Top 10 best tools for VR

tools for VR

Determining which VR SDK (Software Development Kit) or tool to use when creating a VR-based solution depends entirely on whether you want to develop mobile apps or games, token-based apps, location-based apps, etc. Unknowingly, you may invest in the right tool incorrectly, which may not produce the desired results. To make things easier, we’ve compiled a list of the best tools for VR app development for you.

Unity 3D

Unity 3D is not only a cross-platform computer game development environment, but also a VR application development tool that is designed for professionals and beginners alike. Even so, beginners can easily and efficiently start creating the highest quality VR apps and games, as Unity offers a huge store of resources for finding 2D, 3D, SDKs and templates to directly import into the development environment. Developers will be able to find the right characters in the Unity Assets to save time and effort. And Unity has a large community where developers can help each other with problems, which in turn gives you a chance to improve the quality of your games and speed up the development process.

Here are a few of the features in Unity development:

  • Creating high-quality, interactive, real-time applications
  • Creating realistic 3D images and videos for VR in real time
  • Designing and re-engineering cars in VR Developing interactive 3D environments for architecture
  • Developing virtual showrooms and data visualization

Supported platforms:

  • Helmet display devices: Oculus Quest, Oculus GO, Oculus Rift, Steam VR/Vive, Play Station VR, Gear VR, Microsoft HoloLens and almost all VR headsets
  • Mobile platforms: Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Window
  • Paid version supports Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation.

Unreal Engine 4

Unreal Engine 4 is considered one of the most famous development areas among professionals to create games with excellent graphics. Realistic textures, smooth animations, improved lighting, a cinematic system and a state-of-the-art editing environment give developers the ability to create top-notch games. The engine comes with a huge set of assets including animations, plugins, blueprints, props and documentation to help you develop games.

Unreal Engine 4 offers:

  • Advanced cinematography, post-processing, and PBR capabilities
  • Fast startup and iterations
  • Frequent software and hardware updates

Supported platforms:

  • Various HMDs such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, Google VR, Leap Motion, etc.
  • Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, AR, VR, Linux, HTML5, etc.

Blender

Written in Python, Blender is state-of-the-art open-source 3D graphics software. Blender has a large developer community and offers workshops, tutorials, and add-ons such as CAVE/VideoWall, HMD and external rendering mechanisms for 3D modeling and interactive game development.

Features include:

  • Ultra-realistic rendering with Cycles Render Engine VFX, animation and story-art
  • Real time preview
  • HDR lighting support
  • VR rendering support

Amazon Lumberyard

Amazon Lumberyard is a cross-platform VR game creation tool that speeds up the development process and guarantees good quality games. You can create a template and apply it to develop new games. It is one of the few tools that have support for all VR devices without having to edit the engine code. By allowing developers to connect their games to the AWS cloud, it also allows them to interact with their fans on Twitch.

Amazon Lumberyard is supported on the following platforms:

  • HMD major.
  • PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android (Nexus 5 and equivalents with OpenGL 3.0+ support).
  • Multiple servers on Windows and Linux

CryEngine

CryEngine is a quality VR SDK that has built-in 3D rendering optimization tools. It minimizes downtime of animated object rendering processes and guarantees simpler execution of business logic and new particle system that enables real-time mapping of graphics processor load.

CryEngine supports the following features:

  • Powerful 3D modeling, scripting, sounds, animation, and more
  • Built-in 3D rendering optimization tools
  • Advanced volumetric cloud system
  • Support for FMOD Studio and DirectX 12

AppGameKit

AppGameKit is considered an effective and simple VR SDK. With a simple game idea, you can not only quickly create it, but also gain enough experience to take the next step to create more complex projects. The engine guarantees development control of supported SteamVR HMDs, touch devices and Leap Motion hand tracking.

  • 60 VR commands.
  • Comes with AGK BASIC scripting system
  • 3D scene rendering in HMD

Supported platforms include Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android including Google, Amazon & Ouya, HTML5, Raspberry Pi.

Oculus Medium 2.0.

Oculus Medium gives you the ability to create, model and draw objects for developing applications in the VR world, which ultimately helps in the character creation process. Oculus Medium 2.0 employs Vulkan, a rendering engine that guarantees smoother frames, high-resolution sculpts and better memory management.

Its comprehensive features include the following:

  • Grid Snapping.
  • Increased layer count limit
  • Multiple dynamic light sources
tools for VR

Google SketchUp

Google SketchUp is an application for beginners that allows you to create simple 3D models for various fields such as architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, engineering, and film and video game design. The program contains basic 3D modeling concepts with which developers can create games faster and also guarantee a great learning experience. SketchUp is endowed with features such as interoperability, extensibility, a large number of components, customization, report generation and link building.

Supported platforms Windows 7 and later, OS X 10.9 and later.

JanusVR

Classic in nature, JanusVR is used to view 3D versions of websites. There are many similarities between creating a virtual environment and creating a web browser. Consequently, Janus is more like a browser than a VR application development tool. Janus has an HTML-like syntax, so you can apply normal web sites, 2D and 3D environments, etc. during development. Supported platform is Windows 7 or newer.

  • Works on code with HTML-like syntax
  • Built-in multi-user support
  • Low threshold of entry

React 360

React 360 is a VR SDK also used to create 3D and 2D interfaces for photo and video viewing, 360° tours, adventure games, 3D desktop games, etc. Because it’s designed to work in a web browser, among other things, React 360 has the potential to reach billions of users on mobile devices and computers. The React library is specifically designed to simplify the process of creating complex user interfaces.

Key features of React 360:

  • Quality UI.
  • Rich multimedia experience
  • 2D and 3D UI creation

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