Building a Solar System for Google Cardboard

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."

- Aristotle

The process of learning by experience and reflection, better known as experiential learning, is central to my teaching philosophy. Throughout this book, we will explore virtual reality development processes by completing projects designed to illustrate the power of VR and the ease of use of the Unity 3D engine. Your role is to use these projects as a starting point for your own work. Complete the projects, reflect on the process, and expand upon them to enrich your learning and creative curiosity.

Our exploration will begin with a visualization of a newly discovered solar system. This project is a dioramic scene, where the user floats in space, observing the movement of planets within the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system. In February 2017, astronomers announced the discovery of seven planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star slightly larger than Jupiter.

We will use this information to build a virtual environment to run on Google Cardboard (Android and iOS) or compatible devices:

Figure 2.1: Artist rendering of the TRAPPIST-1 system

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

Platform setup: Download and install platform-specific software needed to build an application on your target device. Experienced mobile developers with the latest Android or iOS SDK may skip this step.
Google Cardboard setup: This package of development tools facilitates display and interaction on a Cardboard device.
Unity environment setup: Initializing Unity's Project Settings in preparation for a VR environment.
Building the TRAPPIST-1 system: Design and implement the Solar System project.
Build for your device: Build and install the project onto a mobile device for viewing in Google Cardboard.