Virtual Reality is the new frontier for technology, but what about the web? It can’t just be about gaming, right?
Browsers aren’t yet a platform for distributing VR content, whether that’s 3D or 360-degree video. But will that change? If so, when? In this session, we’ll look at the current state of producing, developing, and distributing VR content, with examples of who is doing it really well and a variety of existing applications.
More importantly, we’ll cast a look into the future for when to expect things to open up within the browser and what new applications that’ll introduce (think a whole new method of education). Hopefully, you’ll leave inspired with fresh ideas and feel equipped to start pioneering ahead of the next generation of immersive web-based experiences.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
[edUi] The Future of VR and the Web
1. The Future of VR
and the Web.
edUi 2016
Zach Robbins
@ztrobbins
Sr. Digital Strategist
Copyright Viget Labs, LLC This document is CONFIDENTIAL and should not be shared without permission. 1
38. “Currently, multiple proprietary standards for building VR
experiences are competing for dominance, many of them
app-based. We felt that in many cases, making users
download and install an app produces an unnecessary
barrier to entry. Building a browser-based app
allows anyone with a reasonably modern,
WebGL-capable browser to take the tour or
explore the crater - whether they're on a desktop,
tablet or mobile device. Meanwhile, if someone has a
Google Cardboard or an Oculus, they can enjoy a more
immersive experience.”
- LA Times
48. Resources/Footnotes
● WSJ article about Carnegie Mellon VR Trolleyology http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-new-
technology-is-illuminating-a-classic-ethical-dilemma-1465395082
● Discovery VR App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discovery-vr/id1030815031?mt=8
● NYT VR App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nyt-vr-virtual-reality-
stories/id1028562337?mt=8
● “WIthin” VRSE App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/within-vr-virtual-
reality/id959327054?mt=8
● Jaunt VR Apphttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jaunt-vr-premiere-
virtual/id1048352748?mt=8
● Google Cardboard App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-
cardboard/id987962261?mt=8
● inVR App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/invr-for-google-cardboard/id983805476?mt=8
● WebVR Info https://webvr.info/
● LA Times Gale Crater VR http://graphics.latimes.com/mars-gale-crater-vr/ and
http://graphics.latimes.com/mars-gale-crater-how-we-did-it
● Art of Patron https://www.patrontequila.com/our-story/oculus.html and
https://vimeo.com/126539923
● Merrell Hiking Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efd6WhPmTyU
● Lexus 360 Product Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OKIdFnP9Us
● Medicine Article http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/health/google-cardboard-baby-saved/
Notes de l'éditeur
Welcome to the future!
It’s not just about gaming, is it?
It’s not just about gaming or scaring old ladies...
If it were, it would just be a novelty. A passing fad.
So if it’s not just about gaming, what can VR be about?
Let’s go back to 1967 to answer that question...
1967
Classical ethical thought experiment
Became a case of focused study such that it got its own name: Trolleyology
Asks the question
But trolleyology started to die off, as researchers toyed with thousands of variations of the question and experiment
But realized that you can’t really gauge a real response using armchair psychology
This is almost an impossible scenario to create
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-new-technology-is-illuminating-a-classic-ethical-dilemma-1465395082
But along comes Virtual reality
Some students at Carnegie Mellon have re-energized trolleyology with a VR based emulation
The more senses you can engage, the more real an experience becomes
While we don’t have non-VR vs. VR numbers to compare, they studied the difference between physical touch and no touch VR reactions
55% pushed an avatar to his death in order to save four workers. But only 30% pushed an avatar to his death when their hands felt a real person and not just VR.
What we’ll cover
Who am I?
Zach, work at Viget, a creative digital agency.
On our Strategy team, and help clients think through how to use technology to engage with audiences in different and unique ways.
Have gotten to do that for a variety of clients, from ESPN and Discovery, specifically thinking about leveraging VR.
To higher ed groups like Duke, UPenn, and Darden here in Cville.
What I”m sharing is only possible with the 60 or so people at Viget across design and development.
Disclaimer: I’m not a developer, and some of what I’ll be sharing is based on the knowledge or experience of some of our developers.
So first, where do things stand now?
From start to finish, how would I go about creating and distributing a VR experience?
Starts with the content collection.
Cameras exist to capture 3d or 360 degree content
This is an example of a GoPro 360 setup, using 6 gopros to capture silmultaneous footage and then stitching it together.
360 cameras range in price and quality from a couple hundred dollars and DIY-esque to high-end production cameras.
But it’s now more possible and accessible than ever to create 360 degree content.
Well then what do you do with it?
How do you stitch it together and edit it?
Editing Software, Adobe introduced 360 degree video editing in Creative Suite this year
What if it’s not a video based experience?
3d modeling/generation in tools like Unity… 3DS Max… or free/available models online
Creation of worlds and experience that aren’t tied to reality.
The number of devices will only continue to increase as the market becomes hotter
This is the current list
So now you’ve got the content created, you just have to get it to people.
On the one end, and probably the most “in the buzz” and talked about, are gaming devices like the Oculus Rift.
