Using VR for product presentation

Unity Engine
1

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with an app or a technique where you can for example place an object or product in the middle, and the viewer can then walk around it and look at it from different angles?

2

That’s of course doable, but I think many devs will tell you to instead allow the user to rotate the object. Here’s my summary of the argument:

  • Allowing the user to walk in VR using controls rather than “walking in normal life” (as with the HTC Vive) creates motion sickness (not for everyone, but for most people)
  • Other control schemes for moving around (blink/teleportation etc) are neither super-intuitive nor super-nice
  • So the simplest solution, and the one that completely avoids motion sickness, is to not let the user move at all. Allow him/her to move the object or the world instead
  • If the user’s headset has positional tracking (i.e., PC HMDs but not the mobile ones like Cardboard or Gear VR), they will still have the experience of looking at the object at slightly different angles, which is pleasant and doesnt them require to get up from their seat
3

Thank you for your response. Great suggestions. If per say you would want to use a google cardboard. Is there any clever way to go about achieving this or whould you have to display a simple film that just rotates the object?

4

“clever way” - I’m sure there is, and that’s precisely why VR is so much fun at the moment. :slight_smile:

I wouldnt use a film though - interactivity is fun, and even with Google Cardboard you are guaranteed to always have one source of input: the user’s look direction (because not all devices support the magnetic button). So… use that! Perhaps with virtual buttons that can be looked-at (awkward but clear), or by interpreting changes in look-direction as “swipes”, or… something!

5

Or how about this: make it semi-interactive. That is, move/rotate the product around the user in a computed manner, but let him/her influence that with his/her look. You could build a great interactive demo that way that “teases” the user but still gives him/her some influence over the show, and allows him/her to hone in on or focus on parts they find most interesting.

6

Thank you for some nice perspectives!