Unity - Infrastructure for VR development

Background: There was a time when stories were told by story tellers to small audiences. They could have been interrupted, with questions asked by the audience, to provide a better understanding to the listeners. However, they were primarily linear experiences. Books are often better than story tellers, even though they are linear. Readers do not have the ability to ask the author for more details. However, books provide the reader the ability to read at their cadence of understanding and imagination. They do rely on the imagination of the reader to make the story come to life. For this reason, it is "not easy" to learn most things from a book without an instructor. It also explains why I am struggling to explain this. A hyperlinked book or the web is often better as it can take the reader into more detail about the topic. Silent movies made a significant change to story telling, by reducing the reliance on human imagination and displaying a view that is closer to reality. The technology did this, by tricking the mind into seeing motion by the quick replacement of images [30 times a second]. Movies, made it possible to see the world "in motion". "Talkies", or movies with sound expanded our ability to believe. They are often real enough to appeal to our emotions [sadness, fear, funny]. Books, story tellers, preachers etc. can do the same, but only the really good ones. They also require more time to engage our belief. Rides in amusement parks, make us believe as well. In a 3 minute ride one can be convinced more quickly than a one hour movie. Rides can excite, scare, thrill etc. They appeal to more of our senses. Movies are typically limited to visual and audio. Rides can often include motion [perception of speed], smell and sometimes touch [often with temperature and humidity]. As more of our senses are engaged our brains tend to accept the environment being closer to reality. Standing close to the edge of the platform, as a train moves by, can lead to the perception of the train standing still and the observer moving. The sight, sound and vibration from the train confuses the brain. All this tricks the brain into believing. VR adds another dimension to this. It provides the user the ability to drive the interaction with the reality. This enhances their sense of presence. Pilots practicing in a flight simulator often believe they are flying a real airplane. Their actions, produce a reaction. The simulator tilts when they move the joy stick. The altimeter changes etc. We remember actual experiences better than those that have been relayed to us. Our first step with VR is to provide users with a sense of presence in the VR space. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project description: Objectives: Provide users with a "real" and "immersive" experience in VR. Use VR experiences to provide training on patient interactions and patient care. Step 1:Locate the following assets as open source or purchase Desks Chairs Ball Realistic avatars to represent different people - Sick adult [this might be difficult - Normal Adult - Young child - Older child Step 2: If assets are unavailable, develop them Step 3: Develop Interaction of person recognizing avatar of themselves in the mirror [Mirror image responds to their motion]. This is to provide a sense of presence to the user. When they move, their image moves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Step 4: Develop experience to demonstrate the progression on a disease.