While this project runs well on a standard Wi-Fi network, there may be times when you want to take it further afield and run it without needing to connect to a new set of Wi-Fi networks. This guide helps you choose the right mobile networking setup for your deployment.
The Wave Tech Demo is largely a standalone, offline experience. However, the Augmented Reality experience has the ability to network multiple headsets together in a collaborative, colocated experience*.* This experience has two main components that require networking, and handle that networking in different ways. They are the experience networking, and the colocation.
This is the core multiplayer functionality of the experience. It is a layer in the game that connects all of the players into a multiplayer experience. It synchronizes information between players, including the game state and the spawning, despawning, and location of the wooden blocks. This layer runs entirely on a local network and does not require internet access.
Colocation is the fancy term we use to describe how players can share the same physical space in XR, with the virtual elements they see in the experience locked into the same frame of reference. In simple terms: If you see a virtual potted plant on a real table, I’ll see the exact same virtual potted plant on the same real table, at the exact same location and with the same rotation.
The colocation layer of our application requires access to the Meta servers to process the spatial data captured by the headsets and align the players. This requires an internet connection to properly function.
For small deployments (<5 headsets), a mobile hotspot with good cell signal will be a strong enough backbone to coordinate the shared-space AR experience. This hotspot is able to act as both the local network to handle the core experience networking, as well as the internet access required to handle the colocation.
It is important that this hotspot is run on a modern cellphone, and has strong LTE signal.
For larger demonstrations (5 - 10 headsets) a phone-based hotspot is not able to provide enough bandwidth to properly coordinate all of the players. These larger demos require a dedicated router and cellular access point.
The router projects a local arena network that coordinates the experience networking, and the cellular access point gives the router access out to the internet to coordinate the colocation.