Things I Learned

MAKING VR IN A VFX COMPANY

OMER SHAPIRA

@framestore

"WHY?"

PEOPLE LOOKING AT MY BIO,

2006 - ?

2000-2009

Film & TV

VIDEO EDITOR, DIRECTOR, VFX ARTIST

2008-2012

Tel Aviv Uni (Math)

ANALYSIS, MACHINE LEARNING, FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMMING, HOSTED A TV SHOW (?)

2012-2014

NYU ITP  (Digital Art)

BUT ALSO LEARNED C++, C#, PYTHON, CLOJURE, UNITY; RESEARCH FOR KEN PERLIN

2014-2015

Framestore

Framestore

"YOu May Have Heard of Us"

-MY BOSS

AMAZING PROMO VIDEO GOES HERE

Framestore

VR

Game of thrones: Ascend the wall

The MarRiott
Teleporter

Interstellar: VR

ENGINES

unreal and unity and OTHERS

WE ALWAYS MAKE CUSTOM BUILDS

UNREAL IS EASY TO MODIFY

BALL CAMS

It's complicated.

DEVICES

EVERYTHING WE CAN.

IF IT'S BETTER, WE'LL TRY IT

Perception

THING #1

HUMANS Cling To Their Frame of Reference.

REMEMBER THAT WHEN DESIGNING HUDS.

START SPHERICAL.

"THINGS EQUIDISTANT AT EYE LEVEL" IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL.

VANISHING POINTS ARE POWERFUL.

WHICH MEANS YOU ONLY NEED ONE*

* A STRAIGHT SURFACE IS TWO.

UI: KEEP IT SIMPLE.

EYE SPACE ORIENTATION: SPHERICALLY MAPPED TANGENT PLANES

TONY STARK'S LAB

Client: SAMSUNG

INERTIA TO EASE ACCOMODATION

"BEST HUD I'VE USED"

-F16 FIGHTER PILOT

HUmans LITERALLY can't  Even walk straight.

WE NEED  A FEEDBACK LOOP TO CORRECT COURSE.

Current Biology, 2009

Merrell #Trailscape

18 MOTION CAPTURE CAMS

2 FANS

2 HAPTIC TRANSDUCERS

3.5M x 12M SPACE

3 MINUTES LONG

3 MONTHS WORK

1.00
1.00
1.00

To Go Straight, Turn Around.

IN VR THE TRACK ROTATED 40°.

IN REAL LIFE™ IT WAS LIKE 180°.

virtual reality

FIND POINT OF LEAST ATTENTION

CREATE A DISTRACTION

DO THE THING

PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED

is like film

is like magick

tools:

earth
wind
fIre?

SURFACE TRANSDUCERS  VIBRATE THE FLOORS

WIND MACHINES (AKA FAN+ARDUINO) CHANGE SENSE OF DIRECTION

ENVIRONMENTAL ELEMENTS (AKA DUST CLOUDS) IN ENGINE MAKE CONVENIENT WIPES

SENSOR FUSION

MAKE SURE YOUR TRANSLATION PIVOT IS ALIGNED WITH YOUR ROTATION PIVOT.


OR YOUR NECK WILL FEEL VERY LONG.

Accommodation

THING #2

(PS I AM NOT A NEUROSCIENTIST)

BUT I CAN ACCESS THE PAPERS (AND SO CAN YOU)

OCULUS RECENTLY REMOVED THEIR WIKI OF VR PAPERS, STILL EXISTS ON INTERNET ARCHIVE

Simulation Sickness is a thing.

AN INDIVIDUAL THING.

"IRON STOMACHED VIKINGS" ISN'T A DEMOGRAPHIC.

Simulation Sickness IS NOT SEASICKNESS.

ACCOMMODATION TO ONE MAY ACTUALLY INCREASE THE OTHER.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: a Network of Feedback Loops.

DON'T PROGRAM CAMERAS.

PROGRAM HUMAN REACTIONS.

THIS IS NOT A BALANCED NETWORK.

THE USER'S LIFE IS CONTINUOUS, EVEN IF THEY WALK INTO THINGS.

try 
{
    //TODO: Sure I'll test this someday    
    Some_YOLO_Function();
}
catch (ERRORS::THE_BIG_ONE errrrr)
{
    MAKE_EVERYTHING_GO_AWAY_RIGHT_NOW();
}

PREDICT EXCEPTIONS.

PLAN THE USER'S ESCAPE ROUTE.

YOUR ENTIRE UI SHOULD BE CONTINUOUS, LIKE A SHADER.


void App::Update()
{
    Vector3 repulsion
        = GetRepulsionFromDanger(Param1, Param2, ...);

    Player::AddPosition ( repulsionVec );
    PostProcessing::SetWarningColorLevel
    (
       WarningColor * repulsion.Magnitude()
    );
}

HOT TIP: TRY STUFF

SERIOUS, PERSISTENT USER TESTING

STRIP THE GRAPHICS AND TEST THE INTERACTION

DIVERSIFY TESTER GROUPS

DIVERSIFY YOUR TEAM.

ALIENATING YOUR AUDIENCE IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK.

DEPTH perception VARIES VASTLY BETWEEN PEOPLE.

ASK QUESTIONS.

CAN THE USER BE SHORTER?

COLORBLIND?

4 TIMES AS NERVOUS AS ME?

(...)

sTABLE MEDIA IS THE WORST

THING #3

UNSTABLE MEDIA IS instrumental FOR STORYTELLING.

"USE TECHNOLOGY AS A VERB,
NOT A NOUN"

-RED BURNS

HCI > GFX FTW

GOOD GRAPHICS NEVER IMPROVE THE 'FEEL'.

IF IT MAKES PEOPLE DIZZY, RETHINK IT

IF IT DOESN'T FEEL INTERESTING,

IT'S PROBABLY BETTER ON A SCREEN.

YOU CAN DO AMAZING THINGS WITH ONE CUBE.

DON'T SCALE YOUR VISUALS TO WHAT YOU CAN MANAGE, SCALE THEM TO WHAT YOU CAN MASTER.

MR.DIV

YOU CAN'T CONTROL Where They Look, But YOU Can Control Where they Don't.

USE CONTRASTS, HIDE THINGS.

Know Thy Hardware.

DID YOU KNOW THE OCULUS CORRECTS YAW DRIFT WITH A MAGNETOMETER?

WE'RE REALLY LUCKY WE DID.

*ifixit

YOUR AUDIENCE IS ALWAyS VULNERABLE.

MAKE SURE THEY'RE SAFE.

(BODY AND MIND)

1.00
1.00

PLAN YOUR PEAKS.

ROLLERCOASTERS ALSO HAVE CHILL MOMENTS.

CLEAN YOUR G#&$%MN HEADSET.

BECAUSE YOU CARE.

@OMERSHAPIRA

DOT COM

GITHUB/

TWITTER/

ELLO/

(no, not really)

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