Current Open Source VR Chatroom Projects?

[gg67]

Like everybody else I'm pacing back and forth waiting for my rift to ship. In the mean while I've taught myself Unity3D as well as its scripting language. The thing I was looking forward to most was a virtual chat room and wanted to start building one. However, I know there are people with similar goals that either have already started working on it or would start working on it if an open source project like this existed. I've seen the virtual cinema thread, and it looks amazing, but I don't think its open source.

So far I haven't been able to find any threads pointing to any open source projects for a like this for the Rift. Does anybody know where this is happening? If not can we start one?

I really want to work on something like this but don't think it'd be smart to work on it on my own knowing it could be done quicker and better with tons of people contributing.

Thanks!

[Evenios]

not that i know of. would be a nice idea though

[radicaledward101]

Probably not my most brilliant plan, but I've been kind of waiting on my devkit, or at least the SDK before I start anything. I have a really hard time making any progress on stuff without it sitting right in front of me.

I would certainly try to help out if you start a project, but I won't make any real commitments right now.

I'm a little concerned about open source projects using either of the provided engines. What are the restrictions on OSS if we use Unity3D? What about the Unreal Engine? Will all contributors have to buy licenses? I haven't looked into it too much.

Finally, please use github or at least git. I really really don't want to have to deal with SVN.

[NikoKun]

This is one of those ideas I can't wait to play around with, but like radicaledward101, I'm kinda waiting for my dev kit and SDK before I really get into making much. It's partly due to me not knowing how it will work with Unity and other things, but also simply because I need the motivation to work on VR games, which is an experience I've never really had. How can I make something for VR, when I have yet to experience/understand how it feels. heh

But once we have them.. This was an idea I wanted to mess around with, or be involved in.. or at least play with early versions of. heh

I was thinking maybe people could design "maps" for use as chatrooms. Scenic 360 fully 3D backdrops, maybe even small areas to walk around in, sit down in a group in, or otherwise interact with a basic environment.
Since these would be relatively simplistic little areas, I think an even bigger effort needs to go into the artistic detail of the area, both inside the room, and the "backdrop" surroundings that you can't get too but can still see.

I don't have any idea how to make networked/multiplayer games, and my artistic abilities in Unity are rather limited with my current understanding.. but I'm slowly trying to work towards such abilites.. lol :/

[gg67]

I think waiting for the dev kits and SDK to actually start development is a good idea. But for right now I think we can spend some time thinking about what we want our "chat rooms" to have, how customizable they are, what we can do in them, etc so we can have a good pool of ideas when we or somebody else decides to do this. I think a lot of ideas from the "Virtual Cinema" thread would apply to this as well.

To start:
1. How should the avatar system work? We probably want to make this as expandable as possible.
2. What kind of voice chat software should be used?
3. Activities besides talking?

I'm still a novice at Unity but am a competent programmer in general. I'd defiantly like to have some senior Unity developers leading the project though (if anybody is interested, hint hint).

I'm a little concerned about open source projects using either of the provided engines. What are the restrictions on OSS if we use Unity3D? What about the Unreal Engine? Will all contributors have to buy licenses? I haven't looked into it too much.

I tried looking into the Unity 4.0 licence restrictions or whatever and from what I can tell I think developing open source on the engine is fine (there are a number of open source games being worked on in Unity). However, to use the Rift SDK in Unity the pro version is needed. On it's own this costs $1500 which is a lot for normal developers like you or me, but there are a few ways to get it cheaper. If you are affiliated with any kind of educational institution (I'm currently a college student), there are different discounts you can get. http://grahamgaylor.com/2013/01/09/unit ... tudents-2/.
No idea about UDK. I haven't used it much, so I'm biased towards Unity at the moment.

Finally, please use github or at least git. I really really don't want to have to deal with SVN.

Agreed. Github FTW!

