I first had the privilege of working with Charles Palmer in 2002 when I joined the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Both Charles and I were lucky enough to work with virtual reality pioneer Randy Pausch, whom you might know from his famous book and video entitled The Last Lecture. Randy was a great believer in the future of virtual reality. He really believed, like I do, that it is the most important development in computer technology to happen in our lifetime. Randy devoted the majority of his career to figuring out how to best use VR to create incredible experiences, and one way he did this was by creating a class called Building Virtual Worlds, which challenged students to use bleeding edge VR technologies to create powerful and innovative experiences. The central philosophy of the class was that there was no time to sit around theorizing about what might work—the best way to learn about virtual reality is to jump right in! Fifteen years later, Randy is no longer with us, but the class goes on, and though the technology has advanced, we still jump right in!

Of course, jumping in with the support of an advanced graduate program is one thing, and jumping in on your own is something else again! Fortunately for you, Charles Palmer and Producer/Writer John Williamson have crafted this wonderful book, which provides everything you need to get started crafting your own innovative virtual worlds right away. Great virtual worlds are immersive, and so is this book! Whether you have access to an Oculus Rift, a Gear VR headset, or even just Google Cardboard, this book provides everything you need to jump right in and get started.

VR will change the way we live, work, and play. As happened with electricity, the internet, and smart phones, one day we will all look back and wonder how we ever got along without it. As Willy Wonka's golden ticket proclaims, In your wildest dreams, you could not imagine the marvelous surprises that await you! So why wait? Virtual Reality Blueprints is a wonderful gateway to hands-on VR development. You will find that creating great VR can be hard work, but with the help of this Virtual Reality Blueprints, it will also be a tremendous amount of fun, and as Randy once told us, Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.

Jesse Schell
Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology,

Carnegie Mellon University,
CEO, Schell Games,

February, 2018