Introduction Back to menu

Introduction

VARLabs + You0-welcome

Welcome to VARLabs’ Interaction Design for Virtual and Augmented Reality course! In the coming weeks, you'll learn how to make VR/AR content using Unity3D Engine.

Each lesson will teach you Unity3D and fundamental VR or AR concepts. Knowing programming fundamentals will help you move faster and allow you to experiment beyond each lesson, but we have plenty of supplementary material along the way to help you if you are new to programming. The Unity3D Engine Documentation, Answerhub, and Forums are great additional resources to help you as you learn.

Making content for VR/AR is a new art and you’re on the frontier.

Let’s get started.

Setup

This process may take several hours depending on your internet speed.

Oculus

  • Set up your Oculus Rift if you haven't already.

Unity3D Engine

  • Go to the Unity3D Engine website.
  • Click Get Started in the page.
  • Select the Individual or Student plan, then download and install UnityHub.
  • Open UnityHub, click Installs on the sidebar, click Install Editor. For this module, we will be using the LTS version Unity 2021.3.16f.
  • (Optional) If you want to install additional modules, select the appropriate modules. Modules can be added later after installation through UnityHub
  • Once the installation is complete, click the Projects tab and then the New Project button to create a new project.
  • Give your project a name and select a location to save it on your computer. Choose the 3D template.
  • Unity will now open your new project, where you can start creating and editing your game

A note on learning something new:

Learning is difficult. No matter how many bells and whistles an online course has, teaching yourself and learning anything new requires a lot of work. The way to make learning not feel like work is to have fun while doing it. Here are some tips on how to have fun while learning:

  • Experiment. Take a break from the lessons and experiment with something you’re interested in. If you ever ask yourself, “How does this tool work when I use it like this?” Try it out! This is your adventure.
  • Try and try again. When doing anything new, your first try won’t work. The only way to get it to work is to keep trying. The best way to learn is to fail fast and keep going.
  • Strive to understand. This course is not a tutorial for you to mindlessly follow. We hope that you take your time to understand what is happening. Use the challenges throughout the course as an opportunity to test yourself.
  • Keep the end in mind. What am I trying to accomplish in this lesson? Why am I taking this course? What do I want to make with everything I learn? These are all questions you should have answers to. You need reasons to learn effectively.