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VAUnity

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    Name Last commit Last update
    AudioSource
    AuralizationMode
    Controller
    Directivity
    Receiver
    Renderer
    Reproduction
    Utils
    .gitignore
    AudioSource.meta
    AuralizationMode.meta
    Controller.meta
    Directivity.meta
    LICENSE.md
    LICENSE.md.meta
    README.md
    README.md.meta
    Receiver.meta
    Renderer.meta
    Reproduction.meta
    Utils.meta
    VAAdapter.cs
    VAAdapter.cs.meta
    VACSExtension.cs
    VAStarter.cs
    VAStarter.cs.meta
    VAUnity.cs
    VAUnity.cs.meta
    README.md

    VAUnity

    VAUnity provides C# scripts to connect to the Virtual Acoustics (VA) real-time auralization framework. It is most commonly used to connect a VA auralization server with a Unity scene in order to create a synchronized audio-visual VR environment for an arbitrary combination of audio rendering and reproduction modules. The basic concept is to run a VA server and control it via the C# binding (VACS) by adding classes to existing GameObjects in Unity. By enriching GameObjects with VA-specific classes, VA is triggered to create corresponding entities (like sources and receivers). Control information (such as translatory and rotatory movement) is propagated to the audio rendering instance(s). The Unity audio engine should be disabled. However, to enable VA support for Unity, the Unity project resources must be at hand and the scenes have to be extended manually by VAUnity C# scripts (mainly drag&drop).

    Quick Help

    License

    Copyright 2015-2023 Institute of Technical Acoustics (ITA), RWTH Aachen University

    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use files of this project except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

    Quick build guide for the unpatient and experienced users

    The easiest way to use VAUnity is by using the Unity package.

    • Create a new Unity project.
    • Clone the Unity package recursively to your computer. If you want to include VAUnity as a Unity package, clone it anywhere on your disk. Otherwise, it is recommended to clone it into the Assets/Plugins/ folder in your Unity project. Make sure that the folder /Runtme/VAUnity contains C# files. If not, double check if you cloned recursively, since VAUnity is included as a submodule.
    • If you cloned the package to a random folder: go to the Unity Editor->Package Manager->add->Add package from disk-> Navigate to folder -> select package.json file. A detailed description is in the Unity Documentation. A new folder called Packages/VAUnity should be visible in the project window.
    • If you cloned the package to the Assets folder, just open the Unity project and wait until everything is imported.
    • In the Project window, navigate to the VAUnity folder. Go to VAUnity/Samples/BinauralFreeField and open the BinauralFreeField Scene.
    • Import the TMP Essentials, if you don't have them in your project already. Think about upgrading your text to TextMeshPro in general.
    • Put on your headphones and hit play.
    • The VAServer should start in the foreground. You can minimize the command window and enjoy the auralization. Use your mouse to rotate and WASD or the arrow keys to move.
    • Exit by hitting the Play button again. If you build the scene, you can also click on the Quit button to exit the game.

    Features included in the sample scene are a listener/sound receiver attached to the camera and a moving sound source. If you want to build your Unity project, use only relative paths. VAUnity will search for files located in the Assets, Assets/Plugins and Packages folder.

    Unity & VA example scene tutorial

    Objective

    This section describes how to create an example scene in Unity that controls a VA server for binaural audio rendering. In the end, the visual camera will act as a binaural sound receiver and can be moved from a first person viewpoint to inspect one static and one circulating sound source.

    Software installation

    Recommended: Download or recursively clone the VAUnity package on your computer. If you want to include VAUnity as a Unity package, clone it anywhere on your disk. Otherwise, it is recommended to clone it into the Assets/Plugins/ folder in your Unity project. Make sure that the folder /Runtme/VAUnity contains C# files. If not, double check if you cloned recursively, since VAUnity is included as a submodule.

    Otherwise, obtain a current VA full package from virtualacoustics.org. Make sure that the subfolders VACS_vxxxxx and VAUniy_vxxxxx are included. Run a VA server with a binaural free-field rendering instance, e.g. by executing the run_VAServer.bat script (the untouched default VA configuration file will suffice).

    Unity project

    Download, install and run Unity. Create a new project.

    Using only VAUnity

    Open the project folder in the file browser outside Unity. It should include a folder named Assets. Here, create a new directory Plugins and a subfolder VA. From your VA binary package, copy the directory VACS_vxxxxx into the newly created folder structure (Assets/Plugins/VA). Now, either clone the VAUnity repository into the VA directory or copy the files from the binary package (folder name: VAUniy_vxxxxx). After Unity has detected the new assets the scripts are available and can be assigned to any GameObject as components. You can easily list the scripts as they all have the prefix VAU.

    Using the VAUnity Package (Recommended)

    If you cloned the package to a random folder: go to the Unity Editor->Package Manager->add->Add package from disk-> Navigate to folder -> select package.json file. A detailed description is in the Unity Documentation. A new folder called Packages/VAUnity should be visible in the project window. The package already contains a version of the VAServer, so you don't need to download it separately.

    Set up and connect to VA

    To set up a connection to VA on startup, add the VAUnity script to a newly created empty GameObject named VA. Add a VAAdapter object to the VAUnity component. You can either use the one provided with the VAUnity Package at VAUnity/Resources/VAAdapter/ or create a new one by right clicking/create/VAUnity/VAAdapter. You can include a VAStarter to define a specific configuration for the VAServer. Either use the MyBinauralFreeField object provided by the package in VAUnity/Resources/VA_Configs or create a new one by right clicking/create/VAUnity/VAStarter.

    If you DO NOT use the VAUnity package you need to create and use a VAStartet. Set the direct path to the VA working directory in your VAStarter object. The path should point at the VA full package you downloaded from the VA website.

    Prepare resources

    Create an empty GameObject called HRTF and add an existing C# script named VAU Default HRIR to the HRTF object.

    Place a WAV audio sample in your assets folder. It will be used as signal source. Create an empty GameObject called AudioSignal and add en existing C# script named VAU Signal Source Audio File. Type in the full name (including file ending) of the WAV file as FilePath. If you use a relative path, Unity will search for files located in the Assets and Packages folder.

    Create an empty GameObject called Sound Source. Add the VAU Sound Source Generic C# script. The Script will update the pose accordingly based on the transform, i.e. if the movement is connected to a tracking device (e.g. VR controller), the tracked data will be forwared to VA. Also, drag&trop the AudioSignal GameObject onto the Signal Source property of the VAU Sound Source Generic component. Check the Play On Start option on the VAU Sound Source Generic.

    Listener

    Drag&drop the VAU Sound Receiver script onto the camera rig or another GameObject to create a dynamic listener in VA. The Script will update the pose accordingly based on the transform, i.e. if the movement is connected to a tracking device (e.g. VR glasses), the tracked data will be forwared to VA. To enable binaural rendering, drag&drop the HRTF GameObject onto the Directivity parameter of the VAU Sound Receiver component.

    Auralization modes

    You can control the auralization modes via the VAU Auralizaton Mode Global script. Auralization modes are either controlling sound sources, listeners or are set globally. VA will only auralize a certain effect, if the corresponding mode is activated for all three components, i.e. a logic AND combination is applied.