Unreal Engine 5: Augmented and Virtual Reality

Name: Unreal Engine 5: Augmented and Virtual Reality
Author: Ken Geary

Exploring Augmented and Virtual Reality app creation

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Course: On-Demand

Hello. Welcome to this lesson in Unreal Engine. In this lesson, we will set up Android Studio so we can create a mobile app in Unreal Engine. You should have already set up .NET 3.1 and Visual Studio with options from a previous chapter. In order to develop for Android mobile devices, as well as Android based VR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 2, you need to install some packages outside of Unreal Engine. You'll need to install .NET 5. Open a web browser, search your web browser, type in download .NET 5, click the .NET.microsoft.com link, and click the Windows x64 under the Installers panel. Once downloaded, click open File, Install. Once complete, click Close. Next, we wanna search for Java. We need to download Java. Go to oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads. Scroll down. Click the Windows tab. Choose the x64 installer. Stay on this page. While it's downloading, scroll down to JRE 8. Click the word JRE 8. Click the Windows tab. Select the x64 installer. You may get a popup window. Log into the account. You can create a free account, then log in. Now minimize your web browser. Open the Downloads folder. Install JDK 18. Then install JRE 8. Back to your web browser. We next need to install Android Studio with Options. In the browser window, type in developer.android.com/studio/archive. Scroll down. Click to agree to the terms. And scroll down 'til you see Android Studio 4.0.2. Select it, and under Installers, choose the Windows IDE only, 64 bit. Open Android Studio Installer. Minimize your web browser. Follow the prompts. Make sure Android Virtual Device is also checked on. Click Next. Next, install Next, click Next. Click Finish. It'll automatically start Android Studio. We're gonna skip the update. Click the X. Click Next. Click Next. You pick any theme you want, and click Finish. You'll then see the Android Studio start screen. Wanna click the configure menu, next to the gear icon and select SDK manager. It's very important to select the following: Android API 32, Android 10, Android 10.0+. Clicked Okay. Then Accept, then click Next. And you go back to configuration screen. Tab to SDK tools. Check on the following: We want Android SDK command line tools. Click Apply and click Finish. Go back to configure SDK Manager. Click Show Package Details. Under SDK tools, check on 28.0.3, Uncheck any others that may be checked on, only 28.0.3 should be checked. Also, scroll down to the NDK. 21.163 should be checked only. Any others should be unchecked. Then click Apply and Finish. Now you can close Android Studio. Next, go to Windows Explorer, and under options select View Tab. You wanna show hidden files, folders, and drives. Click Apply, and Okay. The path to the Android SDK folder is your C Drive, Users Your Username, App Data. That's the hidden folder, Local, Android, SDK. Make a note of this path. You'll need to enter this into the Unreal Engine preferences. Open Unreal Engine. Click the Games category. This time we'll select the Top Down Template. But Target Platform, this time, we're gonna select Mobile. And for quality preset, Scalable. Uncheck Starter Content. Browse to your Project folder, and we're gonna name this project AR. Click Create. Next thing, we'll go to Project Settings. Scroll down in the left column to Platforms, select Android. In the right column, scroll down 'til you see a red bar. Click Configure Now. Now scroll down some more. You'll see another red bar. Click Configure Now. Scroll back all the way up. Name your Package. So in place of Your Company, add the name you want. For now I'll just put My App. Leave com dot there and leave Project and Brackets. It'll just add the project name to it. But a minimum SDK, we want to change this to 28, and Target SDK should also be 28. Check on Package Game Data inside APK. And left panel, select Android SDK. Here we need to add our paths to Android tools that we installed earlier. The location of Android SDK, click the three dots. Browse to your path. That's Users, Your Username, App Data, Local, Android, SDK. Select that folder. For the Android NDK path, click the three dots. It's ready to be in the SDK folder. Inside of that should be NDK. Very important: Select NDK and select the number. In this case, it's 21.1. That's very important you select that. Select Folder. The last part is the location of the Java. Click the three dots, Program Files, Android, Android Studio, JRE. And click Select Folder. For the SDK API level, leave it at Latest. NDK, leave it Android 21. And close the panel. We'll save our current level as... We'll make a Maps Folder. We'll name this level AR Mobile. Making sure everything works, played the level. At the top down, the player will run to the spot that you click on. Press Escape to stop. In the next lesson, we're gonna learn how to build an augmented reality app in Unreal Engine. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Ken Geary 2 Lessons · 15m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In these lessons, you will learn about Augmented (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in Unreal Engine.

You will learn where to download Android Studio and install the various components needed to create mobile applications for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR, also known as Mixed Reality). We’ll go over how to create the framework for a basic AR app using Blueprints to establish the AR camera and flat area detection. You’ll also learn how to enable Data Assets to work with the AR session configuration, and how to use the VR template to cover all the actions used in a virtual reality environment, such as object grabbing and dropping, teleporting using a NavMeshVolume and trigger controls.

What You'll Learn

Install Android Studio and the optional packages needed to build AR/VR mobile applications in Unreal Engine
Add Blueprints to a mobile template to create a basic Augmented Reality app
Build the framework for an AR app by establishing the AR camera and flat area detection
Enable Data Assets to work with the AR session configuration
Use the VR template to handle virtual reality actions such as grabbing and dropping objects
Set up teleporting in VR using a NavMeshVolume and trigger controls

Key Takeaways

The course covers both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in Unreal Engine, together known as Mixed Reality.
Building AR mobile applications requires downloading and installing Android Studio along with various components.
A basic AR app framework is created with Blueprints to set up the AR camera and flat area detection.
Data Assets are enabled to work with the AR session configuration.
The VR template covers virtual reality actions including object grabbing and dropping, teleporting with a NavMeshVolume, and trigger controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course teach?

It teaches Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) development in Unreal Engine, including installing Android Studio, creating a basic AR app framework with Blueprints, enabling Data Assets for the AR session configuration, and using the VR template for actions like object grabbing, dropping, and teleporting.

What lessons are included?

The course includes two lessons: Mixed Reality Development and Building Augmented Reality.

What skills will I gain from this course?

You will gain skills in Augmented Reality, Unreal Development Kit, Unreal Engine, Virtual Environment, Virtual Reality, and Virtual Reality Modeling Language.

What software do I need to install for the AR/VR work?

The course shows where to download Android Studio and how to install the various components and optional packages needed to create mobile applications for Augmented and Virtual Reality.

How is teleporting handled in the VR portion?

Teleporting in the virtual reality environment is done using a NavMeshVolume and trigger controls, covered through the VR template.