With the rapidly changing consumer behaviour and a digital eco-system, Virtual Reality has a presence in all walks of life, be it e-commerce, real estate, education, medical science or anything else. It holds untapped potential, says Gautam Tewari
The Road less travelled, the saying suits Virtual Reality (VR) which is in its nascent stage in India. While we are still scratching the surface to utilise this powerful technology, there is a growing demand for talent in the evolving virtual reality industry. Virtual Reality is the new frontier in technology, a very creative and highly engaging medium which facilitates immersive experiences to transport audiences into new and imaginative worlds.
Virtual Reality has so far only been used for entertainment purposes, but that is not all, there is much more to VR than just witnessing special effects on the big screen. The reality is that VR holds untapped gigantic potential yet to be discovered and utilised. However, owing to the rapidly changing consumer behavior and digital eco-system, VR is now witnessing multifaceted application in various walks of life be it E-commerce, Real Estate, Education, Medical Science, Travel and Tourism, etc.
There is no surprise why leading players are looking at Virtual and Augmented Reality as the future and investing heavily into it. For instance, the launch of new HMD’s like the Oculus, Samsung VR, even the Hololens (more AR). Recently, Facebook acquired the Oculus for 2 billion; Google invested 542 million dollars in Magic leap, Microsoft launching the Hololens. Virtual Reality is now finding myriad applications and implications across multifarious industries.
This leaves no doubts that VR, a highly challenging field, is equally rewarding as well that can open a whole new fantasy world for the right kind of talent.
So how does one start the career journeyIJ
There are two main streams one can take as a career choice to get into VR (Technical Or Creative).
Technical: Programmers and developers who write software to enable rendering in real time and write applications to leverage or create Game Engines that can push content for an immersive and interactive VR world.
Creative: Artists and designers create and design the visuals necessary to make one feel transported into these imaginative virtual worlds.
Opportunities
One can choose from a plethora of profiles such as
3D generalist programmers: To code in, interactivity and application logic. They write the foundation of the application itself.
nGraphics programmers: Write code that create a certain visual style for the render along with improving performance and efficiency. They work closely with artists and level designers.
User Interface (UI) programmers: Code the interaction using user interfaces that are suited for a Virtual Reality environment. UI programmers work very closely with UI/UX artists to create an intuitive application as traditional UI doesn’t really work here as there is no screen that we can paste UI onto. When one wears a HMD (head-mounted display) they see the virtual world as they see the real one. To create UI for such a view, we will need to rely on a more depth based UI (elements that are present in real world depth and not a fictional screen).
3D Modelers/Artists: Modelers and artists create the inanimate virtual worlds, model them using software packages such as 3DStudio Max or Maya. They make the worlds look real and awesome!
UI or User Experience (UX)artists: They design the interaction methods that are necessary to provide an intuitive application that is both immersive and easy to use at the same time.
level Designers: level designers are responsible for placing the assets created by modelers in the right places, for it to look and feel real and tangible. Designers are responsible for making these virtual worlds believable.
Remuneration
Programmers can look at a pay package of Rs4 lakh to Rs20 lakh per year and designers and artists would be in the region of Rs3 lakh to 15 lakh per year based on experience and skill level.
India has now made a mark on the global map as a pool of talent and there is a lot of cross collaboration in demand in the creative sectors. If you are in the lookout for an adventurous career and love disruption, Virtual Reality can be your arena. So, what are you waiting forIJ
The writer is founder director of SmartVizX.