Can I use React to develop VR?

A virtual reality (VR) experience with React?

Is this really possible? Yes. With the introduction of React 360, it is now possible to create virtual reality experiences using JavaScript.

How VR is used in devices today

Before I introduce what React 360 is, let me quickly review how VR is used in devices today. Virtual reality is a hot topic right now, and most games and entertainment focus on virtual reality to provide a great user experience.

The introduction of React 360 brings the promise of widespread adoption for future user interfaces, literally powering 3D and VR experiences for modern web applications.

Without further nonsense, let’s get started.

What is React 360?

React 360 is a framework for creating interactive 360 experiences that run in a web browser. Source:NPM.js

This is an NPM package that can be installed as follows.

npm i react-360 // Command line tool npm install -g react-360-cli

It is very similar to React and React Native, but there are some differences that help build VR experiences.

It uses three.js to facilitate lower-level WebVR (for accessing VR devices) and WebGL (rendering 3D images) APIs for creating VR experiences on the browser.

If you have experience with React and React Native, it will be easier to use React 360. Additionally, if you create a new project using React 360, there will be three important files in your project.

• index.js– The main code for your application, will contain the code/file imports that determine the look and feel of your application.
• client.js- This file is the runtime that connects your browser to your React application. The code in this file will create a new React 360 instance, load your React code and append it to a specific location in the DOM.
• index.html- The web page you will load. This will point to the JavaScript code that loads your application.

Additionally, thestatic_assetsfolder is used to store assets including images, panoramas, audio files, and other external content used to enhance the web experience.

The runtime is responsible for turning your React components into 3D elements on the screen.

Using React 360 in practice

After successfully installing React 360, you can use the following command to initialize the new project.

react-360 init new-react-360-app

This will create a new project directory callednew-react-360-appand will install all required dependencies.

The project structure is as follows.

You can use thenpm startcommand to start the project. You can visit and browse athttp://localhost:8081/index.html output on the controller.

#You can use your mouse pointer to navigate 360 degrees within this frame.

An important feature of the React 360 framework is that it provides reusable built-in UI components. For example, some of them are as follows.

• View
• Image
• Entity
• VrButton

Can be used when you develop React 360 applications they.

Of the three important files I mentioned earlier,index.jsandindex.htmlare very simple.

Let's take a look at theclient.jsfile to better understand its contents.

Here, the root directory is set tohello_vr React## inindex.jsusingr360.createRoot# components.

Features of React 360

React 360 has many useful features, let’s take a look at some of them.

• Cross-Platform Development- With React 360, a single React developer can create VR applications to run on desktop, mobile, and the web without having to use different languages and technologies Write a lot of code, saving development costs and effort.
• Working with Pixels- React 360 enables developers to create 2D interfaces embedded in 3D space. The Surfaces library for React 360 allows integrating UI panels into applications. Surfaces will allow developers to develop environments in pixels instead of other units of measurement, and use regular tools to implement the specifications they create.
• 3D Media Support- React 360 has environment features to better handle immersive media. This way, developers can precisely control the look and feel of their applications.
• Enhanced Performance- Runtime architecture designed to optimize overall application performance by increasing frame rates and reducing garbage collection.

Supported Devices

• Desktop Web Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, etc.)
• Mobile Web Browsers
• VR Devices

Summary

React 360 is a fun way to create 3D web applications that provide users with a VR experience. It is an open source framework and therefore cost-effective in building VR applications.

Any developer with previous React experience can easily learn this framework and start building VR applications immediately. React VR apps support a wide range of devices and platforms, including iOS and Android.

Recommended learning: "react video tutorial"