Virtual Reality With React 360

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Chapter247 Infotech
  • Date Published
  • Categories Blog
  • Reading Time 5-Minute Read

Chapter247 is a leading React VR development company with a team of dedicated development professionals.

The revolutionary development of technology and the boundless use of mobile smart devices has holistically changed the way customers used to explore services and products before buying. To ensure it’s worth every penny to be spent in buying a product or service, customers make sure they have some real-like experience exploring the same. This has been made possible by the most trending technology – Virtual Reality (VR).

VR lets users attain a real-like exposure to the intended product before actually paying for it. VR aims to extend the user experience to interact in a simulated environment allowing users to explore a never-existing world without having a physical presence there. Among a range of technologies and platforms that help to render virtual reality experiences through web and mobile applications, React 360 is one of the most widely used.

Exploring React.Js, React Native and React 360

React is a JavaScript library devised by Facebook that offers:

React.js

React Native

React 360

It is a UI library organized in a specific hierarchy constituting view components from the Model-View-controller (MVC) development framework. Various HTML tags like <div>, <h1>, <h2> etc. are used to render user experience.

React Native provides various toolsets used in developing interactive Android and iOS mobile apps. A range of UI components such as TextInput, ScrollView, Navigator, etc. Are offered by React Native that are supported by various iOS and Android mobile devices.

Popularly known as React VR, React 360 constitutes a vast library offering pre-built custom development components and APIs that facilitate React developers to create enthralling virtual reality experiences. It is an open-source JavaScript framework and is available for free to use.

React 360 and Virtual Reality Experience 

React 360 provides a range of tools used in creating engaging user interfaces. Virtual reality applications created with React 360 enables developers to craft fascinating exposure to videos, photos, virtual tours, and 3D games. React VR also allows blending 2D UI elements with 3D spaces for optimized application performance.

  • Cross-Platform Development: Web applications developed with React 360 are supported across widely used multiple devices and platforms allowing businesses to expand their reach to every corner of the world. These applications ca be run on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices while rendering extensive VR experience boosting overall business performance. Extensive 3D Media Support.
  • Extensive Media Support: React 360 comes with 180° mono video and stereo support catering to immersive media. Pre-designed transitions facilitate faster loading of applications and allow developers to have increased control over the appearance of the applications.
  • Working in Pixels: 2D interfaces can be easily created and placed in 3D spaces with React VR. React 360 library includes Surfaces that help the integration of UI panels to the applications and let developers create virtual environments in pixels instead of meters and other measuring units.
  • Enhanced Performance: Garbage collection can be drastically decreased and the frame rate can be improved significantly with new React 360 tools thereby leading to enhanced application performance.

How to Create VR Experience With React 360

React VR CLI package and Node.js must be installed on the system before you start developing a React 360 application. The application is compiled and run on the local server using JavaScript.

Node.js package manager, NPM, is to be installed having reusable code ad API libraries. Three.js 3D library is also required to be installed.

React 360 APIs WebVR and WebGL render 3D imagery and VR experience in the browsers without any specific VR devices or headsets.

A VR app architecture contains the following components:

  • index.js forms the entry point for React applications
  • client.js is used to connect the application to a web browser
  • index.html consists of the JavaScript code to provide app functionality  with HTML
  • static_assets stores app resources such as images, panoramas, audio files, for extending the user experience

Run the following commands for creating and managing a React 360 project:

npm install -g react-360-cli

Initialize the project by running the command:

react-360 init projectname-react-360

Start a project with command:

npm start

To Sum Up

React 360 is an open-source framework that does not require extensive coding skills. With basic React development skills, any react developer can build captivating React VR projects. React 360 enhances the user experience by integrating 2D UIs, video, audio, and 360 panoramas and helps to expand app services seamlessly. Code reusability is one of the eminent React 360 features that can be leveraged by implementing API libraries and components offered by React VR. Based on JavaScript, React 360 iOS and Android platforms support React 360 applications rendering VR experience with 360-degree panoramas and scenes. A range of pre-built components allows faster and easier development of new VR prototypes.