A software application framework for developing immersive virtual reality experiences in health domain

Abstract

Producing immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences for health is time consuming and expensive. Software application frameworks that combine design patterns and components have shown to be a way to reduce development costs and improve quality. This paper introduces VR-Rides, an object-oriented application framework for creating VR experiences that combines exercise equipment and panorama images. The framework employs Unity as the engine to connect and handle communications between different components including multiple VR devices (HTC Vive and Oculus Rift), sensors and physical activity devices (e.g. exercise bike or a Fitbit sensor) effectively. Panorama images from Google street view which developers combine with game narratives are used to produce experiences. The framework reduces the time and effort of developing VR experiences such as exergames and cognitive assessment. Three VR experiences built with VR-Rides are described.