VR Interaction Framework
PRICE £60/$75 | DEVELOPER Bearded Ninja Games | WEBSITE www.beardedninjagames.com/vr-framework
The VR Interaction Framework (VRIF) doesn’t have the most interesting name, but perhaps the fact that it’s developed by Bearded Ninja Games makes up for it. This framework plugin gives users everything needed to create their own interactive virtual reality (VR) experiences.
Through the VRIF toolkit, it’s possible to carry out an extensive range of tasks, with each one driven by prefabs and modular components. Among the range of common capabilities included is physical grabbing, throwing objects, pressing buttons and moving sliders. Physically activating objects is a significant part of what’s made possible through the tools available.
Support is provided for all types of hand interactions, including custom VR hand models and textures, custom hand pose support, and a fullyfeatured hand posing plugin with Auto Posing functionality and 40+ example hand poses.
Another key part of a lot of games is being able to handle and fire weapons. This is all supported by VRIF as well, including two-handed weapons. Gun functions can be carried out, including inserting and removing ammo magazines. Alongside guns, I was pleasantly surprised to see bow and arrow physics that make it possible to pick arrows up and reshoot them.
One of the super helpful features is the VR emulator, which makes it possible to test your project without having to put your headset on. Anyone who has developed VR content will know how frustrating it is to have to repeatedly take a headset on and off.
There are, of course, a wide variety of different VR headsets available on the market right now, and it can be confusing to get your head around creating content for them. Thankfully, this plugin is fully compatible with all the major headsets, including the Oculus Quest, Meta Quest 2, Rift S, HTC VIVE, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality (WMR), and the PICO range. This is all made possible thanks to full support for the Unity Input System, Xrinput, and Openxr.
VRIF benefits from a lot of support in the form of extensive documentation, plus a keen online community that’s always ready and willing to help. Grasping new plugins like this often requires a steep learning curve, so it’s great to know there are people out there who will walk alongside you and help to guide you through the unknown.
VR is becoming increasingly popular, with a number of games now available for the platform. Public gaming arenas are also starting to grow in appeal, which makes it a good time to learn some of the basics of VR.