In Unity, assets are the items and objects that can be used in the project. Assets refer to the resources used in our application. There is a number of file types that are supported as assets, but for our purposes, these are mostly 3D models, textures, and images, but audio files are also popular. The asset files are typically imported to the Unity project but complex objects will likely have to be created using software such as blender or natively in Unity. Additional details about blender can be found here: Blender. Complex details about blender are beyond the scope of this tutorial, so we can first start by talking about available unity assets.

In the Unity Asset Store, you are able to browse and find assets that may fit your project. Not all assets are free, however you can limit the scope of your search using filters and the search bar to find the best fitting assets for your needs. The asset store can be found here: Unity Asset Store. Assets can also be found elsewhere, but ensure that the asset is usable in Unity. Other websites include Sketchfab. More information regarding the asset work flow can be found here: Asset Workflow. Below we have provided an example of this workflow.

Let's start by doing a short example. Using the link provided above, navigate to the Unity Asset Store. Log in to the Asset Store using your Unity ID that you created earlier. For this example we will start by importing a simple table into our project. If you would like to test it out for yourself you can find the table that I will be using here: Table Asset

 

Click on Add to My Assets to link this asset package into your account. Now we have navigate to our assets which we can do by clicking on our account icon and then clicking My Assets. The "My Assets" page will now look like this:

 

With your Unity Editor for your project open, you can click the Open in Unity button to access the import settings of this asset in your project.

 

Click the Download button, to start downloading the package into your project, and then click Import once the package is downloaded.

 

You can now find that the asset has properly been imported into your project by checking the Project tab on the bottom half of your screen.

 

Click the PBR Table sub directory that is directly underneath Assets. Then click Models, and the "Project" tab should now look like so:

 

To bring the Table Model into your project simply click on PBR_Table and then drag it onto your scene. When successful, the scene will look like so:

 

Now we need to apply textures to the table, underneath the Models sub directory, navigate to the Table_Textures directory. Here you will see many different options of textures that you can apply to the table. Click the texture that you like for the asset, and just like with the table, click and drag it onto the surface of the table.

 

This will apply the chosen texture onto the table.

 

Now we need to do so with with the legs as well and then we end up with this:

 

These are the steps necessary for adding an asset to the scene of your project and can be repeated for all assets you wish to add to your project. Some assets are included in packs or packages with related assets so that they can easily be added to the same project. If you find a set of assets in a folder that you like, you can import the entire folder or create and import your own folder with only the assets you wish to import.

For our project, all of our assets excluding the bunsen burner were retrieved from the Unity Asset Store. The bunsen burner was retrieved from Sketchfab. The assets used in our application scene can be found here: Low Poly Office Props - Lite, Mini Laboratory Pack, and Busen Burner 3D Model. The laboratory pack did not include a petri dish so we removed the top of the beaker asset to make it appear as shown.

 

When designing a more complex VR application, it is possible that the asset store will not have the desired model that you are looking for, or the asset is behind a paywall. When that happens it unfortunately becomes necessary to create it yourself either through Unity natively or through software such as Blender as described earlier.