zu bewahren. Das Wörtchen Tunnelling verweist dabei schon auf den Hauptansatz der Entwickler: Mit der Erweiterung lässt sich die Sicht an den Rändern kontrollieren. Neben einem Fokusbereich nehmen wir in einem weiten Sichtfeld Ränder wahr. Unstimmigkeiten fallen dort besonders auf, beispielsweise wenn man sich nicht bewegt, die Umgebung aber schnell an einem vorbeizieht. Auch die Seekrankheit entsteht durch gegensätzliche Bewegungen, die nicht zueinander passen.

VR Tunnelling Pro

Um das Problem zu lösen, kann VR Tunnelling Pro die Umgebung beispielsweise verwaschen oder gegen ein statisches Bild austauschen. Letzteres gibt dem Anwender Halt und reduziert die Gefahr von Motion Sickness. Das nach eigenen Worten winzige Indie-Studio Sigtrap Games hat das Plug-in für sein erstes VR-Spiel Sublevel Zero Redux entwickelt und verwendet. Das Action-Game ist via Steam erhältlich.

Das Plug-in VR Tunnelling Pro unterstützt via Unity so gut wie alle VR-Brillen wie HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Game Gear, Daydream und PlayStation VR und soll „schon bald“ im Asset Store der Entwicklungsumgebung auftauchen. Die Webseite zu VRTP findest du hier.

(Quelle: Sigtrap Games, via VR Focus)

Der Beitrag VR Tunnelling Pro: Unity-Plug-in soll Motion Sickness in VR reduzieren zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

February 15, 2018

Plugin To Reduce Simulation Sickness

Simulation sickness is the bane of both virtual reality (VR) users and developers. Caused by a disconnect between what the eyes are perceiving and what the body feels, many developers make reducing these symptoms a high priority, a job which may now be easier with the launch of VR Tunnelling Pro.

Sigtrap Games gained some praise from VR users and critics with its approach to making the VR experience comfortable in its title Sublevel Zero Redux. The developer has taken the technology and turned it into a plugin for Unity, one of the most widely used videogame engines.

VR Tunnelling Pro, or VRTP, allows developers to introduce a number of tools for reducing simulation sickness in users. The plugin comes with a number of presets that let users further adjust the comfort settings to make it suitable for their individual requirements when playing.

The basic idea comes from ‘tunnelling’, which involves controlling the peripheral vision of a player. This is due to the brain taking the majority of information on movement from the peripheral vision, so by controlling what can been seen in peripheral vision during moments of high intensity.

VRTP allows users and developers to access several modes and settings to improve comfort. Peripheral vision can be darkened, blurred or a ‘cage can be placed there to convince the brain that motion is not occurring. Advanced modes allow for static objects such as cockpits to enhance comfort even further.

Sigtrap co-founder Gary Lloyd says “We’re passionate about VR, but comfort is still a huge barrier to entry for many. Whether indie or AAA, we see similar mistakes being made over and over again. We wanted to expand on our comfort technology and make it widely available to solve some of these, and make comfort a standard feature in VR games.”

VRTP supports all the major VR platforms, including Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, and there is a version available for mobile VR use.

For further news on new tools and software for VR, keep checking back with VRFocus.

February 15, 2018

VR Tunnelling Pro Is A Comfort-Focused Dev Tool From The Makers Of Sublevel Zero

Two years into the era of consumer VR and user comfort remains a huge concern, particularly when it comes to moving around inside virtual environments. But the developers of Sublevel Zero want to take much of the legwork out of making VR accessible for all.

To that end, Sigtrap Games this week announced VR Tunnelling Pro, a Unity plug-in coming to the asset store that quickly adds in customizable comfort options to your project. As the name suggests, the plug-in is primarily focused on tunnelling, which refers to controlling the user’s field of view (FOV) to reduce the risk of simulation sickness when moving in VR.

You’ve likely already seen this method in effect: games like Skyrim VR have optional tunneling effects for when you traverse their virtual worlds with smooth locomotion. It essentially limits your peripheral vision as you move by increasingly darkening the edges of the screen. The restricted view can make movement far less overwhelming for users that suffer from sickness in VR. You can see it in action in the below trailer that uses Sigtrap’s cockpit shooter, Sublevel Zero, as a showcase.

VR Tunnelling Pro, which is designed to work for all major VR platforms from PC to mobile and standalone, automates this tunnelling process for your game whilst also providing options for you to customize it. Instead of simply fading the edges of the screen to black, for example, you might instead choose to blur the image to maintain a sense of being in the world. It also includes other comfort options like 3D cages, windows views and more.

The issue, of course, is that tunnelling limits immersion just as much as it reduces comfort. For some users the trade-off will be worth it to enjoy VR without any nausea. Others, though, are still in search of more definitive methods of comfort.

“From the outset it’s been clear to us that VR comfort is a very personal thing – what one player responds well to might have no effect, or even a negative effect, for another,” Sigtrap’s Dr. Luke Thompson told UploadVR. “So VRTP is designed from the ground up to be highly customizable, not only by the developer but players as well. For players who are distracted by the tunnelling effect, there are various ways to make it less intrusive (although it should also be noted that for most players, we’ve found they hardly notice the tunnelling effect in the first place while still getting the comfort benefits from it).”

VR Tunnelling Pro will be available for $40 when it launches. It will include the full source code so developers can make tweaks as they see fit.

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