The development of this project took us 12 weeks in total and was carried out in the traditional agile methodology of Jasoren Company.
The first stage of the development was the creation of the so-called blocking or procurement of a 3D warehouse environment. This stage is very important since the mistakes made at this stage can result in serious processing in the future. The project team successfully coped with this task, having recreated a draft of the 3D environment using drawings, as well as photo and video materials provided from the real warehouse.
On the basis of 3D blocking, the team began to study and to detail individual elements of the warehouse, and the team of programmers and those artists took up characters settled in the warehouse.
To use artificial intelligence in the behavior of virtual characters in the warehouse, a role system was created that, using program code, described the behavior of each character. For example, such things as what a manager can do and what a simple warehouse worker or forklift driver should do.
Artificial intelligence controlled the behavior and interaction of the characters according to the rules prescribed for each role.
As 3D assets were created by the graphic team, those artists assembled the finished premises by placing the necessary assets in certain zones, taking turns filling each of them. When the 3D environment was completely ready, the warehouse was filled with equipment and workers who moved, interacted, communicated using artificial intelligence that controlled the work of each character or unit of equipment.
The last stage of development was the connection of management interfaces in virtual reality, as well as the sound of the warehouse.
To reproduce the sounds of the warehouse, several types of sounds were used, which were harmoniously connected with each other in the framework of the project.
The basis was created by the sounds of the environment – fans, air conditioners, steps, and other sounds. As an addition, the speech of characters talking among themselves was added. These sounds were heard louder if the user was looking at them or walking near them and quieter if the equipment and characters were moved further away from the user.
The last step in working with the sound was the addition of the final voices of the virtual guide. Properly maintained the balance of all these three sound layers created the illusion that the user is present in a real warehouse and hears the story of a real employee who is conducting an excursion for him.
The final stage of the development was the addition of a separate 3D scene with an interactive menu, as well as polishing with carved testing.