Virtual reality (VR) allows users to interact with simulated environments, whether replicating the real world or an imaginary world. VR has five main components - dimensionality, motion/animation, interaction, viewpoint, and immersion. It can be used for training, education, or games. There are various types of VR systems including non-immersive desktop systems, semi-immersive projection systems, and fully immersive head-mounted display systems. Key VR hardware includes head-mounted displays, data gloves, tracking devices, and cave automatic virtual environments. VR software includes toolkits for programming applications and authoring systems for creating worlds graphically.
Virtual reality actually is a technology that uses virtual reality headsets, and sometimes in combination with physical spaces or multi projected environments in order to generate realistic images, sounds and sensations, with high quality virtual reality equipment the user can enjoy in an artificial environment and can look around there.
How it works?, What is Virtual Reality?, Introduction?, History, VR Components,
Virtual Reality's Types, Applications of Virtual Reality, Advantages of Virtual Reality, Disadvantages of virtual Reality, Conclusion of After Learning this Stuff.
Virtual reality actually is a technology that uses virtual reality headsets, and sometimes in combination with physical spaces or multi projected environments in order to generate realistic images, sounds and sensations, with high quality virtual reality equipment the user can enjoy in an artificial environment and can look around there.
How it works?, What is Virtual Reality?, Introduction?, History, VR Components,
Virtual Reality's Types, Applications of Virtual Reality, Advantages of Virtual Reality, Disadvantages of virtual Reality, Conclusion of After Learning this Stuff.
Virtual Reality refers to a high-end user interface that involves real-time simulation and interactions through multiple sensorial channels. Virtual Reality is often used to describe a wide variety of applications, commonly associated with its immersive, highly visual, 3D environments. The development of CAD software, graphics hardware acceleration, head mounted displays, database gloves and miniaturization have helped popularize the concept. Jaron Lanier coined the term Virtual Reality in 1987. Today Virtual Reality plays a big part in the everyday lives of the world’s population.
There are many more uses of VR than first realised which range from academic research through to engineering, design, business, the arts and entertainment. But irrespective of the use, virtual reality produces a set of data which is then used to develop new models, training methods, communication and interaction.
Virtual Reality is a growing technology.
VIRTUAL REALITY REFERS TO A HIGH-END USER INTERFACE THAT INVOLVES REAL-TIME SIMULATION AND INTERACTION THROUGH MULTIPLE CENSORIAL CHANNELS.
VIRTUAL REALITY IS A COMPUTER GENERATED WORLD WITH WHICH THE USER CAN INTERACT WITH THE COMPUTER GENERATED VIRTUAL WORLD.
IVAN SUTHERLAND IS THE 1ST PERSON TO DEVELOP A VIRTUAL REALITY MACHINE. THAT IS THE FIRST HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY ( HMD ), WHICH WAS DEVELOPED IN 1968.
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer technology that uses Virtual reality headsets, sometimes in combination with physical spaces or multi-projected environments, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to "look around" the artificial world, and with high quality VR move about in it and interact with virtual features or items. VR headsets are head-mounted goggles with a screen in front of the eyes. Programs may include audio and sounds through speakers or headphones.
THIS is about the new technology arriving in 21st century taking the world to a whole new level. We are going to replace this real world interface with an imaginary one by using this concept
What is Virtual Reality?
Why we need Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality systems
Virtual Reality hardware
Virtual Reality developing tools
The Future of Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality refers to a high-end user interface that involves real-time simulation and interactions through multiple sensorial channels. Virtual Reality is often used to describe a wide variety of applications, commonly associated with its immersive, highly visual, 3D environments. The development of CAD software, graphics hardware acceleration, head mounted displays, database gloves and miniaturization have helped popularize the concept. Jaron Lanier coined the term Virtual Reality in 1987. Today Virtual Reality plays a big part in the everyday lives of the world’s population.
There are many more uses of VR than first realised which range from academic research through to engineering, design, business, the arts and entertainment. But irrespective of the use, virtual reality produces a set of data which is then used to develop new models, training methods, communication and interaction.
Virtual Reality is a growing technology.
VIRTUAL REALITY REFERS TO A HIGH-END USER INTERFACE THAT INVOLVES REAL-TIME SIMULATION AND INTERACTION THROUGH MULTIPLE CENSORIAL CHANNELS.
