VR Duomo Experience
About the project
VR Duomo Experience is an XR project developed in Unreal Engine 5, designed to let multiple users explore and experience Piazza Duomo in both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
The experience blends multiplayer synchronization, guided dialogues, and interactive avatars to recreate an immersive narrative centered around the poet Francesco Petrarca and a virtual guide.
Main Features
Synchronized multiplayer
Seamless AR ↔ VR transition
Replicated dialogue and audio system
Level streaming setup
Optimized performance for VR
Project Loop
- The user joins as a guest and sees the virtual guide (Claudia) introducing the experience.
- The guide triggers the appearance of Petrarca, starting the narrative exchange.
- The experience transitions from the real environment (AR) to the virtual reconstruction (VR).
- Dialogue sequences and animations alternate until the end of the experience.
The Team and My Role
As VR Developer, I was responsible for:
- Designing and implementing the multiplayer network architecture (dedicated server + Meta Quest clients).
- Developing replicated systems for audio, text, and animation synchronization.
- Implementing the AR–VR transition and level management logic.
- Optimizing performance for standalone Meta Quest devices.
- Managing builds and deployment for both server and APK versions.
Problems Encountered and Solutions
- Issue: Severe performance drops during VR rendering.
- Solution: Global texture size reduction, optimized materials, disabled decals and heavy lights.
- Issue: Dialogue desynchronization between host and clients.
- Solution: Custom RPC–Multicast system to replicate quotes, audio, and animations across all players.
- Issue: Managing the AR–VR transition between multiple environments.
- Solution: Kept everything inside a single persistent level with dynamic sublevel activation to ensure stability.
