This thesis has been carried out at the company Stakkr AB in Stockholm. Stakkr have considered moving their existing C++ code to the visual programming language Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4. The objective of this study was to examine the performance of Blueprint if it’s suitable for mobile games, as well to provide Stakkr a suitability assessment of writing code in Blueprint and examine how well it performs compared with the language programming language C++. The assessment of suitability was performed by implementing a translation of two existing C++ classes to Blueprints and an assessment was made regarding development in Blueprint and performance testing between the existing C ++ and the developed Blueprint classes. The method of execution of the assessment was to work agile in short and structured iterations. The assessment of the suitability of the study showed that it was user-friendly to develop with Blueprint. However the existing C ++ classes outperformed the classes written in Blueprints. The reason why Blueprints perform worse has been identified and recommendations regarding the performance issues have been developed. / Detta examensarbete har genomförts på företaget Stakkr AB i Stockholm. Stakkr har övervägt att flytta över sin befintliga C++ kod till det visuella programmeringsspråk Blueprints i Unreal Engine 4. Målet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka om prestandan i Blueprints är lämplig för mobilspel samt att tillhandahålla Stakkr en lämplighetsutvärdering av att skriva kod i Blueprints och undersöka hur bra den presterar jämfört med språkstandarden C++. bedömningen av lämpligheten utfördes genom att genomföra en översättning av två befintliga C++ klasser till Blueprints, en bedömning av att utveckla i Blueprints har gjorts och prestandatester har utförts mellan de befintliga C++ gentemot de utvecklade Blueprintklasserna. Metoden för utförandet av bedömningen var att arbeta agilt i korta och strukturerade iterationer. Bedömningen från lämplighetsundersökningen visade att det var användarvänligt att utveckla i Blueprints. Dock presterade Blueprintklasserna sämre än de befintliga C++ klasser. Anledningen till varför Blueprints presterar sämre har identifierats och rekommendationer gällande detta har tagits fram.

This thesis evaluates the battery performance of two widely known game engines and compares the results to find the most battery friendly choice. Unity and Unreal Engine 4 are the two engines being compared; it aims to fill the need for research around mobile games battery performance. Smartphones battery life issues becomes more and more common with the powerful smartphones we use in today’s society. They are becoming faster every year, but the batteries stay the same. Power hungry games are not uncommon to find on the biggest game market that has surpassed the combined income of PC and Console games. Tests were performed on an Android system where multiple applications were tested while the battery consumption was measured. The applications are testing how different 2D or 3D components will impact the battery consumption compared to their baseline idling consumption. This thesis provides instructions on how the test applications were developed and which components were included. The findings show that the components had very little impact on the battery consumption for both Unity and Unreal Engine 4. Unity consumed between 1,1 – 1,4 % (36-42mAh) battery for all applications, Unreal Engine 4 consumed between 1,3 – 1,6% (39-48mAh) battery. This thesis conclusion is that Unreal Engine 4 game components require more battery power than the corresponding components of Unity. Therefore, Unity is according to the findings of this thesis a more battery friendly game engine for android games. These results mean that those who looks to create a smaller 2D or 3D game would get a more battery friendly application if they chose to use Unity. However, the results are limited because of how features like gyro, GPS and bigger applications were not included in the performed test cases.

This report presents the problem of designers working on new productions for fulldomes. The back and forth process of moving between a work station and the fulldome is time consuming, a faster alternative would be useful. This thesis presents an option, a virtual reality application where a user can sketch the new environment directly on a virtual representation of a fulldome. The result would then be exported directly to the real fulldome to be displayed. The application is developed using Unreal Engine 4. The virtual dome is constructed using a procedurally generated mesh, with a paintable material assigned to it. All painting functionality is implemented manually, as is all other tools. The final product is fully useable, but requires additional work if it is to be used commercially. Additional features can be added, including certain features discussed that were cut due to time constraints, as well as improvements to existing features. Application stability is currently a concern that needs to be addressed, as well as optimizations to the software.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning / Brent Chamberlain / The purpose of this research is to identify if virtual reality environments with varying degrees of exposure to nature influence stress recovery at different rates. In 1991, environmental psychologist and architect, Rodger Ulrich, conducted a study on how varying degrees of exposure to nature influences stress recovery by showing participants videos with different levels of nature. His research concluded that participants who viewed the tapes containing scenes with higher degrees of nature recovered from stress quicker than those shown the tapes with higher degrees of human intervention. To expand on this research, it is important to understand how different mediums influence stress recovery. In particular, analyzing how fully immersive virtual reality environments influence the amount of time it takes to recover from a stressor. Virtual reality is particularly beneficial for testing as it enables variable isolation and complete environmental control. A test similar to Ulrich’s was conducted in three parts, a baseline, a stressor, and a stress recovery period. Two environments with varying degrees of human intervention were tested. The virtual reality environments were strategically designed along a same path to minimize the addition of extraneous variables. During this test, biometric data was taken in addition to stated stress levels and stated affective response. The study concluded that regardless of the environment type, participants lowered their baseline stress level. This study represents one of the firsts of its type and can serve as a valuable learning mechanism for testing in virtual reality. Results show promise for mitigating stress levels. However, it is recommended that a similar study be replicated in a more refined manor. Lessons learned from this study could be used to inform future studies investigating the effect of VR environments on stress and mental health.