VIRTUAL REALITY IS A COMPUTER GENERATED WORLD WITH WHICH THE USER CAN INTERACT WITH THE COMPUTER GENERATED VIRTUAL WORLD.
IVAN SUTHERLAND IS THE 1ST PERSON TO DEVELOP A VIRTUAL REALITY MACHINE. THAT IS THE FIRST HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY ( HMD ), WHICH WAS DEVELOPED IN 1968.
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer technology that uses Virtual reality headsets, sometimes in combination with physical spaces or multi-projected environments, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to "look around" the artificial world, and with high quality VR move about in it and interact with virtual features or items. VR headsets are head-mounted goggles with a screen in front of the eyes. Programs may include audio and sounds through speakers or headphones.
THIS is about the new technology arriving in 21st century taking the world to a whole new level. We are going to replace this real world interface with an imaginary one by using this concept
What is Virtual Reality?
Why we need Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality systems
Virtual Reality hardware
Virtual Reality developing tools
The Future of Virtual Reality
It is a seminar presentation on a technology called Virtual reality. It key features are what is virtual reality, its history and evolution, its types, devices that are used for Virtual reality and where virtual reality is applicable.
These are the slides from Dames Making Games' "Introduction to Game-Making Tools" workshop. If you want to make a game, there are lots of tools available to help you -- even if you've never made one before, and even if you don't know how to code! This presentation provides an overview of the tools that are most popular with DMG members.
I don't like jumping into an all-day seminar full of jargon and potentially new vocabulary without setting a baseline, so I created this VERY brief overview of VR to kick off the day at the International Documentary Association (IDA) 3-day deep dive into VR for documentary filmmakers in LA.
Detailed overview of VR post-production workflow presented at the International Documentary Association (IDA) 3-day deep dive into VR for documentary filmmakers in LA.
Overview of audio for VR video production. Presented at the International Documentary Association (IDA) 3-day deep dive into VR for documentary filmmakers in LA.
De komst van nieuwe devices, zoals de Microsoft HoloLens en de HTC Vive, zorgen voor nieuwe gebruikerervaringen. Het is mogelijk om jezelf te transporteren naar een hele andere wereld, of de huidige wereld te zien door een andere bril. Wat zijn virtual, augmented en mixed reality nou eigenlijk? Hoe zorg je voor de optimale ervaring voor je gebruikers met deze nieuwe technieken?
Nico van Driel en Rob Bakkers geven je een doorkijk naar deze nieuwe virtuele werelden. Ze laten zien wat er nu en in de toekomst allemaal mogelijk is met deze nieuwe devices zoals de HTC Vive en de Microsoft HoloLens.
Bekijk de presentatie over Virtual Reality met de HTC Vive hier: http://www.slideshare.net/Avanade-Nederland/mixed-reality-en-virtual-realitymet-microsoft-hololens-en-htc-vive
This presentation describes and defines Virtual Really.
Its also mentions some of its ongoing research for its viable usage in the field of electrical engineering.
It was done a school project.
And the information was collected sources available on the internet.
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world. Applications of virtual reality can include entertainment (i.e. video games) and educational purposes (i.e. medical or military training). Other, distinct types of VR style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality, sometimes referred to as extended reality or XR.
It is computer technology thats uses virtual reality headset. sometimes in combination with physical environments , to generates the realistic images, sounds and other sensation that simulate a user's physical presence in virtual or imaginary environment.
A virtual environment (VE) is a digital space in which a user’s movements are tracked and his or her surroundings rendered, or digitally composed and displayed to the senses, in accordance with those movements.
GraphSummit Singapore | The Art of the Possible with Graph - Q2 2024Neo4j
Neha Bajwa, Vice President of Product Marketing, Neo4j
Join us as we explore breakthrough innovations enabled by interconnected data and AI. Discover firsthand how organizations use relationships in data to uncover contextual insights and solve our most pressing challenges – from optimizing supply chains, detecting fraud, and improving customer experiences to accelerating drug discoveries.
Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity. Users of mobile devices desire to take full advantage of the features
available on those devices, but many of the features provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security. This best practices guide outlines steps the users can take to better protect personal devices and information.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Full-RAG: A modern architecture for hyper-personalizationZilliz
Mike Del Balso, CEO & Co-Founder at Tecton, presents "Full RAG," a novel approach to AI recommendation systems, aiming to push beyond the limitations of traditional models through a deep integration of contextual insights and real-time data, leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture. This talk will outline Full RAG's potential to significantly enhance personalization, address engineering challenges such as data management and model training, and introduce data enrichment with reranking as a key solution. Attendees will gain crucial insights into the importance of hyperpersonalization in AI, the capabilities of Full RAG for advanced personalization, and strategies for managing complex data integrations for deploying cutting-edge AI solutions.
