This document discusses using virtual reality and 360-degree panoramic images to create immersive educational experiences. It provides instructions on setting up a Unity project to view 360-degree images on Google Cardboard by importing the Google VR plugin, adding a panoramic texture as a skybox material, and testing it on an Android device. Capturing 360-degree photos and processing them into a single panoramic image for use in virtual reality applications is also outlined. The potential for virtual reality to increase empathy and engagement in subjects like wildlife conservation through immersive experiences is highlighted.

1. STEM and Virtual Reality
A/Professor Tomasz Bednarz
QUT & CSIRO Data61
Prepared for QUT’s VC STEM Camp 2016

2. https://immersivelifeblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/vr_history.jpg

3. Mobile Virtual Reality on track to hit $861M in revenues in 2016

4. 360-degree Panoramas

5. Immersive 360-degree images and videos
• Viewer can look around, observe different views

6. Amazon!
Approx. 35 hours
from Brisbane – Sydney –
Santiago, Chile –
Lima, Peru –
to Pucallpa, Peru
Approx. 12 hours
Pucallpa – Camito, Amazon, Peru

7. Technology to capture panoramas
360-degree cameras: Freedom 360 Explorer+ with 6x GoPro Hero 4
installed, 2x Ricoh Theta M, and 2x Kodak SP360.
Stereo camera: Dual Hero System with 2x GoPro Hero 3+ installed.
IR camera: Reconyx XR6 Ultrafire (infra-red, motion sensing
trap camera).
Sound: Zoom H2n Handy Recorder, Olympus VN-733PC.
Virtual Reality: Samsung GearVR, Samsung Galaxy S6, Google
Cardboard Glasses.
USB Hub: ORICO 10 Port-Hub.
GPS: Garmin 64ST GPS System.

8. Taking 360-degree photos

9. Processing with Autopano Giga, Autopano Video Pro
• To stitch one 360-degree panoramic image:
• Drag and drop six images into Autopano Giga

10. Processing
Lightroom
Photoshop
After Effects
Premiere

11. Processed

12. Priceless!
Beautiful & Beautiful Scenery
Warmth of village people, curious eyes and laugh of children
Daily canoeing in sunrise and sunset time
Time to truly engaging to wild life conservation issue

13. True power of VR in Conservation
• Essential aspects of VR technology are:
• Presence
• Immersion
• Interactivity
• Empathy
[Chris Milk: How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine]
VR technology can be used to provide people experience of wild life
creating better connection between human and natures

14. Reaching Through the Looking Glass | Craig James15 |
Firing the Imagination

15. Milgram’s Reality-Virtuality continuum
The area between the completely real and completely virtual, consists of both augmented reality, where the
virtual augments the real, and augmented virtuality, where the real augmented the virtual.
P. Milgram and A.F. Kishino, Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays, IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, E77-D(12), pp. 1321-1329, 1994.

16. Virtual Reality

17. Hand gestures
to operate VR
• Enhance e-Learning
• Experience interactions = remember more
• Test in class-room situations
Use of iPhone’s touch screenImmersive e-book

18. Introduction to Unity

19. Unity as cross-platform game engine

20. Unity setup
• Download from https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download

21. Create new project
• Specify project name
• Specify project location
• Specify whether project
is 3D or 2D
• Specify asset packages
(pre-made content)

22. User Interface
Project Window
Hierarchy Window
Inspector Window
Toolbar
Scene View

23. Creating scenes
• GameObjects
• Every object in your scene is a
GameObject
• They are containers (for instance 3D
object, texture, animation)
• Object properties can be viewed
and edited in Inspector
• Position of GameObjects, cameras,
lights can be seen and adjusted in
Scene view
• Interactions are added using
Scripts attached to objects

24. Asset Workflow
• Asset from outside of Unity: a
3D model, an audio file, an
image, or any of the other types
of file that Unity supports.
• Asset created within Unity: an
Animator Controller, an Audio
Mixer, a Render Texture.
• For instance to add 3D model:
• Add file to Assets folder in Project
• Drag mesh from Project View into
Hierarchy or Scene View

25. GameObjects
• GameObject contain Components, for instance Transform, Camera,
etc. (seen from the Inspector)

26. Positioning GameObjects

27. New Project

28. Change layout (Windows  Layouts  Tall)

29. Moving main camera
• Select Main Camera, select Translate Icon, Move camera

30. Creating immersive 360-degree viewer
• Create new project
• Add the Cardboard plugin VR SDK
https://developers.google.com/vr/unity/
• Add 360-degree image asset
• Create a Skybox
• Add to the Scene
• Publish on the Android device
https://developer.android.com

31. Google Cardboard – see next slides
• Open Unity and create new 3D project
• Import the Unity package: Assets  Import Packages  Custom Package.
• Select the GoogleVRForUnity package where you downloaded it and click on
Open.
• Check all the boxes and click Import.
• You can test whether it works by opening Assets  GoogleVR  DemoScenes
 HeadsetDemo  DemoScene.
• Press Play (you should see a red cube).
• Press the Control key on your keyboard and move your mouse around to tilt
the view. Pressing Alt will cause too pan around the view of the VR.

32. Import Google VR
• Import the Unity package: Assets  Import Packages  Custom Package.
• Select the GoogleVRForUnity package where downloaded, and click on Open.
• Check all the boxes (uncheck iOS) and click Import.

33. Demo (Assets  Google VR  DemoScenes  HeadsetDemo)
• Press Play (should see a red cube, or green when navigated to it)
• Press the Control key and move mouse to tilt your view (inside SceneView)
• Press the Alt key and move mouse to pan around (inside SceneView)

34. Adding Cardboard to Empty Project
• Drag GvrViewerMain from Assets  GoogleVR  Prefab to Hierarchy
• Click on Play, should render stereo VR view (navigate using mouse and Control or Alt keys)

35. Import panoramic image (Disneyland, why not?)

36. Import panoramic image (Disneyland, why not?)
• Create folder Textures in Assets
• Drag and drop 360-disney.jpg to Assets  Textures
• Click on the imported image: Inspector will show you properties of the texture

37. Change texture type
• Change Texture Type from Texture to Cubemap
• Change Mapping o Latitude-Longitude Layout (Cylindrical)
• Click on Apply

38. Create Skybox material
• Create folder Materials in Assets, and click right mouse button in that folder and Create  Material
• Name material Sky01 and click in inspector on Select
• In Select Cubemap choose 360-disney earlier created

39. Create Skybox
• In Main Menu click on Window  Lightening
• Drag Sky01 material into Skybox field
• Background of SceneView should now display panoramic image in proper projection

40. Install on Android
Change Bundle Identifier to something like au.com.qut.helloworld

41. Pushing to device

42. Thank you
Now try it yourself :-D