Content Creation Solutions for AR/VR

In spite of this, what really the entry bar to creating content and experiences for both AR and VR remains reasonably high. This is because developing for AR and VR is often mired with hurdles that involve knowledge of multiple hardware and software systems. Additionally there is an interdisciplinary potpourri of algorithms and design principles that can affect how the experience plays out for various categories of users.

Hence the need for developing content creation solutions that allow teams to create content suitable for producing AR/VR experiences for specific purposes.

This project call is a step in the direction of implementing such solutions

Target Areas

The content creation solutions can target any one or more of these areas:

1. Storytelling and Narrative Design
2. 3D Object Design
3. 3D Animation Design
4. Engineering Training Simulators
5. Medical Training Simulators
6. Procedural Training Simulators

Desired Qualities of the Content Creation Solution

1. The proposed content creation solution can be layered over existing open access 3D/2D content creation tools and should provide functionality above and beyond the existing tools.
2. It should be clearly explained as to how the proposed solution enables easy content creation beyond what can already be produced using existing tools.
3. The content creation solutions should aim to produce a class of fully working and complete AR/VR experiences wherever possible, instead of individual and standalone 3D models or videos.

For example, a solution to enable 3D object design can aim to produce a solution for easily creating complex 3D CAD models that can be taken apart virtually and shown in various phases of assembly or disassembly. The solution can then link to analysis software that allows various kinds of design and engineering analysis to be run on the generated model. A solution that only creates a standalone, monolithic 3D model will not be considered to be a good proposal as the same can be achieved using existing open access tools already.

 

Abstract Design Concept of a Content Creation Solution



 

The abstract design of the platform can be seen in the figure. The various components are detailed below.

 

1. Core Content Creation Layer: This is the core content creation layer that will enable easy and accessible content creation for the desired class of AR/VR experiences. It will be layered over and communicate with existing open access tools and libraries as required (like Blender, OpenCV or Unity). It can optionally link to proprietary or closed tools as well, but it cannot solely work with such tools. It must work with equivalent open source tools, wherever applicable. The core layer also needs to communicate with VR/AR Hardware, which it can achieve via SDKs available for this purpose like OpenXR or Microsoft MR Toolkit, as appropriate. This layer must manage all the data and user interaction inputs required for creating the content of the end AR/VR experience and render the final experience to the display.

2. Content Authoring Interface: This interface should enable the design of the UI/UX of the AR/VR experience and use the content creation layer to display and interact with content. Of course, the user will need the ability to load and save experiences in progress as they are being designed, in addition to other features. This can be a visual authoring interface that enables drag and drop design of the final experience. The authoring interface itself can be within an VR/AR environment, to enable in situ creation of the end experience.

3. Asset Management Layer: The asset management layer is responsible for efficient management of all assets that the final experiences can use. These may be content assets created using the Creation/Authoring layers or they may be imported assets. This layer should enable the sharing of assets, naming and retrieval using a consistent grammar and vocabulary. The kinds of assets that the layer is designed to handle can depend on the areas targeted by the content creation solutions.

4. VR/AR Experience: This is the final class of AR/VR experiences that can be created using the core layer and the interface developed above. The proposal must aim to deliver at least two example implementations of AR/VR experiences from the chosen target area.

The abstract design should be fleshed out in the project proposal with details about implementation language, detailed features, hardware and OS requirements, testing methods, usability guarantees, etc.

 

Project Call Details

The project requires a major development effort from entities who have the technical competence and experience in executing such software platforms. Here are details of an open call for proposals to implement content management solutions:

 

Who can submit a proposal under the call?

1. Proposals can be submitted by principal investigators and (co-PIs) from
   • a. Indian industry (big industry or startups) with experience in developing core AR/VR technology stacks.
   • b. Indian academia with experience in research and development in the field of AR/VR.
2. All PI and Co-PI details have to be present in the proposal at the time of submission, and the choice of each partner in the project must be justified by their experience and the work that they propose to undertake in the project.

 

Project specifics and deliverables

1. The proposal must include a detailed work division and plan, including final integration and delivery.
2. It must also have detailed budget estimates for the entire duration of the project.
3. The proposal must also include a preliminary design of the design platform with details about the implementation language, detailed features, hardware and OS requirements, testing methods, usability guarantees, etc.
4. The project must aim to deliver a robust, and efficient working implementation of the various layers in the entire solution, and at least two complete AR/VR experiences designed using the content creation solution.
5. The implementation can target a desktop or a mobile platform.
6. All the software created during the project must be well documented as per community standards, unit tested and maintained using versioning tools like Git.

 

Project Budget and Duration

1. The proposal must contain a detailed description of the budget required for the overall project, and its division by partner and budget head.
2. The project will be awarded for a maximum total duration of two years, with regular monitoring as outlined below.

 

Project Monitoring

1. A project advisory and monitoring sub-committee will be formed from the TIH AR/VR vertical core committee. They will review the submitted proposals, and monitor the project once it is awarded.
2. The project will be subject to regular review by this committee every six months. The budget of the project will not be released for the subsequent half-year, if the project fails to meet the milestones and deliverables of the current half-year.
3. There will be an explicit testing mechanism for each layer and component of the content creation solution that will be notified later by the monitoring committee, which the project deliverables will have to satisfy.

 

Project Submission

Deadline of submission of proposal: 25 November 2021.