Success in the Virtual World

Virtual World

Virtual reality is a field which holds no barrier between imagination and reality

The road less travelled - you can say that for Virtual Reality (VR) which is in its nascent stage in India. While we are still scratching the surface of utilising this powerful technology, there is a growing demand for talent in the evolving virtual reality industry. Virtual Reality is the new frontier in technology, a very creative and highly engaging medium which facilitates immersive experiences to transport audiences into new and imaginative worlds.

Virtual Reality has so far only been used for entertainment purposes, but that's not all, there is much more to VR than just witnessing special effects on the big screen. The reality is that VR holds untapped gigantic potential yet to be discovered and utilised. However, owing to the rapidly changing consumer behaviour and digital ecosystem, VR is now witnessing multifaceted application in various walks of life, be it e-commerce or real estate, education, medical science, travel and tourism, etc.

There is no surprise why leading players are looking at Virtual and Augmented Reality as the future and investing heavily into it, for instance, the launch of new HMDs like the Oculus, Samsung VR, even the HoloLens (more AR). Recently, Facebook acquired the Oculus for $2 billion; Google invested 542 million dollars in Magic Leap, and Microsoft is launching the HoloLens. Virtual Reality is now finding myriad applications and implications across multifarious industries.

This leaves no doubts that VR, a highly challenging industry/field is equally rewarding as well, that can open a whole new fantasy world for the right kind of talent.

So, how does one start the career journey?

There are two main streams one can take as a career choice to get into VR: Technical or creative.

Technical: Programmers and developers who write software to enable rendering in real time and write applications to leverage or create 'game engines' that can push content for an immersive and interactive VR world.

Creative: Artists and designers create and design the visuals necessary to make one feel transported into these imaginative virtual worlds.

What are the opportunities?

One can choose from a plethora of profiles such as:

3D generalist programmers: To code in, for interactivity and application logic. They write the foundation of the application itself.

Graphics programmers: Write code that creates a certain visual style for the render along with improving performance and efficiency. They work closely with artists and level designers.

UI programmers: Code the interaction using user interfaces that are suited for a Virtual Reality environment. UI programmers work very closely with UI/UX artists to create an intuitive application as traditional UI doesn't really work here as there is no screen that we can paste UI onto. When one wears a HMD, they see the virtual world as they see the real one. To create UI for such a view, we'll need to rely on a more depth-based UI (elements that are present in real world depth and not a fictional screen).

3D modelers/artists: Modelers and artists create the inanimate virtual worlds, model them using software packages such as 3D Studio Max or Maya. They make the worlds look real and awesome!

UI/UX artists: They design the interaction methods that are necessary to provide an intuitive application that is both, immersive and easy-to-use at the same time.

Level designers: Level designers are responsible for placing the assets created by modelers in the right places, for it to look and feel real and tangible. Designers are responsible for making these virtual worlds believable.

What salary can one expect?

-  Programmers can look at a pay package of 4 - 20 lakh/year based on their experience and skill level;

-  Designers and artists would be in the region of 3 - 15 lakhs/year based on experience and skill level.

India has now made a mark on the global map as a pool of talent and there is a lot of cross collaboration in demand in the creative sectors. If you are in the lookout for an adventurous career and love disruption, Virtual Reality can be your arena. So, what are you waiting for?