Role | VR Developer & Technical artist
Platform | VR(Oculus Quest 2)
Date | 2025
Tools | Unity
Our team developed a virtual reality simulation designed to train students in industrial sandblasting techniques. The goal was to enhance hands-on learning without the need for access to a physical lab or shop environment. Built using Unity and deployed on the Meta Quest 2 headset, the simulation immerses users in a realistic sandblasting experience, enabling them to safely practice core skills. This project aims to provide a scalable and accessible training solution that transforms how industrial skills are taught—regardless of geographic or resource limitations.
Responsibilities
· Collaborated closely with artists and developers to define the rendering pipeline and choose appropriate rendering methods.
· Developed the core sandblasting functionality, including surface replacement logic and related interactions.
· Created and implemented various shaders, such as outline effects and hover highlights.
· Set up the environment and lighting, and handled the VR implementation for immersive interaction.
· Focused on optimization to ensure smooth performance and visual quality.
Sandblast Function
What's sandblast function: As the player performing sandblasting, they get the mill scale gradually come off to unreal the metal surface underneath the rust.
UV based masking
· Get UV of the object and detect coordinate of the surface
· Add mask shape to the texture dynamically to control the layer material
· Shader adjusts surface properties such as color, roughness, or noise, shape parameters
Hover highlights
· Adjustable and real-time changing
· Work as a visual cue to the user
· Seperate color channel to control effects
VR Input: Angle and Distance Interaction
· Mask of ellipse shape is close to real-life situation
· Spread of sandblasting changes dynamically based on both angle and distance
Coverage calculation
· Show real-time statistic of coverage by comparing the mask and UV map
Hover and outline effects
Shader effect when hovering on obects
· Fresnel-based highlight
· Adjustable outline effect using Shader Graph in URP17
Multiplayer: Peer connection
Multiplayer function enable the instructor to watch the streaming of students' side in real time
· Use WebRTC to stream videos
Initial Research: Visit Sandblast Shop
One of our biggest challenge is that none of us has the experience of sandblasting. But luckily we got the chance of visiting the sandblastshop in person in the middle of the project.
During the visit, we were able to see the real sandblasting machines, sandblasting objects and the whole working process. It is really helpful for us to get new ideas and make the product closer to real-life situations.