Goodbye Windows 11: Make Way for Nitrux Linux 3.5.0!SOFTTECHHUB
As the digital landscape continually evolves, operating systems play a critical role in shaping user experiences and productivity. The launch of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 marks a significant milestone, offering a robust alternative to traditional systems such as Windows 11. This article delves into the essence of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, exploring its unique features, advantages, and how it stands as a compelling choice for both casual users and tech enthusiasts.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
How to Get CNIC Information System with Paksim Ga.pptxdanishmna97
Pakdata Cf is a groundbreaking system designed to streamline and facilitate access to CNIC information. This innovative platform leverages advanced technology to provide users with efficient and secure access to their CNIC details.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
A tale of scale & speed: How the US Navy is enabling software delivery from l...sonjaschweigert1
Rapid and secure feature delivery is a goal across every application team and every branch of the DoD. The Navy’s DevSecOps platform, Party Barge, has achieved:
- Reduction in onboarding time from 5 weeks to 1 day
- Improved developer experience and productivity through actionable findings and reduction of false positives
- Maintenance of superior security standards and inherent policy enforcement with Authorization to Operate (ATO)
Development teams can ship efficiently and ensure applications are cyber ready for Navy Authorizing Officials (AOs). In this webinar, Sigma Defense and Anchore will give attendees a look behind the scenes and demo secure pipeline automation and security artifacts that speed up application ATO and time to production.
We will cover:
- How to remove silos in DevSecOps
- How to build efficient development pipeline roles and component templates
- How to deliver security artifacts that matter for ATO’s (SBOMs, vulnerability reports, and policy evidence)
- How to streamline operations with automated policy checks on container images
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of technologies, XML continues to play a vital role in structuring, storing, and transporting data across diverse systems. The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) present new methodologies for enhancing XML development workflows, introducing efficiency, automation, and intelligent capabilities. This presentation will outline the scope and perspective of utilizing AI in XML development. The potential benefits and the possible pitfalls will be highlighted, providing a balanced view of the subject.
We will explore the capabilities of AI in understanding XML markup languages and autonomously creating structured XML content. Additionally, we will examine the capacity of AI to enrich plain text with appropriate XML markup. Practical examples and methodological guidelines will be provided to elucidate how AI can be effectively prompted to interpret and generate accurate XML markup.
Further emphasis will be placed on the role of AI in developing XSLT, or schemas such as XSD and Schematron. We will address the techniques and strategies adopted to create prompts for generating code, explaining code, or refactoring the code, and the results achieved.
The discussion will extend to how AI can be used to transform XML content. In particular, the focus will be on the use of AI XPath extension functions in XSLT, Schematron, Schematron Quick Fixes, or for XML content refactoring.
The presentation aims to deliver a comprehensive overview of AI usage in XML development, providing attendees with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions. Whether you’re at the early stages of adopting AI or considering integrating it in advanced XML development, this presentation will cover all levels of expertise.
By highlighting the potential advantages and challenges of integrating AI with XML development tools and languages, the presentation seeks to inspire thoughtful conversation around the future of XML development. We’ll not only delve into the technical aspects of AI-powered XML development but also discuss practical implications and possible future directions.
Maruthi Prithivirajan, Head of ASEAN & IN Solution Architecture, Neo4j
Get an inside look at the latest Neo4j innovations that enable relationship-driven intelligence at scale. Learn more about the newest cloud integrations and product enhancements that make Neo4j an essential choice for developers building apps with interconnected data and generative AI.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
1. VIRTUAL REALITY
DEFINITION:
1.1
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a
computer-simulated environment, whether that environment is a simulation of the real
world or an imaginary world. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily
visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special or
stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such
as sound through speakers or headphones. Some advanced, hepatic systems now include
tactile information, generally known as force feedback, in medical and gaming
applications. Users can interact with a virtual environment or a virtual artifact (VA) either
through the use of standard input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, or through
multimodal devices such as a wired glove, the boom arm, and Omni directional treadmill.
The simulated environment can be similar to the real world, for example, simulations for
pilot or combat training, or it can differ significantly from reality, as in VR games.
