Abstract

In recent years, the rapid evolution of Virtual Reality (VR) technology has transformed how we perceive and interact with digital environments. The power of VR lies not just in its ability to transport users to different worlds but in its potential to replicate the complexities of our physical world with exceptional fidelity. As the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds blur, the demand for photorealistic VR experiences grows. This work aims to address a significant challenge in the VR domain: achieving a harmonious mix of object realism and real-time rendering performance. By focusing on the representation of plants, an integral element of our surroundings, this thesis explores the Unstructured Lumigraph Rendering (ULR) technique using the COLIBRI VR package for the Unity game engine. We developed a VR app that allows users to view renderings they uploaded to a web server, and in doing so, encountered various challenges and limitations of COLIBRI VR. The resulting modifications to the COLIBRI VR package and our developed components are discussed in detail. Furthermore, we interviewed Dr. William Raffe, the Associate Professor for Emerging Technologies at Deakin University. He shares his insights into the field of serious games and interactive media, with a particular focus on the role of photorealistic renderings. A clean verbatim transcript of the interview is included in the thesis.

Results/Implementation/Project Description

Conclusion

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