Immersive virtual reality experiences getting traction among many developers and gamers, it sounds like a good time to build applications and games for virtual reality (there was 15X increase in VR devices shipped last year, and many big players already putting money on the table).

To stay ahead of the game on the emerging market, we need to start thinking about ways to thrive in different environment.

Personally, I like VR because I could create alternative reality and amplify ability to make things quicker and more efficient. I would like to share my experience with a couple of new tools.

To have better understanding of the final product you should have VR device, I highly recommend getting the latest version of Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

At this point there are two main tools to consider: Unity3D and Unreal Engine 4, both of them are supported by the latest devices. Also, this tools push new updates to make development seamless for VR and support Mac OS X and Windows platforms.

Unity3D — Overview about Unity3D

Advantages:

Easier to learn

Extensive pool of resources (Unity3d Concepts to get started)

Huge community of developers around the globe

Large library of people’s assets

Choice of C# or UnityScript

Good support for Google Cardboard

Supported devices: Oculus family of VR devices, PlayStation VR, Stereo, Split, VR.

2. Unreal Engine 4 — Overview about Unreal Engine

Advantages:

Amazingly beautiful graphic, visual(?)

Good at building extremely complex scenes, environments and characters

Disadvantages:

Limited to C++ language

Unstable environment

Poor support for Google Cardboard

Supported devices: Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Steam VR, Leap Motion, and PlayStation VR.