But costing over $600 and requiring an expensive paired PC… they’re less than accessible
Knock $585 off that price, and paired with a smartphone, a $15 Google cardboard will do the trick
Just stick your smartphone in, enter into VR mode, and enjoy
Most have distributed through native apps, like content platforms such as VRSE
Or developed their own apps for their own content
Like this suite of apps, which you should download and experiment with when you can
But what about those without a cardboard device or someone that can’t afford to develop a whole app?
YouTube supports 360 degree video and VR viewing
Which can be emulated in the desktop by clicking and dragging the experience
But where the current state of Accessible tech ends is ultimately disappointing, in my mind.
As it’s just a one way conversation.
These apps and current content essentially just walks you through a story in a more immersive way.
But it doesn’t allow you to control the story.
Or to use VR as a mechanism for learning in a new way. You can’t really… interact.
Which is where the web comes in!
Let’s take a step back and put things in perspective.
The most covered, talked about VR device and what many would attribute to being responsible for VR
Is estimated to have sold 100,000 units
Take a step back, and you have Gear VR, which is the nicest version of Google Cardboard, basically
And you have 1 million devices sold, 900k more people that can access content than those with an Oculus
Take a step further back, and you have all smartphone users, that can download an app and load up VR content
So you might be asking: not everyone owns a Google Cardboard, so how is that any different?
As of Feb, 2016 5 million Cardboard viewers had shipped, over 1,000 compatible applications had been published, and over 25 million application installs had been made. Already scaling in what I would call its infancy.
NYT alone shipped, for free 1.3 million cardboards to their subscribers. They’re even here for free at edUi!
They’ll be given out/accessible like candy as content becomes more widely distributed and pushed.
One step even further back, and you have all internet devices, with almost have the world being at your fingertips
See that little tiny dot in the bottom right? That’s the Oculus, that’s generated about 90% of the buzz around VR. Time to flip that.
Think about responsive VR experiences
Now how do we get it there?
How can we remove the barriers of entry to getting VR content and experiences in the hands of more of those people?
It starts with browser support.
To understand where browser support for VR is headed, it’s important to take a step back.
October, 2014, HTML5 was published
Introduced elements for graphical support within the browser, with the creation of elements like the <video> and <audio> tag … things that were formerly handled with Flash, requiring the installation and updating of an external and proprietary plugin
<Canvas> allowed the ability to render 2D shapes and drawing within the browser
Take that a step further and we have WebGL, a Javascript API that allows the browser to tap directly into graphics processors
Previously the browser could only leverage the CPU, and was limited it what that could allow graphically
WebGL introduced the first ability for 3 dimensional objects to be interacted with in the browser without plugins.
Now enter the future: WebVR
When I first proposed this talk, WebVR was just an infant, but soon after, in May 2016, was announced as a web standard by Google to soon hit Chrome, in the next version, version 54, sometime this fall
Developed by some of the same folks that are behind WebGL and launching Google Cardboard
Team of Chrome and Mozilla
Currently available in some experimental versions of Firefox and Chrome, and can currently be used as a polyfill
https://webvr.info/
So what does WebVR do that native apps currently can’t do?
They open the entirety of web technologies for integration and support
Like other Javascript APIs and frameworks
Like Three.js, a 3D JS library
Or Babel, a gaming engine
Or anything else you can imagine!
HTML5 elements like audio and Canvas to leverage other media and graphics to support experiences
And CSS3 to help with animation, styling, transformations
All in an accessible, responsive, and future friendly way
This is where I believe the true future of VR possibilities really open up
Entire companies have emerged at the intersection of some of these technologies with VR, and it’s a standard that hasn’t even been released yet!
Imagine the future!
So now that we know where things stand tech wise
Where the web comes into the picture
And how the future of browser support is almost here
Let’s look at some existing examples and think about future ideas for how we can leverage VR in creative ways
You can bucket existing and future ideas into different types of buckets
For the purposes of this talk, we’ll focus on Content and Tools (or “as a mechanism”)
http://graphics.latimes.com/mars-gale-crater-vr/
http://graphics.latimes.com/mars-gale-crater-how-we-did-it/ using WebVR
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/health/google-cardboard-baby-saved/ using WebVR
Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami
Helped save a child’s (Teegan) life born with a congenital heart defect (born with half a heart)
They created a 3d model of her heart and tried to print it, but the 3d printer was broken… this was time sensitive, so they threw it into a WebVR wrapper, opened up the browser, and they could see the heart in a way they never had before
Which led to a surgery plan to save her life
Which is just the beginning
VR can open up so many doors for educating…
When I did a search for “virtual reality in classrooms”, I got images of VR experiences putting people IN classrooms.. That felt backwards to me… get them OUT of the classroom!
In the classroom, for training, for learning… putting children, high schoolers, college students, in context of learning environments
Think of any subject and there’s some unique applications I’m sure you can imagine, both for learning and for industry:
History
Archeology
Astronomy
Art
Engineering
Design
Chemistry
Medicine
Biology
Sports...
This whole VR thing is still an experiment, this is your chance to get in on the ground floor, to help define things that haven’t been defined.
Hopefully you’re now equipped and excited about getting started, or thinking in a new way.