Pano2VR 7 Skins | Building Skins for VR

Pano2VR 7 requires a separate skin for VR. These skins work on mobile devices and in headsets like Meta Quest. In this webinar, you’ll learn the basic workflow for building a VR skin for your virtual tour, including how to build a tour node and popup image specifically for viewing in VR.

Project

View the project in your headset:

https://demo.2vr.at/

Questions from the webinar

Questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Can the immersive mode be automatically activated when WebXR is detected?

WebXR cannot be enabled automatically because of browser security measures. You can think of this as being similar to full-screen mode or starting sound. There must first be user interaction.

Do you have any recommendations for exporting the VR tour offline for clients to view in a VR headset without an internet connection?

Sure! There are a few options depending on your needs. We recommend the use of VRTourviewer for offline projects. However, not all WebXR skin features are supported. Alternatively, you can sideload an Android HTTP server app and open it via the localhost.

Another option is a web server on your phone or a portable disk with a built-in web server, where you serve the content to one or multiple VR headsets. Keep in mind that the server must be secure.

In a Pano2VR VR project, is it possible to lock a traditional stereoscopic view (left and right image) in a headset yet?

Yes. You can create a side-by-side view that locks the images. Our friend, Tony Redhead has an excellent tutorial. However, we think the question was specific to stereoscopic images that were once viewed through a stereoscope. We will be taking a look into how to approach this. 

Do you have an option to show information point hotpots in VR in the same fashion as Call Outs on desktop?

Yes! Information points are created with Info-type point hotspots, and all point hotspot types are supported. You can try this out by adding an Info hotspot and adding our built-in VR skins.

Is there a plan to incorporate 3D objects in a p2vr project?

Yes! You can already incorporate object movies like those created with Object2VR for desktop view (Follow this tutorial), but not yet for VR. Support for 3D objects and graphics will come soon.

Is this the easiest way to use your cloud? Like, you just send a link to us I can send that link to a client, and they open it in a headset and done?

Yes. It’s that easy. We also include a share sheet that includes a link to the project, an embed code, and a QR code. For an easy link to type in VR, you can use a URL shortener. See this tutorial. 

Can you use floor plans and maps with VR?

Not yet, but it’s something we might look into in the future.

Is it possible to display VR180 video?

Not yet, but it’s on our to-do list. UPDATE: Support for VR180 was added in Pano2VR 7.1.

Is there some possibility of menu navigation in VR?

Yes! We didn’t get to it in this webinar, but in short, we support list menus and paging menus. You can see them in our built-in skins.

Will polygon hotspots work on VR?

Polygon hotspots are currently not supported, but we are working on it.

Will animated hotspots work with 360 video?

Not yet, but we are looking into it.

I need to put a video of a person explaining something inside the panorama, will this work in a VR headset?

Yes! Pinned videos are supported.

Is this VR skin setting for the version of Pano2VR only or will they work in good for older versions?

These skins are only for Pano2VR 7, as the player has been updated to support these skin features. 

Are there any disadvantages to testing with Google Cardboard only instead of a full-fledged headset?

We recommend testing with a headset or an emulator. Google Cardboard is not reliable for testing.

What headset would you recommend?

We work mainly with Meta Quest headsets and can recommend them.

Will everything work with stereoscopic 3D image pairs?

Yes. Pano2VR supports stereographic panoramas. Check out this tutorial.