Software engineer · VR & game dev · Mumbai

Ritvik
Babre

I build things for virtual reality, most recently a driving simulator with a real steering wheel, plus the occasional game and website.

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Quest log

Save loaded · Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 · Now
MBA
NMIMS Centre for Distance and Online Education
Objective: Learn the business side, so I can build the thing and also make the slide deck about it.
✓ Complete
Chapter 3 · Aug 2025 – Aug 2026
Junior Research Fellow
Vivekanand Institute of Technology, Chembur
Objective: Taught undergrads in an assistant-professor role: ran the lectures, ran the labs, graded the work.
Subjects taught
- Data Structures & Algorithms
- Advanced Databases
- Cloud Computing
- IT Software Management
- DevOps
- E-Commerce & E-Business
- Agile
✓ Complete
Chapter 2 · 2024 – 2026
M.Tech, Software Engineering
VJTI, Mumbai
Objective: Build a VR driving simulator, then write a thesis about it. See: DriveXR.
✓ Complete
Chapter 1 · 2020 – 2024
B.E., Information Technology
KC College of Engineering, Mumbai
Objective: Graduate. Picked up a VR horror game, a published paper and second place at Projectathon 2.0 on the way.
◇ Side quest
Side quests · 2021 – 2022
Internships
via Eduskills
Objective: AWS Cloud Foundations (2021) and Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity (2022).

Levels

4 cleared · 1 bonus stage

Level 04M.Tech thesis

DriveXR

VR driving simulator

A driving simulator for learner drivers. A PC runs the Unity app and streams it to a Meta Quest 3, while a real Logitech G29 wheel, pedals and shifter do the driving. You drive a Tata Safari through three practice maps, with hand-tracked controls and AI traffic that mostly obeys the lights.

The view from the driver's seat of the Tata Safari in DriveXR, looking down a city street, with working mirrors

Driver's seat · city map

Unity scene view of a DriveXR intersection with AI cars and their checkpoint paths drawn as blue lines

Traffic AI, debug lines on

Unity scene view of all three DriveXR maps: a straight highway, a winding mountain road and a city

Highway, mountain road, city

Boss

The Quest 3 can't talk to a USB steering wheel on its own.

Strategy

Run the game on a PC and stream it to the headset over Quest Link.

Car: Tata Safari
Maps: 3
Signalised intersections: 9
Frame rate: 72 Hz
Wheel mounts broken: 1

Unity 6 · C# · OpenXR · Meta Quest 3 · Logitech G29

Read the thesis Patch notes

Level 03Undergrad

Virtual Reality Horror Chronicles

Research paper

Published in STM Journals' Journal of Multimedia Technology and Recent Advancements. An exploration of fear in virtual reality: what scares people in a headset, and why.

Published: Nov 2024
Topic: Fear in VR

Research · VR

Publication certificate

Level 02Undergrad

Deadend Sunrise

VR horror game

A horror game for Google Cardboard on Android, plus a non-VR build for PC, for the faint of heart.

Headset: Google Cardboard
Platforms: Android + PC

Unity · C# · OpenXR · Mixamo

Level 01Undergrad

Vehicle Number Plate Detection

Computer vision

Scans number plates and turns them into machine-readable text.

Language: Python

Python · OpenCV · Machine learning

★ Bonus stage

This website

You're in it. It used to be a Vercel template with gradients on everything.

Next.js · Tailwind CSS · Vercel · Cloudflare

Patch notes

DriveXR · M.Tech 2024 – 2026

Real bugs from building DriveXR, straight out of the test log in my thesis. The good ones, anyway.

FixedDrive and Reverse were swapped. Asking the car to go forwards sent it backwards.
FixedThe car wouldn't leave Park. The parking brake went on and never let go.
FixedThe car floored it the moment you shifted into Drive. The G29's pedals read +1 at rest and −1 when pressed, which is backwards.
FixedThe Quest controllers kept getting mistaken for the steering wheel.
FixedGrabbing the VR steering wheel made it orbit around the car instead of turning.
FixedAI cars could spend several minutes turning in place at an intersection.
FixedTwo AI cars meeting head-on would stare at each other forever.
FixedAI cars fell through gaps in the road and got stuck underneath it.
FixedAI cars flipped over on sharp turns. They now have a self-righting torque.
ChangedSwapped the budget wheel for a Logitech G29. With a headset on, testers kept losing track of which pedal was the brake.
Known issueForce feedback is off. The first attempt was strong enough to break the wheel mount.
Known issueFirst-time VR players get queasy accelerating and turning. It mostly wears off by session three.
Known issueTaller players sit too low in the cockpit. Height calibration is on the list.
Known issueVery busy intersections can still gridlock.

Loadout

Skills & hardware

Engines

UnityEquipped
Unreal Engine
Ren'Py
Flutter

XR

OpenXR
XR Interaction Toolkit

Hardware

Meta Quest 3
Google Cardboard

Code

C#Equipped
C++
JavaScript
TypeScript
Python

Web

React
Next.js
Node.js
Tailwind CSS

Cloud & tools

AWS
Cloudflare
Git
GitHub Actions

Languages spoken

English
Hindi
Marathi
Japanesestill grinding

Multiplayer

Waiting for player 2_

Want to talk games, VR, or why horror hits harder in a headset?

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RitvikBabre