Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive digital experience that is poised to bring change to many sectors of the economy. Medicine is already making use of virtual reality to calm children as they get shots. Home renovation shops like Lowes are offering customers a VR planner for their renovations. For many businesses, virtual reality is a huge opportunity to get a jump on the competition and offer more value to customers.
Yet, few know how virtual reality works or what kind of talent they’ll need to develop their own virtual reality experiences. Because VR uses visual and audio cues to immerse the viewer in a world, you’ll need staff with expertise in both areas.
Visually, a VR headset has one or two screens that project a 3D environment. You will either need staff who can shoot a 360-degree video and/or individuals who can create 3D animations. Talented graphic artists or videographers will create the scenery that will make your VR experience come to life.
Your VR world has to be laid out on a 3D axis, and some unique technology has to be used to make the world truly look “deep”. Stereoscopy is a technique that takes advantage of our binocular vision to add depth. Plus, a VR content creator has to decide how far they will let the user “move” in the environment (also called the degrees of freedom, or DOF). The VR creators have to account for all of the user’s potential perspectives.
If the visuals are too slow or choppy, they will break the illusion, so VR programs need to have a frame rate of 60 fps and enough DOF that the images can respond to the user’s movement.
Your eyes aren’t everything though. To make the environment more life-like, VR uses perfectly timed sounds. When sound and visual cues work together, it’s easier for you to forget that you have a headset on. The virtual world feels much more “real.” You’ll want employees with basic audio experience, and you may even want to record your own sound effects to achieve the environment you’re aiming for.
To actually play the VR experience, you’ll need an “engine” that runs the program for you. The foremost options are Unity or the Unreal Engine. These engines were originally meant to run video games, but VR is like a 3D video-game, isn’t it? Or, there are specialized VR platforms out there that you can use too. All of the professional-grade tools require your staff to have coding skills, usually in C++.
Lastly, you need to hire a team with experience working with a VR headset that is available on the market. HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are the main VR Systems, although the new Google Daydream is also a possibility.
As an IT recruiter, we’ve already placed talented people with virtual reality skills with companies that need their expertise. Securing top talent ensures that VR technology isn’t something shrouded in mystery, but a practical goal you know your team and company can accomplish.
At Live Assets, we connect your business with IT professionals who have VR skills. Call us at (416) 572-1020 or contact us for a business consultation.