Today we had Ronan who reviewed the details of VR and prototyping in VR. We went through the different plugins that we can use in Figma prototyping. In prototyping, we have to look at the ui and the environment in the space we interact in. We have to consider if it is for your phone, headset, glasses or browser, but we also have to consider the visual setting from HDRIs, skyboxes, 360 and panoramic.

Platforms for designing

• Spline
• draft XR
• Protopie
• Shapes XR
• Layer beam
• Unity

Designing for VR, AR, and MR

https://designlab.com/blog/ux-design-for-emerging-technologies-ar-vr-mr

Augmented reality

Augmented reality enhances the user's environment without replacing it, and the content design is key to designing. Designers will have to understand the user's physical environment and enhance this with digital information

• sky view which allows users to point their mobile devices at the sky and this will identify the stars and the constellations, which enhances learning by giving information on the sky's current state.
• Google Maps uses AR to overlay the walking directions on the real world, which improves navigation by showing an arrow directly on the smartphone.
• IKEA Place will allow users to visualise the furniture in their own space before they buy it, they can do this with multiple terms, helping with decision making. I did this when I was buying a desk from Ikea. I found it very helpful and made me buy the desk.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality immerses users in a completely digital environment and steps away from the physical world. An example of this is the Apple Vision Pro, which also has AR in them too. Designing can cause many challenges, as it is hard to make an immersive and navigable experience, but since the designers have full control over the digital environment, designers will have complete freedom for this complex world, but they will have to ensure accessibility of the VR.

• OSSO VR is a surgical training device that allows healthcare professionals in a safe environment to practice different procedures, allowing them to refine their techniques. These will need to feel natural and intuitive, which can be very hard to design.

Mixed Reality

This combines the idea of AR and VR, which allows the digital and physical objects to coexist, and they can interact in real time. Their method creates more opportunities for more complex interactions. mr will require designers to blend physical nd digital worlds in a way that feels natural. The design challenge is overwhelming the user with both AR and VR