Virtual reality can be divided into:
1.
The simulation of a real environment for training and education.
2.
The development of an imagined environment for a game or interactive story.
1.2 TERMS OF VIRTUAL REALITY:
•
"Virtual" refers to its computer-generated existence; some prefer the term "cyber" to
reinforce the world.
•
"Reality" is the more controversial term. Realism debates whirl around what levels of
realistic detail are needed and affordable. Practitioners can choose types and amounts
of reality varying from "objective" to "novel" and from specific to variable, or
nonspecific.
VR has five main components which are variable according per the instructional context
requirements:
1
2. VIRTUAL REALITY
•
dimensionality,
•
motion or animation,
•
interaction,
•
viewpoint or frame of reference, and
•
Immersion, or embodiment, through enhanced multisensory experiences.
1.3 WHY IS VR USEFUL?
VR technologies address a wide range of interaction and immersion capabilities.
Interaction varies learner control during the VR experience. Immersion varies from first-,
second-, or third-person experiences and in physical, perceptual, and psychological
options.
2
3. VIRTUAL REALITY
•
The concept of virtual reality has been around for decades, even though the public
really only became aware of it in the early 1990s. In the mid 1950s, a
cinematographer named Morton Heilig envisioned a theatre experience that would
stimulate all his audiences’ senses, drawing them in to the stories more effectively.
He built a single user console in 1960 called the Sensorama that included a
stereoscopic display, fans, odor emitters, stereo speakers and a moving chair. He also
invented a head mounted television display designed to let a user watch television in
3-D. Users were passive audiences for the films, but many of Heilig’s concepts would
find their way into the VR field.
•
Philco Corporation engineers developed the first HMD in 1961, called the Head sight.
The helmet included a video screen and tracking system, which the engineers linked
to a closed circuit camera system. They intended the HMD for use in dangerous
situations -- a user could observe a real environment remotely, adjusting the camera
angle by turning his head. Bell Laboratories used a similar HMD for helicopter pilots.
They linked HMDs to infrared cameras attached to the bottom of helicopters, which
allowed pilots to have a clear field of view while flying in the dark.
In 1965, a computer scientist named Ivan Sutherland envisioned what he called the
“Ultimate Display.” Using this display, a person could look into a virtual world that
would appear as real as the physical world the user lived in. This vision guided almost all
the developments within the field of virtual reality. Sutherland’s concept included:
A virtual world that appears real to any observer, seen through an HMD and
•
augmented through three-dimensional sound and tactile stimuli
•
A computer that maintains the world model in real time
•
The ability for users to manipulate virtual objects in a realistic, intuitive way
In 1966, Sutherland built an HMD that was tethered to a computer system. The computer
provided all the graphics for the display.
3
4. VIRTUAL REALITY
Although it is difficult to categorize all VR systems, most configurations fall into
three main categories and each category can be ranked by the sense of immersion, or
degree of presence it provides. Immersion or presence can be regarded as how powerfully
the attention of the user is focused on the task in hand. Immersion presence is generally
believed to be the product of several parameters including level of interactivity, image
complexity, stereoscopic view, and field of regard and the update rate of the display. For
example, providing a stereoscopic rather than monoscopic view of the virtual
environment will increase the sense of immersion experienced by the user. It must be
stressed that no one parameter is effective in isolation and the level of immersion
achieved is due to the complex interaction of the many factors involved.
3.1 Window on World Systems (WoW)
•
Some systems use a conventional computer monitor to display the visual world. This
sometimes called Desktop VR or a Window on a World (WoW). This concept traces
its lineage back through the entire history of computer graphics. In 1965, Ivan
Sutherland laid out a research program for computer graphics in a paper called "The
Ultimate Display" that has driven the field for the past nearly thirty years.
•
"One must look at a display screen," he said, "as a window through which one
beholds a virtual world. The challenge to computer graphics is to make the picture in
the window look real, sound real and the objects act real."
4
5. VIRTUAL REALITY
3.2 Telepresence
Telepresence is a variation on visualizing complete computer generated worlds.
This technology links remote sensors in the real world with the senses of a human
operator. The remote sensors might be located on a robot, or they might be on the ends of
WALDO like tools. Fire fighters use remotely operated vehicles to handle some
dangerous conditions. Surgeons are using very small instruments on cables to do surgery
without cutting a major hole in their patients. The instruments have a small video camera
at the business end. Robots equipped with Telepresence systems have already changed
the way deep sea and volcanic exploration is done. NASA plans to use telerobotics for
space exploration. There is currently a joint US/Russian project researching Telepresence
for space rover exploration.
