Creating the perfect VR setup for public places is challenging. The main questions are: how to avoid damage and theft, minimize the need for supervision, and maximize uptime. In this article, we share all our knowledge and introduce you to one of the key elements: the TitanSkinVR.

Virtual reality is a fantastic technology that immerses the audience in the story being told. In the past, many museums, exhibitions, and theme parks have experimented with VR in their programs. It seems VR has become an indispensable part of exhibitions nowadays, with many visitors every day and significant investments in sensitive hardware. This presents a big challenge—how to maximize the uptime of VR headsets and minimize the need for supervision? To solve these challenges, it’s important to achieve the best collaboration between hardware and software.

Our background

Before we created TitanSkinVR as a brand and company, we were a VR content creator company for various branches. Eventually, we primarily engaged in projects for public libraries, exhibitions and museums. After creating the VR content, licensing or creating an app, and completing the deployment, we encountered a recurring question: How can we secure and protect VR headsets in public places? With a lot of trial, error, and damaged headsets, we finally have the best solution and happy to share this knowledge with you.

It all starts with the VR experience itself. What is the goal, theme and result you want to achieve? For this article, we will not delve into the content of the VR experience. 

What we do want to draw attention to is the type of VR experience for the audience; it’s essential to have thought about this. A 3DOF VR experience is easier to showcase to the audience. This is often a 360º film or VR experience that can be controlled using gaze-input (controlled via headtracking). For the audience, this often works well without any knowledge of operating a VR device. If you opt for a 6DOF experience, you will need to carefully consider providing more or better guidance through a host. Choose hand tracking if the system supports it. If not, you’ll have to work with controllers. How do you handle that? How do you ensure they are not lost, and how do you ensure that batteries are checked daily for their charge? We once created a securing and charging system for controllers. Not ideal, but it does work. Now that hand-tracking is well supported, this is our preference.

Playtime. Not entirely unimportant is considering the capacity you want to achieve. How many visitors do you want to allow to experience VR per hour? With a 12-minute VR film + 3 minutes for cleaning and switching, you can run 4 rounds per hour. With 10 VR headsets, that’s 40 views per hour. The longer the VR experience, the lower your capacity. This doesn’t have to be a problem, but it’s essential to think about. And specifically for a museum, exhibition, or event, we know that generally, a VR experience of 10 to 15 minutes is perfect. People are usually in the company of others and don’t want to make the others wait (too) long to proceed.

If you have opted for an interactive 6DOF experience, it will always be developed within its own VR application. We won’t go into the details here. However, we recommend making an early decision regarding which platform the VR app will be developed for. For demanding games, a PC-VR app will be necessary. If you want a VR experience without a PC, opt for a Pico or Meta standalone headset.

For displaying VR experiences based on 360º videos, there are various options. A VR headset can always play your VR film without the need for an app or software. However, this is far from ideal because you’ll need to set up the film for each viewer. For continuous showings, you want to avoid the hassle of managing and switching viewers. After testing many systems, we use Showtime VR. This is a comprehensive VR playback system. Showtime offers several licenses and organize your event with playback VR, for just one headset or even hundreds of devices and monitor their status (battery, volume, temperature, content). Showtime VR works on Meta, Pico, HTC, and many other headsets. The Showtime VR app let you have complete control over one or multiple VR headsets at the same time. It simply means that you can steer all of the devices from the remote controller and decide whether to play the video, pause it, fast forward it or maybe stop the playback altogether.

Kioskmode

Putting a device in kiosk mode ensures that the desired application automatically starts when the device is powered on. The selected application will always run in the foreground. This is ideal to prevent visitors from easily opening another app and is also convenient for relieving the relevant staff in the startup process.

If you choose Meta Quest 2 and 3, it’s often helpful to use this device in kiosk mode. The Quest 2 and 3 cannot be set in kiosk mode on their own but can be done with the help of third-party software like ArborXR.

