Which platform: Unity or Unreal?
Let’s imagine that I’d like to create a VR Education Application that teaches how to play the guitar.
Which platform should I choose to do this: Unity or Unreal?
A persona likely to use my VR would look like this:

- Name: Sandra
- Age: 28–32
- Occupation: Journalist, social media enthusiast living in Helsinki Finland
- Quote: ”I’m curious about life, people, the universe and everything.”
- Sandra is all about team work, problem solving and learning about new things. She loves music and wants to learn how to play the guitar.
- Experience level with VR: Sandra has some experience in creating VR narratives for her journalistic stories in 360 environments.
Questions to help to make a desicion on the platform:
- How accessible would each VR platform be to the target student in terms of price? Location, age, and income.
Google Cardboard would be the most accessible and the easiest. High End mobile VR would be possible too (The Gear VR and Daydream VR). High Immersion VR would not be feasible for someone like Sandra.
- How interactive does the lesson need to be? For example, do I need to pick things up or could I get away with just looking at objects?
In order to lean how to play the guitar, it would be important to learn how to hold and pick the guitar and not just point and look at it. But this entirely depends on the level in which we are teaching about the instrument.
- How realistic do visuals need to be in order to teach? For example, could I use 2D images and videos in a 3D Environment or do Ineed high poly 3D models.
In this app I assume that 2D images and videos might also work and be enough to teach how to play the instrument.
- Does the student need to feel like a participant in the experience or can they be a passive viewer? Could they be both?
In this VR app the participant should be both a passive viewer and an active participant: when she is taught something new about the guitar and how to play it, she is a passive observer. When it’s her turn to try out what she just learned, it would be important for her to feel like an active participant.
- Given the answers above, what are potential platforms that could be used for this VR app experience?
There are many options depending on the level of which we want to teach about playing the guitar. Google Cardboard is possible, High End mobile VR would be possible too (The Gear VR and Daydream VR). High Immersion VR would be great as well, but it’s probably outside of the possible price framework in our target audience.
The question remains: Unity or Unreal? What do you think?