You're striving for realism in your VR project. How do you maintain high performance standards?

In addition to optimizing polygon count and textures, do the following: 1. Utilize simpler shaders and reduce the number of dynamic lights to minimize GPU load. 2. Implement occlusion culling and frustum culling to render only visible objects. 3. Pre-compute lighting for static objects using lightmaps, reducing real-time calculations. 4. Use normal maps to add detail to low-poly models without increasing polygon count. 5. Reuse assets through instancing to save memory and processing power. 6. Simplify animation rigs and use fewer bones and keyframes. 7. Load and unload assets dynamically based on the player's location to manage memory efficiently.

One thing I found very helpful, is to use Physics Based Rendering (PBR) engines Light in these engines is calculated in a very similar way to the light in real life Also these concepts helped me : Ambient occlusion Ambient light And shaders By looking into the above, you will be able to mimic realistic effects in real life, with very little overhead on the gpu

To keep your VR project running smoothly while looking realistic, focus on optimizing your assets. Reduce the number of polygons in your 3D models without losing quality, and use LOD algorithms to adjust model detail based on distance. Compress textures to save memory and use tiling to maintain clarity. Implement baked lighting to cut down on real-time calculations and use culling techniques to only render visible objects. Regularly check performance with profiling tools to spot and fix any issues. This way, you ensure a smooth and immersive VR experience.

Tools like Unity Profiler, NVIDIA Nsight, and Intel VTune can be incredibly helpful for profiling your VR application code. These tools allow you to monitor real-time performance metrics, identify bottlenecks, and optimize your application for better efficiency.

High-performance hardware is also crucial for optimal VR rendering. Powerful GPUs and CPUs can handle the complex calculations and high-resolution textures required for a smooth VR experience. Additionally, specialized VR headsets with higher refresh rates and lower latency contribute significantly to reducing motion sickness and enhancing immersion.

One notable example is "No Man's Sky," which uses AI algorithms to procedurally generate an entire universe with billions of planets, each with unique landscapes, flora, and fauna. This allows for a vast, diverse experience without the need for manually crafting each environment. The game's AI also dynamically adjusts NPC behavior, making interactions feel more organic and immersive for players.

We are getting into the era of gaussian splatting which might give huge improvement and alternative to heavy-weight photogrammetry and NeRFs. For many situations, Gaussian Splatting would be a tool to go!