Virtual Reality devices tested

Hardware	Status	Comments
HTC Vive	experimental	Displacing and zooming molecules works. An intial experimentation room was generated and serves as context with teleport possibility. Relevant UnityMol functionality has to be made available through the controlers. Aim to improve performance. GUI, HCI etc. to improve. Active collaboration with Nick Cramer
Oculus Rift	experimental	Visualization works fine, interaction needs to be implemented. An early prototype using the Xbox One controler is under development. LeapMotion/Orion is supported. Aim to improve performance. GUI, HCI etc. to improve
Microsoft Hololens	planned	We will probably experiment with this device before the end of the year
3D Display wall	planned	We will experiment with this as soon as our new wall is implemented
Samsung Gear VR	planned	We will probably experiment with this device end of 2016/early 2017

Making a Virtual Reality build of UnityMol

Building for the Oculus Rift

Todo:: Complete section about building for the Oculus Rift.

Building for the HTC Vive

Todo:: Complete section about building for the HTC Vive.

General questions

Here we discuss some items that are important if users are going to work with a HMD for an extended period of time. For instance user comfort and interactivity are important considerations directly affected by the means chosen to interact and the type of menu system that is implemented.

What type of menu system to use?

Implementing a menu system within a HMD context is a tricky issue.

Should the interface be diegetic or not?
Diegetic menus can seem inappropriate if poorly implemented and may be hard to understand from a user perspective.
Maybe users of Unity Mol who are using the application for molecular visualization and not primarily the overall VR experience would favor non-diegetic menus, despite the fact that discovery is best done in an immersed setting.
One should avoid menu objects that may become drowned out by other objects behind them of nearly the same color.
Be wary if you want the menu to be partially transparent as it can definitely cause some eye strain.

Looking at other software, Google tiltbrush's menu system implementation on the Vive controllers is quite interesting.

Floating clickable 3D menus for LeapMotion are implemented in the Molecular Rift project.

Pie-like menus that open at the current location in the 3D scene are another option. They can work with several devices.