3.3 Mixed Reality
•
Merging the Telepresence and Virtual Reality systems gives the Mixed Reality or
Seamless Simulation systems. Here the computer generated inputs are merged with
Telepresence inputs and/or the users view of the real world. A surgeon's view of a
brain surgery is overlaid with images from earlier CAT scans and real-time
5
6. VIRTUAL REALITY
ultrasound. A fighter pilot sees computer generated maps and data displays inside his
fancy helmet visor or on cockpit displays.
•
The phrase "fish tank virtual reality" was used to describe a Canadian VR system
reported in the 1993 InterCHI proceedings. It combines a stereoscopic monitor
display using liquid crystal shutter glasses with a mechanical head tracker. The
resulting system is superior to simple stereo-WoW systems due to the motion parallax
effects introduced by the head tracker.
3.4 Immersive Systems
•
The ultimate VR systems completely immerse the user's personal viewpoint inside the
virtual world. These "immersive" VR systems are often equipped with a Head
Mounted Display (HMD). This is a helmet or a face mask that holds the visual and
auditory displays. The helmet may be free ranging, tethered, or it might be attached to
some sort of a boom armature.
•
A nice variation of the immersive systems use multiple large projection displays to
create a 'Cave' or room in which the viewer(s) stand. An early implementation was
called "The Closet Cathedral" for the ability to create the impression of an immense
6
7. VIRTUAL REALITY
environment. Within a small physical space. The Holodeck used in the television
series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is afar term extrapolation of this technology.
3.5 Non-Immersive Systems
•
Non-immersive systems, as the name suggests, are the least immersive
implementation of VR techniques. Using the desktop system, the virtual environment
is viewed through a portal or window by utilizing a standard high resolution monitor.
Interaction with the virtual environment can occur by conventional means such as
keyboards, mice and trackballs or may be enhanced by using 3D interaction devices
such as a Space Ball; or Data Glove.
•
The non-immersive system has advantages in that they do not require the highest
level of graphics performance, no special hardware and can be implemented on high
specification PC clones. This means that these systems can be regarded as the lowest
cost VR solution which can be used for many applications. However, this low cost
means that these systems will always be outperformed by more sophisticated
implementations, provide almost no sense of immersion and are limited to a certain
extent by current 2D interaction devices.
3.6 Semi-Immersive Systems
Semi-immersive systems are a relatively new implementation of VR technology and
borrow considerably from technologies developed in the flight simulation field. A semiimmersive system will comprise of a relatively high performance graphics computing
system which can be coupled with either:
•
A large screen monitor
•
A large screen projector system
•
Multiple television projection systems
In many ways, these projection systems are similar to the IMAX theatres. Using a
wide field of view, these systems increase the feeling of immersion or presence
7
8. VIRTUAL REALITY
experienced by the user. However, the quality of the projected image is an important
consideration. It is important to calibrate the geometry of the projected image to the
shape of the screen to prevent distortions and the resolution will determine the quality of
textures, colors, the ability of define shapes and the ability of the user to read text onscreen. The resolutions of projection systems range from 1000 - 3000 lines but to achieve
the highest levels it may be necessary to use multiple projection systems which are more
expensive.
3.7 Fully Immersive Systems
The most direct experience of virtual environments is provided by fully
immersive VR systems. These systems are probably the most widely known VR
implementation where the user either wears an HMD or uses some form of head-coupled
display such as a Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor or BOOM. Fully immersive VR
systems tend to be the most demanding in terms of the computing power and level of
technology required achieving a satisfactory level of realism and development is
constantly underway to improve the technologies. Major areas of research and
development include field of view vs. resolution trade-offs, reducing the size and weight
of HMDs and reducing system lag times.
8
9. VIRTUAL REALITY
A good comparison between the various VR implementations is shown below. It
is also important that these implementations are not regarded as distinct boundaries for
implementations. For example, it is possible to turn a desktop system into a semiimmersive system by simply adding shutter glasses and the appropriate software, or a
fully immersive system by connecting an HMD.
