What is Virtual Reality ,What is Virtual
What is Virtual Reality?
Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. By simulating as many senses as possible, such as vision, hearing, touch, even smell, the computer is transformed into a gatekeeper to this artificial world. The only limits to near-real VR experiences are the availability of content and cheap computing power.
What’s the difference Between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality?
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are two sides of the same coin. You could think of Augmented Reality as VR with one foot in the real world: Augmented Reality simulates artificial objects in the real environment; Virtual Reality creates an artificial environment to inhabit.
In Augmented Reality, the computer uses sensors and algorithms to determine the position and orientation of a camera. AR technology then renders the 3D graphics as they would appear from the viewpoint of the camera, superimposing the computer-generated images over a user’s view of the real world.
In Virtual Reality, the computer uses similar sensors and math. However, rather than locating a real camera within a physical environment, the position of the user’s eyes are located within the simulated environment. If the user’s head turns, the graphics react accordingly. Rather than compositing virtual objects and a real scene, VR technology creates a convincing, interactive world for the user.
Virtual Reality technology
Virtual Reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-mounted display (HMD). Human beings are visual creatures, and display technology is often the single biggest difference between immersive Virtual Reality systems and traditional user interfaces. For instance, CAVE automatic virtual environments actively display virtual content onto room-sized screens. While they are fun for people in universities and big labs, consumer and industrial wearables are the wild west.
With a multiplicity of emerging hardware and software options, the future of wearables is unfolding but yet unknown. Concepts such Google Cardboard, Samsung GearVR and Epson Movario are leading the way but there are also players like Meta, Avegant Glyph, Daqri and Magic Leap who may surprise the industry with new levels of immersion and usability. Whomever comes out ahead, the simplicity of buying a helmet-sized device that can work in a living-room, office, or factory floor has made HMDs center stage when it comes to Virtual Reality technologies.
Virtual Reality and the importance of audio
Hearing is arguably more relevant than vision to a person’s sense of space and human beings react more quickly to audio cues than to visual cues. In order create truly immersive Virtual Reality experiences, accurate environmental sounds and spatial characteristics are a must. These lend a powerful sense of presence to a virtual world. To experience the binaural audio details that go into a Virtual Reality experience, put on some headphones and tinker with this audio infographic published by The Verge.
Samsung GearVR
While the above VR companies have all shown promise in immersive head-mounted display technology, they tend to focus on the deep end of the pool: powerful computers or desktop PCs with gaming hardware. Samsung’s approach to VR has been different: the Gear VR uses Oculus head-tracking technology in combination with Android smartphones like the Galaxy Note 4 to power mobile VR experiences. Instead of dedicated display technology, lenses allow the phone’s screen to act as a stereoscopic display, making the device simpler and less expensive than other options.
Google Cardboard
Not to be left out, Google’s entry into VR came as a surprise during last year’s I/O conference. The Google Cardboard is a do-it-yourself approach to mobile VR, is an enclosure for Android phones that can be built for less than twenty dollars. Several demos and games for the Cardboard SDK are already available on the Google Play store, and while the experience isn’t quite as immersive or groundbreaking as other companies’ offerings, Google’s ad hoc Virtual Reality experiment shows a surprising amount of interest in even basic VR technology.
Magic Leap
On the other end of the Google spectrum, their 2014 investment in the mysterious Magic Leap startup (to the tune of $540 million along with a few of its venture capital partners) promises innovation in “light field” display technology, 3D mapping, gesture tracking, and telepresence. While their only engagement with the public so far has been a highly controversial Augmented Reality demo, many high-profile names such as venerable science fiction author Neal Stephenson are attached to Magic Leap, and their presence in the industry continues to challenge well-established brands, making them an unusual, but noteworthy company.
Carl Zeiss, Archos, Razer and Avegant
Many other companies are developing Virtual Reality headsets and other peripherals. From recognizable names, like Carl Zeiss and Archos to lesser-known companies such as Razer and Avegant, the coming VR renaissance electrifies an entire ecosystem of hardware manufacturers, software developers, and content providers.
How Virtual Reality is being used today
Unsurprisingly, the video games industry is one of the largest proponents of Virtual Reality. Support for the Oculus Rift headsets has already been jerry-rigged into games like Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto , but newer games like Elite: Dangerous come with headset support built right in. Many tried-and-true user interface metaphors in gaming have to be adjusted for VR (after all, who wants to have to pick items out of a menu that takes up your entire field of vision?), but the industry has been quick to adapt as the hardware for true Virtual Reality gaming has become more widely available.
Virtual Reality and data visualization
Scientific and engineering data visualization has benefited for years from Virtual Reality, although recent innovation in display technology has generated interest in everything from molecular visualization to architecture to weather models.
VR for aviation, medicine and the military
In aviation, medicine, and the military, Virtual Reality training is an attractive alternative to live training with expensive equipment, dangerous situations, or sensitive technology. Commercial pilots can use realistic cockpits with VR technology in holistic training programs that incorporate virtual flight and live instruction. Surgeons can train with virtual tools and patients, and transfer their virtual skills into the operating room, and studies have already begun to show that such training leads to faster doctors who make fewer mistakes. Police and soldiers are able to conduct virtual raids that avoid putting lives at risk.
Virtual Reality and the treatment of mental illness
Speaking of medicine, the treatment of mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder, stands to benefit from the application of Virtual Reality technology to ongoing therapy programs. Whether it’s allowing veterans to confront challenges in a controlled environment, or overcoming phobias in combination with behavioral therapy, VR has a potential beyond gaming, industrial and marketing applications to help people heal from, reconcile and understand real world experiences.
Dr. Brian Jackson is a Senior Research Scientist at Marxent. He holds a PhD in Computer Science with a focus in computer vision.
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