Background. Development time and costs of video games are constantly rising andtools using Procedural Content Generation exist with the purpose of making thedevelopment process smoother.Objectives. This thesis’ aim is to evaluate the usability of an interactive bridgegenerator that uses Procedural Content Generation. Additionally the tool evaluatedhas two different methods that are also being evaluated.Methods. In order to answer complete the objectives, a tool has been created inUnreal Engine 4, and then evaluated through a user study on Blekinge Institute of Technology’s campus. Each participant of the user study got to test both themethods of the tool and answer questions regarding usability. The questionnaire used is the System Usability Scale. Results. The results of this study showed that the tool received an excellent usabilitygrade, and one of the methods received a higher grade than the other. Conclusions. The main conclusion is that the tool is usable but also that the studycould be done again using a different method while conducting the study. The toolas a whole could use some work to increase the usability further

This project investigates how to design an architecture in a context of virtual space, and how to utilise the exclusive possibilities of the virtual context.  The main case study about the virtual space and impossible space is based on video games. After analysing the mechanism of building such 'impossible spaces' in various video games, this project conducted an experiment on designing several virtual spaces in the game engine, Unreal Engine 4, to investigate the differences between architecture in the real space and in the virtual space. In addition, another architecture experiment was conducted in an impossible space: a space where gravity is modified to be vertical to the surface of a triangle swept Mobius Strip. Walking in such a space offers an exclusive 'impossible' experience. Such an experience is possible to be presented by the manifestation of Unreal Engine 4.

Kandidatarbetet undersöker virtuell verklighet som ett spatialt och interaktivt realtids-medium för den arkitekturella domänen. Media används vanligtvis inom mäklar-, visualiserings-, och designindustrin för att representera föremål på ett förståeligt och övertygande vis genom bilder eller animerade filmer. Utgångsproblemet har varit användbarheten av högdetaljerad arkitekturell visualisering som representeras i 2D. Studier visar att 2D passar för viss abstrakt information som kronologisk sekvens eller data trender, men för komplicerad information som lokalisering och spatiala relationer är 2D för abstrakt. Målet är att skapa en prototyp i form av ett virtuellt rum vars syfte tjänar kommunikationsverktyg mot intressenter eller inom organisationen för tydligare beslutsförmåga. Fokus låg på användbarhet för att evaluera prototypens design-aspekter navigation, selektion/manipulation och indirekta kontroller. Utgångspunkten var en pragmatisk filosofi med användningen av mixade metoder för att nå djupare insikter i prototypen. Med hjälp av texturerings-  och 3D modelleringsprogram samt spelmotorn Unreal Engine 4 har en virtuell nybyggnation skapats. Därefter har tre användbarhetstester formats som evalueras med hjälp av system usability scale. Detta expanderas på med en kvalitativ intervju där resonemang om användbarhet, kostnadseffektivitet och lämplighet framkommer. Utvärderingen indikerar att användarna är nöjda, men riktad evaluering av interaktions-teknikerna var för sig hade skapat insikter i specifika fallgropar av systemets designområden. / The bachelor thesis investigates virtual reality as a spatial and interactive real-time medium for the architectural domain. Media is usually used in the brokerage, visualization and design industry to represent objects in an understandable and compelling manner through images or animated films. The starting problem has been the usability of high-detailed architectural visualization represented in 2D. Studies show that 2D fits for some abstract information like chronological sequence or data trends, but for complex information such as location and spatial relationships, 2D is too abstract. The goal is to create a prototype in the form of a virtual space whose purpose serves as communication tools with stakeholders or within the organization for patent decision-making. The focus was on usability to evaluate the prototypes design aspects navigation, selection / manipulation, and indirect controls. A pragmatic philosophy was employed with the use of mixed methods to reach deeper insights into the prototype. With the help of texturing and 3D modeling programs and the Unreal Engine 4 game engine, a virtual room has been constructed. Thereafter, three usability tests were formatted and evaluated using system usability scale. This is expanded with a qualitative interview where reasoning about usability, cost-effectiveness and appropriateness emerges. The evaluation indicates that the users are satisfied, but targeted evaluation of the interaction techniques had created insights into specific pitfalls of the system's design areas.

