Creating a virtual reality application requires the use of a 3D engine. Most 3D engine don't support virtual reality hardware or have the special features needed to render images for head-mounted displays, stereoscopic walls or CAVEs. MiddleVR is a generic VR toolbox with the following goals: - add support for VR in 3D engines - speed-up the application creation process with high-level building blocks such as interactions (navigations, selection of objects, manipulation), immersive menus and custom GUIs.

EVE (Exercise in Virtual Environments) is an operational VR system designed for space, polar and submarine crews. This system allows crewmembers - living and working in artificial habitats- to explore immersive natural landscapes during their daily physical exercise, and experience presence in a variety of alternate environments. Using recent hardware and software, this innovative psychological counter-measure aims at reducing the adverse effects of confinement and monotony in long duration missions, while maintaining motivation for physical exercise. Initial testing with a proof-of-concept prototype was conducted near the South magnetic pole, as well as in transient microgravity.

This tutorial will provide an introduction to Unity (http://www.unity3D.com) and several VR components that are designed to work with Unity. These VR components can be used in isolation or pieced together to provide fully immersive VR experiences. Unity is a feature rich multi-platform game engine for the creation of interactive 3D content. It includes an intuitive interface while at the same time allowing low-level access for developers. Thousands of assets provided by other content creators can be reused to quickly develop immersive experiences. Because of its intuitive interface, well designed architecture, and ability to easily reuse assets, 3D software can be developed in a fraction of time compared to traditional development. Consumer-level virtual-reality hardware combined with Unity have recently empowered hobbyists, professionals, and academics to quickly create virtual reality applications. Because of Unity's widespread use and ease of use, several virtual reality companies now fully support Unity. During this tutorial, participants will learn how to quickly build virtual reality applications from some of the leaders of Unity virtual reality development. Attendees will gain an understanding of how to use multiple VR components with Unity and will have enough knowledge to start building VR applications using Unity by the end of the tutorial.