A career in VR/AR development requires a broad range of skills, including 3D programming, Unity and Unreal Engine, C# and visual scripting. Many developers work in teams, leveraging digital communication and project management tools to facilitate collaboration. Some work remotely, but innovation hubs and tech clusters often attract AR/VR developers due to networking opportunities and access to talent pools.
Primitive virtual reality systems began in the 1950s and 1960s, but they didn’t gain momentum until video gaming and movies like Tron, The Matrix and Minority Report portrayed futuristic ideas of immersive environments. As technology improves, augmented reality and virtual reality are becoming more mainstream with practical applications in fields such as medicine and transportation.
For example, VR surgeons perform their surgeries in a simulated environment with robotic systems that do the actual work, while repair technicians don a headset that guides them through the steps of fixing or maintaining equipment by diagramming exactly where each part goes and the order in which they need to be placed. Professional sports organizations use augmented reality to improve physical training for athletes.
There are two potent platforms leading the VR/AR development world: Unity and Unreal Engine. Unity’s user-friendly interface and less complex C# language make it more accessible for novices, while Unreal offers advanced hardware control and superior graphics capabilities. In addition, visual scripting tools like Blueprint allow non-coders to create and modify sophisticated mechanics in VR games. And audio engines like FMOD and Wwise envelop users in a symphony of 3D auditory experiences that can range from subtle ambient noises to dramatic thematic scores.