In the last few days I have been testing my current hardware to evaluate if the concept will be deliverable on a basic smart phone. I have discovered that there are certain limitations which will require some adaptation of the current functionality.

I applied the Google VR function to my app and included a simple gaze control which would allow the player to interact with objects in the scene. This worked well in the engine but when I exported it to my smartphone I discovered that my phone did not have a oscillator. This was only discovered when I tried to install the google cardboard app. I checked that my phone was compatible in regards to supporting Android 7 Nougat which has an API of 24 (more than the minimum of API 19 as stated in the google cardboard and unity documents)

Secondly, although I could rotate the players head and give them interaction in the screen, I was unable to get them to easily travel around the scene. This is an integral part of my concept design. I have researched a fix for this and it is possible to use a Bluetooth controller in addition to gaze control but the issue will be that students who receive an invitation may not have a phone with an oscillator or blue tooth controller. I have since tried the app on a newer android phone with an oscillator but the walk control is obviously still an issue.

So what does this mean?

Well, at the very least it means that there is tension between the concept design and the players access to tech. A solution might be to provide the students with cost effective kit but this might be an expensive solution given the numbers one would need to provide.

The solution I am currently thinking about is providing a taster of the app in the invitation but installing the app onsite on a high spec VR headset. I still want to build for Android because I’d like to cut my teeth Publishing on the google store before expanding to iOS. I own an iMac and a Acer PC which would easily take an Acer Headset but the cost of this will need to be considered. I could develop for oculus but I think, as a newbie to app development, the publishing criteria is much more stricter than publishing on google play.

•  Unity 2019.2.07(add Android Build Support module – OPENJDK)

• Android Phone – min kitkat API 19 required – connect via USB and enable developer option. 

• Set up Gaze Control with Reticle 

• Set Build Settings to Android. 
• Set Player Settings > Set Company name > Set Product Name
•  XR Settings Virtual Reality Supported > Add Cardboard 16-bit depth
• Install Google VR SDK for Unity v1.200.1 
• Install Google VR Package in Unity 
•  Export to Android Phone – Needs Gyroscope

In the last few days I have been testing my current hardware to evaluate if the concept will be deliverable on a basic smart phone. I have discovered that there are certain limitations which will require some adaptation of the current functionality.

I applied the Google VR function to my app and included a simple gaze control which would allow the player to interact with objects in the scene. This worked well in the engine but when I exported it to my smartphone I discovered that my phone did not have a oscillator. This was only discovered when I tried to install the google cardboard app. I checked that my phone was compatible in regards to supporting Android 7 Nougat which has an API of 24 (more than the minimum of API 19 as stated in the google cardboard and unity documents)

Secondly, although I could rotate the players head and give them interaction in the screen, I was unable to get them to easily travel around the scene. This is an integral part of my concept design. I have researched a fix for this and it is possible to use a Bluetooth controller in addition to gaze control but the issue will be that students who receive an invitation may not have a phone with an oscillator or blue tooth controller. I have since tried the app on a newer android phone with an oscillator but the walk control is obviously still an issue.

So what does this mean?

Well, at the very least it means that there is tension between the concept design and the players access to tech. A solution might be to provide the students with cost effective kit but this might be an expensive solution given the numbers one would need to provide.

The solution I am currently thinking about is providing a taster of the app in the invitation but installing the app onsite on a high spec VR headset. I still want to build for Android because I’d like to cut my teeth Publishing on the google store before expanding to iOS. I own an iMac and a Acer PC which would easily take an Acer Headset but the cost of this will need to be considered. I could develop for oculus but I think, as a newbie to app development, the publishing criteria is much more stricter than publishing on google play.

•  Unity 2019.2.07(add Android Build Support module – OPENJDK)

• Android Phone – min kitkat API 19 required – connect via USB and enable developer option. 

• Set up Gaze Control with Reticle 

• Set Build Settings to Android. 
• Set Player Settings > Set Company name > Set Product Name
•  XR Settings Virtual Reality Supported > Add Cardboard 16-bit depth
• Install Google VR SDK for Unity v1.200.1 
• Install Google VR Package in Unity 
•  Export to Android Phone – Needs Gyroscope