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How to become a virtual reality or hologram developer.

I was beginning to study Swift 2, so I could become an app developer. However, I'm now convinced that it might be a waste of my time, because the future of computing seems to be in virtual reality and holograms.

What software or programming skills do I need to have in order to become a virtual reality and hologram developer? My goal would be to have the skills necessary to create my own apps for something like Microsoft's new Halolens platform.

2 Answers

Anthony Babich
Anthony Babich
5,505 Points

My older brother went to college specifically for visual media (i.e. oculus rift, visual displays on T.V, mapping an image with a projector to a real object in real life-- like a building.. and making a game), and is just as much a developer as I am today. He has a steady job as a developer and stock in a business.

So anyway I guess my point is I don't exactly agree with you, yet, because virtual reality is nowhere near perfected it is in its early peaks.. Maybe that's a good time to invest your studies, but at the same time. . . . . I am learning Swift :P just saying.

Okay so I've played a ton of games on oculus rift and I can vouch that a lot of games you'd be able to find AND play if you had your own oculus rift to mess around with (fan base) are made by Unity software. I see now the guy above mentioned Unity but that's probably your best bet at starting in a easy to use 3d environment. I like Unity. Good luck! And Swift is amazing. Js.

I would say that learning Swift is not a waste of time, because the knowledge gained learning one language makes it easier to pick up others.

So, right now VR is very young. There are devices that run off personal computers, like Oculus Rift and Vive. But there are also devices that work with video game consoles and even mobile phones.

The platform that is right for you completely depends on the kind of app you want to make. Also, since mobile devices can be used with headsets, such as Google Cardboard, and Google is considering the use of Swift to develop on Android , learning Swift could actually be a good choice for an aspiring VR developer.

It also seems like Unity allows for easy VR integration. You can build games or other apps with Unity.

In the case of Microsoft's HoloLens, you would need to have access to the device and probably an SDK. I believe it is running some version of windows though, so you may be able to use a lot of different languages to build apps for it.

Ultimately it won't matter too much which programming language you choose to learn right now, just make sure that you are learning one. Stay up to date with the VR and AR industry. Since it is not mature yet no one know which platforms or devices will come out on top.