I don't have any idea how to make networked/multiplayer games, and my artistic abilities in Unity are rather limited with my current understanding.. but I'm slowly trying to work towards such abilites.. lol :/

I searched a ton online for some Unity Networking tutorials but could never find anything that great. I finally stumbled onto a great ebook written by a guy with a similar issue (couldn't find a good tutorial) so he learned it and wrote one himself!
http://grahamgaylor.com/2013/01/17/exce ... ing-ebook/

[spire8989]

However, to use the Rift SDK in Unity the pro version is needed. On it's own this costs $1500 which is a lot for normal developers like you or me, but there are a few ways to get it cheaper.

I'm almost positive that this isn't true. I highly doubt the Rift SDK will require the pro version. I could be wrong, but since Unity is being officially supported by Oculus, there are many ways for them to get Rift support on the free version.

[gg67]

However, to use the Rift SDK in Unity the pro version is needed. On it's own this costs $1500 which is a lot for normal developers like you or me, but there are a few ways to get it cheaper.

I'm almost positive that this isn't true. I highly doubt the Rift SDK will require the pro version. I could be wrong, but since Unity is being officially supported by Oculus, there are many ways for them to get Rift support on the free version.

I hope you're right. The reason I assumed otherwise is because in order to use any external library in Unity, the pro version is required. I ran into this issue when I used the LeapMotion in Unity. Hopefully they do make some sort of deal with Oculus...it'd make all our lives a little easier

[spire8989]

I hope you're right. The reason I assumed otherwise is because in order to use any external library in Unity, the pro version is required. I ran into this issue when I used the LeapMotion in Unity. Hopefully they do make some sort of deal with Oculus...it'd make all our lives a little easier

This is from the end of November, but it's probably still relevant:
http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/update-on- ... g-details/

From that:

We’re working closely with Epic and Unity on integrating support for the Oculus Rift in the free versions of their engines and will keep the community posted on the progress.

[zalo]

Odds are it won't be in there at first. May have to use the tricks developed for the leap on the oculus SDK. Or get a discounted educational version like I did.

Sad part is that the "in editor" preview will be difficult to work with until we have official support.

[gg67]

Odds are it won't be in there at first. May have to use the tricks developed for the leap on the oculus SDK. Or get a discounted educational version like I did.

Sad part is that the "in editor" preview will be difficult to work with until we have official support.

What were the tricks developed for the Leap?

[ChrisJD]

What were the tricks developed for the Leap?

The method for using c++ libraries in Unity free existed long before the Leap.

Unity Free doesn't support c++ libraries, but you can use C# libraries. All you have to do to use a c++ library in Unity Free is create a C# wrapper for the c++ library. Then you put the C# library in your assets and the c++ libraries in the root of your project.

[xef6]

For anyone interested in this, I recommend watching the Ghost in the Shell series. The series is packed full of VR depictions and more. The ninth episode of the first season (S01E09 GITS:SAC) is dedicated almost entirely to scenes of a VR chatroom. I think it's a thought provoking episode if nothing else. I've attached a screencap from the ep.

Here's a link to a clip from it: WARNING, SPOILERS (sorta?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poKi7YyuamI. It probably won't make any sense unless you've seen the show, but the pretty pictures speak for themselves. Also, english dub warning.

[EdZ]

CHAT! CHAT! CHAT! (Stand Alone Complex episode 9) is an excellent implementation of VR chat in a roundtable or forum (classical, not digital) style, and even if you are not an anime fan, I highly recommend watching it.

• A central debate area, where participants are voiced and the main discussion occurs
• The 'peanut gallery' of passive observers ('lurkers') who are unvoiced and may only be partially embodied (e.g. monitor & KB+M), but can come forward to join the active discussion
• Legacy text-based discussion accessible to all participants
• Floor participants can introduce multimedia assets to be viewed either collectively (e.g. as a 3D manipulable object in the 'chatroom' space) or duplicated individually (e.g. a video stream)

With gaze tracking, lower-face feature tracking, some method of measuring eyebrow position, and a Kinect or similar to provide skeletal data, a reasonable facsimile avatar can be generated with current technology.