Let's look at the awesome things you can do in VR other than gaming in 2022.
I do this every year as VR technology advances rapidly, so we keep getting cool new or improved
things to do.
This time Unity sponsors the video.
As you may know, it's my weapon of choice when developing, so when they asked to partner
up, I was like, heck yea!
They want to show that Unity is more than just a game engine.
So when I mention an app that's made with it, I'll let you know using this tag in the
left corner.
Let's get started!
Join me beyond reality.
This is something I absolutely love doing; using VR to explore the wildest places on
earth.
How about hopping aboard the ISS where you can explore and experience life as an astronaut?
What about visiting Antarctica and Machu Picchu?
In this app, it’s beautifully recreated in an interactive experience, and this one
actually convinced me to visit the real-life Machu Picchu this year.
I can tell you; that it made the experience even more special as I knew more about it
while I was there.
If you don’t have a VR headset, head out to VR arcades or go to a museum where they
have VR experiences.
Like this one in Paris allows you to go to Ancient Egypt and explore one of the most
famous seven wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid.
These experiences are usually more immersive as there’s usually enough space to walk
freely in the VR worlds.
And honestly, even if you already have a VR headset, it’s still worth the trip because
you don’t get to try this at home.
Next is a magical thing you should try if you haven’t yet.
Recreate your real-life room in VR. 1-on-1.
This can be done with Custom Home Mapper that you can get via SideQuest.
It lets you quickly map out your room, including your furniture.
So if you have a couch, you can add a virtual couch to know where to sit in VR.
Then the magic is, of course, being able to spawn whatever you want.
You want a window that looks out to the universe?
Done.
You want 5 TVs instead of 1?
Done.
The app has so many cool features; you should definitely try it out.
Now, we all know VR can burn many calories as we play games but did you know VR can help
you get better at sports?
Rezzil is a company that focuses on this; they made a VR suite of virtual drills designed
to analyze, benchmark, educate, and improve any player.
They use a PC VR headset with eye-tracking and feet trackers, which can study things
like how fast a player makes decisions and how aware he is of the situation.
What’s cool is that in VR, the possibilities are endless, so one of the cool things the
developer told me was that it could be used to put the player back in a simulation of
an actual match.
So they could replay a real scenario to see what could be improved.
I mean, that’s just futuristic.
And it’s proven to work!
It’s already being used worldwide by top clubs like the soccer team Manchester United
and the NFL team, Atlanta Falcons.
Now, this is priced for professional teams, but if you want to give this a try, you can.
There’s a lightweight, cheaper Quest 2 version that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles
like feet tracking, so you get less data, but you can still use it to train things like
throwing and reaction time.
As VR technology advances, it’s only a matter of time before we get the whole package at
home so you can surprise your friends the next time they challenge you to a sports game.
Don’t forget to hit that thumbs up button for support, as a thank you, here’s a picture
of my kitty.
In VR, you can watch movies in a private theater with a giant screen, and your headsets got
full 3D functionality, too.
It’s awesome.
I’ve mentioned this one before, but I’m repeating this because technology has become
so much better.
Before, headsets didn’t have high resolutions, so even if you had this huge screen, you could
only watch low res movies.
It was watchable but sometimes blurry.
Now the next generation VR headsets are here, allowing us to watch 4K movies with better
screens, colors, and even comfort.
So invite your friends from all over the world and watch something together; I think it’s
one of the best things to do in VR.
While on the subject, you know you could meet movie stars in VR?
It doesn’t often happen yet, but the creator of Baba Yaga (Love that experience, by the
way, highly recommend).
They did a red carpet premiere of the experience in a custom-built AltSpace VR world.
The Baba Yaga stars Daisy Ridley (from, you know, Star Wars) and Jennifer Hudson (who
doesn’t know her) were there virtually, so you could meet them, chat or take photos
with them.
I imagine doing this in real life; there would be so many more screaming fans, so the chance
of having a bit of private time is much higher in VR.
Plus, it doesn’t matter where you are; if you have internet, you could join.
Unfortunately, I don’t know when more of these premieres are coming, but I definitely
think more premieres should be done like this.
VR can also help overcome fears.
Acrophobia, the Fear of Heights, is one of the most common phobias, followed by public
speaking, and VR has apps for both.
braVeR, an app available for free on App Lab, combines gaming and exposure therapy, backed
by science, to help you overcome the fear of heights or claustrophobia.
They created a unique world for each fear with a challenging yet quite enjoyable experience
that allows you to face your fears from the safety of your home.
If public speaking gives you anxiety, apps like Public Speaking Simulator or Fearless
VR put you in front of a crowd so you can practice and get used to it.
I’ve heard that just going into social VR apps like VRChat or AltSpace and speaking
to strangers there can also help.
The best thing about VR is that if you find it too much, you just take it off and try
again later.
And what’s this?
This is a dev who figured out how to use the Quest 2 as a measuring tape…
You can download it for free here.
Now, whether you have a business meeting, a school assignment, or a personal project.
VR now has excellent apps to collaborate with others on those undertakings.
There are free apps you could try, like Horizon Workrooms or Mozilla Hubs.
One of the benefits is you'll feel like you're close even though you're not in the same room.
And if you want something more powerful, you could also try ShapesXR.
This app allows you to 3D design and prototype together.
Sharing ideas with team members has never been easier because it's so easy to visualize
your thoughts when you can draw them with your hands in VR instead of using the keyboard
and mouse.
ShapesXR impressed me with how easy it was to use and that you get full creation functionalities
for free.
If you're more into architectural engineering, Arkio could be something for you.
