Virtual Reality is a creation of a highly interactive computer based multimedia
environment in which the user becomes a participant with the computer in a "virtually
real" world
We are living in an era characterized by 3D virtual systems created by computer
graphics. In the concept called Virtual Reality (VR), the virtual reality engineer is
combining computer, video, image-processing, and sensor technologies so that a human can
enter into and react with spaces generated by computer graphics.
In 1969-70, a MIT scientist went to the University of Utah, where he began to
work with vector generated graphics. He built a see-through helmet that used television
screens and half-silvered mirrors, so that the environment was visible through the TV
displays. It was not yet designed to provide a surrounding environment. It was not
until the mid '80's that virtual reality systems were becoming more defined. The AMES
contract started in 1985, came up with the first glove in February 1986. The glove is
made of thin Lycra and is fitted with 15 sensors that monitor finger flexion, extension,
hand position and orientation. Connected to a computer through fiber optic cables.
Sensor inputs enable the computer to generate an on screen image of the hand that follows
the operator's hand movements. The glove also has miniature vibrators in the finger tips
to provide feedback to the operator from grasped virtual objects. Therefore, driven by
the proper software, the system allows the operator to interact by grabbing and moving a
virtual object within a simulated room, while experiencing the "feel" of the object.
The virtual reality line includes the Datasuit and the Eyephone. The Datasuit is
an instrumented full-body garment that enables full-body interaction with a computer
constructed virtual world. In one use, this product is worn by film actors to give
realistic movement to animated characters in computer generated special effects. The
Eyephone is a head mounted stereo display that shows a computer made virtual world in
full color and 3D.
The Eyephone technology is based on an experimental Virtual Interface Environment
Workstation (VIEW) design. VIEW is a head-mounted stereoscopic display system with two
3.9 inch television screens, one for each eye. The display can be a computer generated
scene or a real environment sent by remote video cameras. Sound effects delivered to the
headset increase the realism.
It was intended to use the glove and software for such ideas as a surgical
simulation, or "3D virtual surgery" for medical students. In the summer of 1991, US
trainee surgeons were able to practice leg operations without having to cut anything
solid. NASA Scientists have developed a three-dimensional computer simulation of a human
leg which surgeons can operate on by entering the computer world of virtual reality.
Surgeons use the glove and Eyephone technology to create the illusion that they are
operating on a leg.
Other virtual reality systems such as the Autodesk and the CAVE have also come up
with techniques to penetrate a virtual world. The Autodesk uses a simple monitor and is
the most basic visual example for virtual reality. An example where this could be used
is while exercising. For example, Autodesk may be connected to an exercise bike, you can
then look around a graphic world as you pedal through it. If you pedal fast enough, your
bike takes off and flies.
The CAVE is a new virtual reality interface that engulfs the individual into a
room whose walls, ceiling, and floor surround the viewer with virtual space. The
illusion is so powerful you won't be able to tell what's real and what's not.
Computer engineers seem fascinated by virtual reality because you can not only program a
world, but in a sense, inhabit it.
Mythic space surrounds the cyborg, embracing him/her with images that seem real
but are not. The sole purpose of cyberspace virtual reality technology is to trick the
human senses, to help people believe and uphold an illusion.
Virtual reality engineers are space makers, to a certain degree they create space
for people to play around in. A space maker sets up a world for an audience to act
directly within, and not just so the audience can imagine they are experiencing a
reality, but so they can experience it directly. "The film maker says, 'Look, I'll show
you.' The space maker says, 'Here, I'll help you discover.' However, what will the
space maker help us discover?"
"Are virtual reality systems going to serve as supplements to our lives, or will
individuals so miserable in their daily existence find an obsessive refuge in a preferred
cyberspace? What is going to be included, deleted, reformed, and revised? Will virtual
reality systems be used as a means of breaking down cultural, racial, and gender barriers
between individuals and thus nurture human values?"
During this century, responsive technologies are moving even closer to us,
becoming the standard interface through which we gain much of our experience. The
ultimate result of living in a cybernetic world may create an artificial global city.
Instead of a global village, virtual reality may create a global city, the distinction
being that the city contains enough people for groups to form affiliations, in which
individuals from different cultures meet together in the same space of virtual reality.
The city might be laid out according to a three dimensional environment that dictates the
way people living in different countries may come to communicate and understand other
cultures. A special camera, possibly consisting of many video cameras, would capture and
transmit every view of the remote locations. Viewers would receive instant feedback as
they turn their heads. Any number of people could be looking through the same camera
system. Although the example described here will probably take many years to develop,
its early evolution has been under way for some time, with the steady march of technology
moving from accessing information toward providing experience. As well, it is probably
still childish to imagine the adoption of virtual reality systems on a massive scale
because the starting price to own one costs about $300,000.
Virtual Reality is now available in games and movies. An example of a virtual
reality game is Escape From Castle Wolfenstein. In it, you are looking through the eyes
of an escaped POW from a Nazi death camp. You must walk around in a maze of dungeons
were you will eventually fight Hitler. One example of a virtual reality movie is Stephen
King's The Lawnmower Man. It is about a mentally retarded man that uses virtual reality
as a means of overcoming his handicap and becoming smarter. He eventually becomes crazy
from his quest for power and goes into a computer. From there he is able to control most
of the world's computers. This movie ends with us wondering if he will succeed in world
domination.
From all of this we have learned that virtual reality is already playing an
important part in our world. Eventually, it will let us be able to date, live in other
parts of the world without leaving the comfort of our own living room, and more. Even
though we are quickly becoming a product of the world of virtual reality, we must not
lose touch with the world of reality. For reality is the most important part of our
lives.
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