Every VR experience and usage is unique, so it’s a good idea to consult your VR content creator or hardware supplier for guidance. The choice of a device depends primarily on the nature of the VR experience. Factors to consider include whether it’s designed for stand-alone use or PC-VR, as well as whether it’s 3DoF or 6DoF. Selecting the right headset that suits your needs involves considering technical requirements and your personal preferences. In the context of TitanSkin, we provide skins for Meta, Pico, HP, and HTC Vive. For an updated list of supported models, please visit our website.

Battery life has posed challenges in the past for VR headsets. Even when connected to a charging cable, some headsets can run low on battery and turn off in certain situations. We recently tested the Pico G3 in our VR Cinema, and its battery performance was significantly better than the older G2 model. It appears that the G3 integrates the 3.0 quick charge protocol, which the G2 lacked. Our test results indicate that the G3 can be used throughout the day without the battery dropping below 96%. The choice of power supply cable also plays a role; we use a 5-meter (16-foot) link cable, which we also offer with our Skins. When charging the headset while it’s in use, always use a charging cable with a 90º angle connector. The charging connector port of the device is sensitive to friction. With TitanSkin, most models include integrated protection for this charging cable and connector.

Regarding the facemask and hygiene: If the VR headset doesn’t come with a silicone inner facemask, for hygiene reasons, we recommend using a replaceable silicone facemask. These are widely available in most VR hardware stores. 

Ensure that the VR area is equipped with a cleaning station containing moist wipes for the face mask and a microfiber cloth for the lenses. Make people aware of their own responsibility for cleaning after use.

Secure: Since our inception as a VR producer, we’ve always grappled with the question of how to position VR headsets within a space. There are, in fact, only a few possibilities. Without permanent cabling, VR headsets can be neatly stored in a case or cabinet. However, when the headsets are fixed to a permanent power supply, the situation changes. In that case, a headset can be placed on a table, hung on a hook, or suspended in the air. After extensive testing, our conclusion was that it’s not ideal to lay a headset on a table or hang it. This often results in the headset not being properly positioned, and frequent placing or hanging can lead to visible damage. The best solution we found was to use a pulley system to suspend the headset entirely. At the top of our Skins, there’s a loop to which the pulley is attached. The Skin, therefore, also serves as a hanging mechanism. The pulley ensures that the headset doesn’t fall to the ground. We also provide these pulleys.

Protect: The primary purpose of our Skins is to safeguard against damage and theft. The aluminum casing provides protection for the vulnerable VR headset itself, which is often used all day and frequently put on and taken off. Visitors frequently grab the headset by the head straps on the sides, which can quickly become loose or break if not supported. The Skins fit snugly around these head straps and hold the movement in place. The buttons are shielded to prevent visitors from accidentally pressing the power button or home button, allowing the headset to operate stably.

Audio: In some VR experiences, audio is of vital importance. With multiple VR headsets and visitors in one space, this can be quite disturbing for the visitor. In such cases, it’s useful to use an external headphone. For some of our models, a headphone holder extension set is available. This allows you to attach your own headphones to the VR setup.

When conducting a VR experience within a public space, it’s best to set up a dedicated area for it, preferably in a somewhat sheltered location. People often feel self-conscious when wearing a VR headset, and it’s nice if the viewer can’t be easily disturbed or touched during that time. It’s common to see friends play pranks on someone who is “blinded” by the VR experience by suddenly touching their leg or shoulder. 

If it’s a seated experience, ensure you have swivel chairs and always maintain sufficient space around the individual, approximately 1.5 meters (5 feet) in diameter.

This page is intended to share our experiences from the past years with you to help you get a better and faster start with the execution of your VR project. If you have your own findings or additional information, we would appreciate hearing from you. This page has been established with the aim of growing into the most comprehensive guide for setting up VR in public spaces in the future.

From our company, we can assist you in mounting and protecting VR headsets by providing the TitanSkin with accessories. 

Furthermore, we’re always open to brainstorming and assisting with your project. Feel free to send us an email to schedule a video call.

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info@titanskinvr.com