Virtual reality holds a lot of promise for entertainment, education and industry using 3D worlds, but the tools for the production of VR content still largely remain in the world of 2D. And the new software and gear for creating VR content come with quite the price tag.

To address this gap, Google Inc. today released Google Blocks, a VR content creation app for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, for free.

“Blocks is simple enough for anyone to use, even those without any prior modeling experience,” said Jason Toff, group product manager at Google VR. “It’s designed to feel more like playing with children’s blocks than working with traditional 3D modeling software.”

The objective behind the Blocks app is to provide a simple, intuitive interface within a VR environment that anyone can use without special training.

The app supplies users with a simple set of shapes, a color palette and a clear set of tools for producing 3D objects. The idea is to allow even the most neophyte artist the ability to quickly create VR artwork — making it easy to create anything from a watermelon to a forest.

Blocks artists get access to six tools: Shape, Stroke, Paint, Modify, Grab and Erase.

Creations from Blocks can be easily exported for developers to use in their own apps. Blocks exports in the OBJ format, a file format for 3D vector models. Users can also share creations on the web or generate animated gifs.

A gallery of other people’s creations can be seen at Google Block’s Objects page.

Artists using the app have already created a cornucopia of objects including a slice of cake, a pizza, a steak, hot dogs, a bowl of guacamole and even a hearty breakfast — there is a particular interest in food among VR artists, apparently. Usually inedible items include a snowman, cacti in pots and even the sword in the stone.

The Google Blocks app can be downloaded for free from the Oculus Store and Steam. For more details see the Blocks page.

Image: Google