InstaVR App Builder

This blog has been dedicated to CAD and other topics I find interesting.  One of my latest passions is Virtual Reality, or VR.  I don't own or have access to an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, so I have really explored what is available through Google Cardboard.  I really like the fact that I have a VR capable device with me all, the time in my phone.  Because of this, I have become a little bit of a "Cardboard Junkie."  I have two of the plastic molded style and two of the paper-based style.

You probably have noticed that all my product references have been to some Autodesk product.  Since I work for an Autodesk re-seller, most of my time is spent in their products.  However, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a company named InstaVR.  I think they offer a really cool service, and wanted to share that information with all of you.

Their goal is to make VR easy and accessible.  If you have 360 photography, stereo panoramas, and other similar content, you can build your own custom VR app for Andriod or iOS.  You may remember one of my previous blog posts about rendering stereo panoramas using Inventor, Revit, and InfraWorks.  I was able to load those images into InstaVR's easy-to-use web interface, and get an app that I could distribute to customers.  My initial attempt took about 30 minutes, with the help of the InstaVR tutorials.  The most difficult part was identifying the format of my stereo panorama, so InstaVR could translate it into the experience properly.  In my first app, I  linked three different environments together.  All the user had to do is set their view at a specific spot to jump to the next scene.

In my opinion, the biggest strike against stereo panoramas is that you cannot move around because the image is static.  It didn't take me long to realize that I could minimize that loss by creating a series of stereo panoramas of the same model and then stitch them into one experience with InstaVR.

Here is a link to the app I created with using this approach.

Please note, if you want to install this app, you will have to go to your phones security settings and allow apps from unknown sources.

InstaVR does offer the ability to insert hotspots that can be linked to videos or images.  You also can add music or voice-overs to be played in the experience.  

If you are interested in this service, InstaVR offers two types of accounts; Free and Pro.  If you have a free account you can make apps, but they will just have an InstaVR splash screen and water-marks on your images.  There is also a limitation to size and output types, when you have a free account.

Here is a screen shot from my app.

I really like this service, it is the closest I have come to building a true VR experience without using a gaming engine, like Autodesk Stingray.  If you are interested in VR, but are struggling to get started, this is a very easy away to begin making VR apps.