Qualitative Performance
Main Features
Non-
Immersive Semi-Immersive
Full
VR
VR
VR
(Desktop)
(Projection)
(Head-coupled)
Resolution
High
High
Low - Medium
Scale (perception)
Low
Medium - High
High
Medium
High
Sense of situational Low
Immersive
awareness
(navigation skills)
Field of regard
Low
Medium
High
Lag
Low
Low
Medium - High
Medium - High
Medium - High
Sense
of None - low
immersion
There are a number of specialized types of hardware devices that have been developed or
used for Virtual Reality applications.
9
10. VIRTUAL REALITY
5.1 Head Mounted Display (HMD)
•
One hardware device closely associated with VR is the Head Mounted Device
(HMD). These use some sort of helmet or goggles to place small video displays in
front of each eye, with special optics to focus and stretch the perceived field of view.
Most HMDs use two displays and can provide stereoscopic imaging. Others use a
single larger display to provide higher resolution, but without the stereoscopic vision.
•
An HMD uses small monitors placed in front of each eye which can provide stereo,
bi-ocular or monocular images. Stereo images are provided in a similar way to shutter
glasses, in that a slightly different image is presented to each eye. The major
difference is that the two screens are placed very close (50-70mm) to the eye,
although the image, which the wearer focuses on, will be much further away because
of the HMD optical system. Bi-ocular images can be provided by displaying identical
images on each screen and monocular images by using only one display screen.
5.2 Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor
•
The human brain perceives depth only because it has two eyes for visual input. Each
eye sees a slightly different angle of the same scene. These two separate views are
combined in the brain to form a single, 3D image, with parts of the data from each
eye used to work out relative distances.
•
To replicate this effect in VR, you require a device that can do the same thing – give
each eye a separate view. Enter the BOOM or Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor.
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11. VIRTUAL REALITY
The Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor or BOOM is one of the oldest VR displays,
and direct ancestor to the HMD. It consists of a 3-D display device suspended from a
weighted boom that can swivel freely. Sometimes this boom is mounted on a trolley,
sometimes affixed to the ceiling.
•
BOOMs typically communicate the user’s point of view to the computer system by
the position and orientation of the view port. Typical BOOM configurations will
swivel in six degrees of freedom, moving up and down and swiveling on the boom as
well as rotating about an axis point, to closely replicate head movements without
being attached to the head.
5.3 Cave Automatic Virtual Environment
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A Cave Automatic Virtual Environment is an immersive virtual reality environment
where projectors are directed to three, four, five or six of the walls of a room-sized
cube. The name is also a reference to the allegory of the Cave in Plato's Republic
where a philosopher contemplates perception, reality and illusion.
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The CAVE is a 10’ X 10’ X 9’ theatre that sits in a larger room measured to be
around 35’ X 25’ X 13’. The walls of the CAVE are made up of rear-projection
screens, and the floor is made of a down-projection screen. High-resolution projectors
(the University of Illinois uses an Electro home Marquee 8000) display images on
each of the screens by projecting the images onto mirrors which reflect the images
onto the projection screens.
5.4 Data Gloves
One common VR device is the instrumented glove. The use of a glove to manipulate
objects in a computer is covered by a basic patent in the USA. Such a glove is
outfitted with sensors on the fingers as well as an overall position/orientation tracker.
There are a number of different types of sensors that can be used. This device is
easily adapted to interface to a personal computer. It provides some limited hand
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location and finger position data using strain gauges for finger bends and ultrasonic
position sensors.
5.5 Control Devices
One key element for interaction with a virtual world
is a means of tracking the position of a real world
object, such as a head or hand. There are numerous
methods for position tracking and control. Ideally a
technology
should
provide
3
measures
for
position(X, Y, Z) and 3 measures of orientation
(roll, pitch, and yaw). One of the biggest problems
for position tracking is latency, or the time required
to make the measurements and preprocess them
before input to the simulation engine.
The simplest control hardware is a conventional mouse, trackball or joystick. While these
are two dimensional devices, creative programming can use them for 6D controls. There
are a number of 3 and 6 dimensional mice/trackball/joystick devices being introduced to
the market at this time. These add some extra buttons and wheels that are used to control
not just the XY translation of a cursor, but its Z dimension and rotations in all three
directions. The Global Devices 6D Controllers is one such 6D joystick it looks like a
racket ball mounted on a short stick. You can pull and twist the ball in addition to the
left/right & forward/back of a normal joystick. Other 3D and 6D mice, joystick and force
balls are available from Logitech, Mouse System Corp. among others.