It supports the right tools for that industry, and it's really, really powerful.
You can use it to design interiors, buildings, virtual spaces, or even game environments.
But the only limit is your imagination.
So you know what would be cool?
Presenting to teachers, clients, or stakeholders using VR next time?
Mr. Edgar Dale once helped us understand that we learn best through action – doing the
real thing or a simulation.
He said reading and lecturing are the least effective ways to learn; yet, most schools
teach very logically (sarcastic) reading and lecture.
VR could change everything as it goes here in the Cone of Experience.
And you can already try it, like learning a new language in VR, learning to code in
an easy-to-understand way, or how about learning to play the piano.
Now I wish there was a list with high-quality educational experiences with information that
you know is correct, but there is no such list yet.
However, I found Transfr who is making great strides with complete VR courses tailored
for schools and companies.
It puts you in hands-on simulations that teach real-world skills, it includes tests, which
are then available for instructor review.
It’s a paid app but then at least you can trust that the information should be correct.
Also, I tried it, and I never had so much fun learning about Auto Body Tools.
Unfortunately, you can't use it at home right now, which hopefully they'll allow us to do
because I would rather buy a course here than a boring textbook.
Now, if you want to sit back and relax to learn, watching 360 videos is also a ton of
fun.
You can check out the evocative stories section in the Quest store; I recommend "Traveling
While Black," or you could download the YouTube VR app and find 360 content there.
However, you may want to see more carefully selected content.
Then you could also take a look at Kai XR.
Their platform offers a large base of 360 videos built by educators and aimed at teaching
students.
They aim this at schools, libraries, and programs like summer camps, but households and small
groups could also subscribe to it.
I think this is great for parents who want to make sure their kids aren't going to see
any scary VR stuff.
Another fun thing to do is checking out VR events or exhibits.
The pandemic definitely accelerated this.
There are now many more VR shows you can visit from anywhere and anytime.
Like this beautiful exhibit in AltSpace VR about the global history of the
LGBTQIA+ Pride movement, which is free to visit.
You can also visit NFT art galleries and many physical VR events now have a virtual version,
like the Tokyo Game Show.
If you're looking for something to do, most social VR apps like AltSpace, VRChat, or Rec
Room have an event calendar that you can check out to find something.
On these calendars, you might also find clubbing in VR.
I wanted to mention this separately as there’s a big underground dance scene in VRChat, complete
with clubs, scheduled events, and live performances.
It’s an incredible experience as you can let loose as whoever you want to be by creating
your avatar; plus, no lines if you want to pee, and it’s usually free.
So how do you find a VR club event?
Usually, when you find a VR club, you just go on their Discord and look for the event
calendar.
So if you want to dance the night away in the comfort of your house, go try this out.
Now, if you do all these things, you'll gain some amazing experiences.
Memories you never want to forget.
VR is also a great tool to preserve these memories.
It's like a diary 3.0.
What I like to do is to use a 360 camera to capture special places.
Later, you can load this up in your VR headset and re-experience that memory or show your
friends or future kids what you've been up to in a unique way.
Now if you have an emotional attachment to an object, there’s a way to do the same
thing.
You could use 3D scanning apps or photogrammetry to scan these objects and then load them up
in compatible VR apps to never forget about them.
Imagine scanning the house you grew up in, so you can re-visit it anytime.
I visited a Dutch company that does this professionally.
They do it on another level and even scan whole monuments to preserve them digitally
at a very high quality.
I wanted to mention them because I think it’s so cool as these kinds of things will probably
keep our history alive, even hundreds of years from now.
Yep, this unmanned AI robot utilizes VR to provide cleaning services for commercial buildings.
It's created by Somatic, a New York-based startup, and it costs about one-thousand dollars
a month, but man, I thought this is smart.
But this is actually a great bridge to the last awesome thing.
Working in VR isn’t something from the future anymore; it’s here and pretty incredible.
Companies now see the benefit of using VR to collaborate.
This goes as far as allowing some organizations to offer fully remote jobs, which is beneficial
because you can hire people from around the world.
For example, Volvo is pioneering this in the car industry with Unity and VR headset maker
Varjo.
Basically, they’ve combined forces to make a digital twin of their entire car factory,
Volvo’s own metaverse.
Before this, their teams used many different tools, making it nearly impossible to bring
these mountains of data together.
Unity & VR became the glue between these modules.
And since Varjo’s headsets are one of the highest resolutions, designers and engineers
can now show each other exactly what they envision in VR with an interactive 3D model.
This all resulted in improved collaboration and faster design iteration, which speeds
up the development process while costing less.
Volvo uses VR at every stage; they even use Varjo’s mixed reality capabilities to simulate
dangerous traffic conditions to test safety mechanisms.
It’s innovative AF.
Now, imagine working together in the metaverse from start to finish, and you never even have
to meet in person.
If you're looking for a job right now, I'd definitely check out companies that use VR
like this.
A tip for finding these metaverse companies is to check out who uses Unity's Digital Twin
solutions.
Using it, you can make virtual copies of anything physical, like a product, a system, an environment,
or whatever you can think of.
It's like making your own metaverse.
And then, just like with Volvo, it can improve productivity while reducing costs.
Check out what it's currently being used for with the link below.
That’s it for today!
Are you going to try out anything from this list, or did I miss something that you think
I should include next time?
Let me know in the comments!
Thanks again to Unity for supporting the channel by sponsoring today’s video.
Now, if you want to build software like what you saw today, check out Unity Pro.
Click on the link below.
And thank you so much for being here!
As always, wo qian ni in the Matrix.