Project Overview

I built a Meta Quest 2 VR viewer in Unity to explore 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) reconstructions. The app focuses on natural, comfortable viewing in-headset while balancing fidelity and performance on mobile VR.

Experience & Features

• Map-style Home: Start from a campus map; select scenes via controller trigger.
• Quick Return: A “Main Page” button follows the user near the lower-right of view for easy back navigation.
• Info Panels: Each 3DGS scene includes an info panel with background and highlights.
• Free Roam: Natural walking and head-look. For smaller scenes, flying is intentionally omitted to maintain comfort.
• In Plan: Skybox switching (e.g., starry/daytime) and a linear guided tour mode (parallel to the map mode).

Technical Notes

• 3DGS Import: Collected data, reconstructed scenes, and imported 3DGS into Unity.
• VR UI & Interaction: Controller-trigger interactions; refined layout for the home panel and the follow-along return button to reduce “where is the button?” moments.
• Quest 2 Performance: Reduced splat counts for heavy models (e.g., sculptures), tuned UI readability and layout, and pursued a quality–framerate balance.

Progress

• Completed: Unity environment setup and required plugins; 3DGS file import; VR nav prototype; reconstructions for the central square and several key buildings; MVP demo and peer feedback.
• Current Content: Around 8 scenes (sculptures and buildings) accessible from the home map for free exploration.
• Known Challenge: Native 3DGS rendering on Quest 2 pushes performance; mitigations include model simplification and UI/interaction optimizations. Continued exploration of better render/load strategies.

My Role

• End-to-End: Interaction flow, scene organization, UI and info panels.
• 3DGS Pipeline: Data collection, reconstruction, import, and precise placement/scale tuning.
• Performance & UX: Model simplification, UI polish, readability and accessibility adjustments.
• Build & Delivery: Quest 2 APK builds and live demos.

Next

• Expand 3DGS scene coverage and enrich info panels.
• Add skybox switching and a linear guided tour mode.
• Keep optimizing performance without sacrificing visual quality.

References

• graphdeco-inria/gaussian-splatting: https://github.com/graphdeco-inria/gaussian-splatting
• aras-p/UnityGaussianSplatting: https://github.com/aras-p/UnityGaussianSplatting