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There are two major categories for the available VR software: toolkits and
authoring systems. Toolkits are programming libraries, generally for C or C++ that
provides a set of functions with which a skilled programmer can create VR applications.
Authoring systems are complete programs with graphical interfaces for creating worlds
without resorting to detailed programming. These usually include some sort of scripting
language in which to describe complex actions, so they are not really non-programming,
just much simpler programming. The programming libraries are generally more flexible
and have faster renders than the authoring systems, but you must be a very skilled
programmer to use them.
6.1 Multiverse
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Multiverse is a freeware UNIX based client/server system written by Robert Grant. It
is a multi-user, non-immersive; X-Windows based Virtual Reality system, primarily
focused on entertainment/research. It includes capabilities for setting up multi-person
worlds and a client/server type world simulation over a local or long haul network.
Multiverse source and binaries for several flavors of UNIX are available via
anonymous ftp from medg.lcs.mit.edu in the directory pub/multiverse
6.2 Virtual Reality Studio
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Virtual Reality Studio (or VR Studio, VRS) is a very low cost VR authoring system
that does allow the user to define their own virtual worlds. This program is also
known as "3D Construction Kit" in Europe. The program has a fairly nice graphical
interface and includes a simple scripting language. It is available for about $100 from
Domark for PC and Amiga systems. Worlds created with the program can be freely
distributed with a player program. There are a quite number of these worlds available
from the BBSes, and other sources. Compuserve's Cyber forum has several in its
libraries, like the company provided demo VRSDMO.ZIP (VRS.TXT gives a solution
to the demo game). Version 2 of VR Studio was released in early 1993. It has many
new features including a much enhanced scripting language and editor, but also an
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annoying number of bugs. The developers of VRS (Dimension International) are
working hard to correct these.
6.3 Sense8 World Tool Kit
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Sense 8 has announced a $795 programming library for Windows called World Tool
Kit for Windows. This will be released late in 1993 as DLL for Windows systems. It
will work directly with standard SVGA displays and show worlds with texture
mapping either within a window or allow full screen display. The programming
library will support DDE so a virtual world can be controlled from a spreadsheet,
database or other program.
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The Sense8 World Tool Kit (WTK) is probably the most widely used product of this
type. It runs on a wide variety of platforms from i860 assisted PCs to high end SGI
boxes. It has won several awards for excellence.
6.4 Autodesk Cyberspace Development Kit
The Autodesk Cyberspace Development kit is another product in this range. It is a
C++ library for MSDOS systems using the Metaware HighC/C++ compiler and Pharlap
DOS 32bit extender. It supports VESA displays as well as several rendering accelerator
boards (SPEA Fireboard, FVS Sapphire, Division's dView). I used this system for a few
months and found it requires a strong background in C++ and a rendering accelerator
card. VESA speeds were about 4 frames per second.
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The basic parts of the system can be broken down into an Input Processor, a Simulation
Processor, a Rendering Process, and a World Database. All these parts must consider the
time required for processing. Every delay in response time degrades the feeling of
'presence' and reality of the simulation.
7.1 Input Processor
The Input Processes of a VR program control the devices used to input
information to the computer. There are a wide variety of possible input devices:
keyboard, mouse, trackball, joystick, 3D & 6D position trackers (glove, wand, head
tracker, body suit, etc.). A networked VR system would add inputs received from net. A
voice recognition system is also a good augmentation for VR, especially if the user's
hands are being used for other tasks. Generally, the input processing of a VR system is
kept simple. The object is to get the coordinate data to the rest of the system with
minimal lag time. Some position sensor systems add some filtering and data smoothing
processing. Some glove systems add gesture recognition. This processing step examines
the glove inputs and determines when a specific gesture has been made. Thus it can
provide a higher level of input to the simulation.
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7.2 Simulation Processor
•
The core of a VR program is the simulation system. This is the process that knows
about the objects and the various inputs. It handles the interactions, the scripted object
actions, simulations of physical laws (real or imaginary) and determines the world
status. This simulation is basically a discrete process that is iterated once for each
time step or frame. A networked VR application may have multiple simulations
running on different machines, each with a different time step. Coordination of these
can be a complex task.
•
It is the simulation engine that takes the user inputs along with any tasks programmed
into the world such as collision detection, scripts, etc. and determines the actions that
will take place in the virtual world.
