The intent of this app is to allow the reading of eBooks as if you were reading a real book. Will feature simple controls to facilitate the selection and navigation of books. A bookshelf will display all suitable files as books, allowing for a simple and intuitive browsing and selection system.

An atmospheric environment will seek to aid in the comfort of the VR Reader, with the long-term possibility of different reading environments. I elected to focus on one highly polished environment to start with, instead of multiple lower-quality ones.

Simply drag EPUB files into your phone's "VR Reader" folder (created when app is first run), and they will appear inside the app on launch.

Features:

Support for text-based EPUB files

Simple and intuitive book selection

Gaze-based and tap-based page navigation

Relaxing environment

Separate bookmarks for each book

Chair and Bed modes for your preferred reading position

Ability to speedily flip through pages

THE IMPORTANT STUFF

Mechanics

The two major mechanics are book selection and book reading.

Book selection

Books drawn from the "VR Reader" folder on the device

Virtual bookshelf is populated with all valid books.

Book Reading

Two different positions -> seated and laying down

Page navigation

Bookmarking

Moving book in/out

VR Innovation

Immersion and comfort were the two drivers for this app.

A book skeuomorphism is provided to capture the experience of reading a real book, and a comfortable environment is presented to enhance the reading experience.

Book selection takes place on a physical bookshelf, giving a simple and immersive method of browsing, without requiring a file browser or prompts.

Transitions between locations are done with a fade out/in mechanic instead of actual movement, preventing potential simulator sickness.

Gaze-based mechanics for page navigation supported. Buttons positioned such that the user's gaze is naturally drawn to them when starting or finishing a page.

Controls

All controls are either gaze or trackpad based.

Book selection

Upon launch, you will be placed in front of a bookcase. Simply look at a book and tap the trackpad to load the selected book.

When looking at a book, its title will be displayed.

Reading Controls