Videoconferencing is one of the most common telepresence methods today and educational videos is rising in popularity among distance learners. Traditional videoconferencing is unable to convey gestures and mutual eye contact between participants. This study aim to propose a Virtual Reality telepresence solution using game engines. A literature study confirmed the effectiveness achieved in VR is comparable to the effectiveness in face-to-face meetings. The suggested solution implements whiteboard functionality from a real-life perspective, confirming it is possible to include new functionality and directly transfer old functionality to the VR system from the communication systems today. The system was evaluated based on the response time, packet loss, bandwidth, frame rate and through user tests. The evaluation shows it is possible to design a telepresence system with VR capable of passing the Turing Test for Telepresence. The participants of the user tests did not experience discomfort and they were positively inclined to the telepresence system. Though, discomfort may emerge if the VR character is used with a common office workstation. Future studies in this topic would involve modifications of the third person camera, making the head's rotation follow the direction of the camera view and implementing movable eye pupils on the VR character using the upcoming eye-tracking accessory.

Att utnyttja simuleringsteknologi är både ett effektivt och sparsamt sätt att träna piloter utan att utsätta sig själv eller andra för fara. Flygsimuleringar i Virtual Reality blir mer och mer eftersökta tack vare sin unika nivå av immersion. Detta arbete undersöker, utvärderar och visar hur night vision implementeras i Unreal Engine 4. Undersökningen kommer fram till sex specificerade nyckelfaktorer att följa för att korrekt kunna simulera night vision och visar hur detta uppnås huvudsakligen genom att konfigurera post process-effekter. Dessutom utvärderas implementationens prestanda baserat på frame time. Arbetet resulterar i en fullt fungerande night vision-effekt som uppnår alla sex nyckelfaktorer. På grund av den höga prestandakostnaden av Depth of Field uppnås inte en acceptabel nivå prestandamässigt, men genom att minska skärmupplösningen när night vision är aktivt uppnås även prestandamålet utan att kvalitén på implementationen påverkas märkbart.

Background. In order to increase the visual fidelity of characters in video games, strand-based hair rendering within Unreal Engine 4 is explored in this thesis. Because of the complex nature of hair, explicit hair models can be very costly to render and simulate. It is theorized that utilizing customized hair and simulation settings, tailored to specific types of hairstyles could alleviate this issue while preserving visual fidelity. Objectives. The aim of this thesis is to provide an insight into what can be done to increase visual appeal and computer performance of physical simulation for different types of hairstyles and determine if customized settings may cause a significant impact on the perceived level of realism. The objectives of this thesis are to acquire a set of different strand-based hairstyles, determine a set of customized hair and simulation settings which can be applied to them, create a test scene inside of Unreal Engine 4 and render out a set of images and videos to be used in a user experiment, measure the performance of each customized setting and finally synthesize the acquired data. Methods. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of this thesis, a user experiment that utilizes the 2AFC method to let participants compare image- and video-pairs is performed as well as a performance experiment using the built-in profiling tools in Unreal Engine 4. In addition, a pilot experiment was performed in order to ascertain that the experiments would be feasible on the available hardware. Results. The results show that there was a significant difference in the perceived level of realism when different simulation settings was applied to the hairstyles, with customized settings being preferred to the default setting. The voting results on the image-pairs showed a preference for fine hair strands while the strand count did not have as much of an impact. It was shown that participants could easier distinguish between the different simulation- and hair-settings in long hair compared to short hair. The performance experiment showed that the amount of hair strands had the biggest impact on computer performance. Conclusions. Customizing hair and simulation settings to different types of hairstyles could provide a heightened perceived level of realism and a limited performance boost, from what could be derived from these experiments. Lowering the hair strand count was determined to be the most effective method of increasing performance. The performance of strand-based hair is currently not quite reaching a consistent 60 frames per second on the tested hardware, but with further optimizations it is believed that this could be acquired, especially on more powerful graphics cards. Future work should keep focus on increasing the stability of real-time strand-based hair simulation.