7.3 Rendering Processor
The Rendering Processes of a VR program are those that create the sensations that
are output to the user. A network VR program would also output data to other network
processes. There would be separate rendering processes for visual, auditory, haptic
(touch/force), and other sensory systems. Each renderer would take a description of the
world state from the simulation process or derive it directly from the World Database for
each time step.
7.4 World Database
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The storage of information on objects and the world is a major part of the design of a
VR system. The primary things that are stored in the World Database are the objects
that inhabit the world, scripts that describe actions of those objects or the user,
lighting, program controls, and hardware device support.
•
There are a number of different ways the world information may be stored: a single
file, a collection of files, or a database. The multiple file method is one of the more
common approaches for VR development packages. Each object has one or more files
(geometry, scripts, etc.) and there is some overall 'world' file that causes the other
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files to be loaded. Some systems also include a configuration file that defines the
hardware interface connections.
•
Sometimes the entire database is loaded during program startup; other systems only
read the currently needed files. A real database system helps tremendously with the
latter approach. An Object Oriented Database would be a great fit for a VR system,
but I am not aware of any projects currently using one.
Virtual Reality is well known for its use with flight simulators and games. However,
these are only two of the many ways virtual reality is being used today. This article will
summarize how virtual reality is used in medicine, architecture, weather simulation, and
chemistry.
1. MEDICINES
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Mark Billinghurst, at the Hit Lab in Washington, has developed a prototype surgical
assistant for simulation of paranasal surgery. During a simulated operation the system
provides vocal and visual feedback to the user, and warns the surgeon when a
dangerous action is about to take place. In addition to training, the expert assistant can
be used during the actual operation to provide feedback and guidance. This is very
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useful when the surgeon's awareness of the situation is limited due to complex
anatomy.
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Finally, Billinghurst and his associates are working at developing a toolkit for
physicians which will help them create their own expert assistants for other types of
surgery.
2. ARCHITECTURE:
•
The department of visualization and virtual reality at the IGD University in Germany
has developed a program that uses radiosity and ray tracing to simulate light. This
virtual reality program has applications in the area of architecture and light
engineering.
•
With light simulation architects can examine how outdoor light will fall inside and
outside their building before it is built. If the lighting needs to be redesigned, the
architect can redesign the building on the computer and examine the new outdoor
light effects.
•
In addition to outdoor light, lighting engineers use virtual reality to examine the
effects of point lights, spotlights and other indoor light sources. An interior designer
could examine how light will affect different room arrangements.
3. WEATHER SIMULATION:
It has developed a visualization system for weather forecasting called "TriVis".
TriVis accepts data from meteorological services such as satellite data, statistically
corrected forecast data, precipitation data and fronts information. It then analyzes this
data and uses fractal functions to create projections of storm systems. Using TriVis to
visualize artificial clouds, meteorologists can predict weather with increased
accuracy.
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The data gathered and analyzed by the TriVis system is used by television weather
reporters to show their audiences storm systems. TriVis has been used in television
weather forecasts since 1993.
4. CHEMISTRY:
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Real Mol is a program that uses virtual reality to show molecular models in an
interactive, immersive environment. The scientist who uses the program wears a
cyber glove and a head mounted display to interact with the molecular system. Using
Real Mol scientists can move molecules or protein chains to create new molecules.
This is useful in fields such as drug design.
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Real Mol displays molecules in three ways: ball and stick model, stick model and
CPK model. The molecules are rendered through a molecular dynamics simulation
program.
8.1 ADVANTAGES:
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VR is imaginably more personal than electronic mail or instant messaging, or even a
letter or a telephone call.
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VR is a great social leveler; it may find a common ground across differences in age,
culture, and linguistic orientation.
•
People will be drawn together by similar interests instead of purely by geographic
location.
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Communication will be challenging and rewarding, more effective and productive,
and thus more enjoyable.
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A tremendous opportunity for every 'connected' person to find his or her field and/or
discipline.
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After using a medium that provides total freedom of expression face-to-face
communication may be found to be too confining.
8.2 DISADVANTAGES:
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An inescapable aspect of social life is the formation and maintenance of interpersonal
relationships.
•
Interaction ought not to be substituted for community.
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Separates the 'haves' from the 'have-nots', a technology of Information Age
Industrialized nations.
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VR will provide a communication environment in which the dangers of deception and
the benefits of creativity are amplified beyond the levels that humans currently
experience in their interpersonal interactions.
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Could lead to low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and insignificance, even selfdestructive acts.
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