Virtual reality content creator : a generic content creation and placement tool for simulations and storytelling in unity 3D

In the recent years, applications in the area of virtual reality have become very popular. This is due to the fact that researchers are developing ever more efficient hardware and 3D-glasses. We assume that this trend will keep up for the next years. Likewise there is a trend for the research of virtual simulations at Universities. Therefore it has become necessary to develop a tool, which can be used to efficently create virtual reality simulations. The system described in this work was created in the developement environment Unity3D. Besides a system which can handle the creation of a smooth path in a threedimensional space, a method is being introduced to fill gameobjects with multimedia-based content and to place them on the path in such a way that a bypassing user can perceive all the information without having to concentrate on more than one object at a time. Additionally the gameobjects can be equipped with different types of behaviour required by the current simulation. This system has been under developement for several months and was regularly tested and improved in an existing simulation in which users can perform a virtual parachute jump. Finally, the system was introduced to developers who were familiar with Unity3D. It was tested, how well the developers could handle the system and if it was intuitive. The results showed that the developers were able to create a new simulation in an existing environment in a short amount of time. The system allows developers to easily create a variety of simulations in which the user follows a predefined path while perceiving information.