Virtual Reality Technology

Today in our developing world we can see that there are a huge amount of surrounding & amazing technologies assimilated in our lives. A lot of these new technologies are becoming integrated to provide us with new services, benefits, facilities & capabilities. This integration most frequently came from using the computer which is the heart of all of these technologies. This is the case with the discussed technology in my blog which is the Virtual Reality Technology that is a sophisticated integration of several other technologies.
Feel free to navigate through my blog to get more knowledge about what is Virtual Realit, VR applications & how it has been used in many different fields, VR devices with alot of descriptive pictuers & interesting videos.

Virtual Reality Systems

There are 3 different systems or types for virtual reality. These systems are desktop or non-immersive system, video mapping VR & immersive VR. First, Desktop Virtual reality system means that the user will use & look on a computer screen all the time to view its virtual environment. As well, a mouse-controlled navigation will be the tool for experiencing this 3D environment. Because of the previous issues the user will not be immersed in this environment; in other words he definitely will not feel in any point that this is a real world.

Video mapping virtual reality is the second type of Virtual reality. In this type an image of the user will be displayed into the computer program as a 2D computer character using cameras. As a result, the user will be fully immersed in the artificial world with real feelings of reality. However, one disadvantage is that the user will face some difficulty to interact with surrounding users.

Immersive virtual reality is the third & the most exciting type which would be the 1st thing that comes to users mind when talking about virtual reality. In this type the user will be completely & fully immersed in the virtual 3D environment. The user will be able to control & manipulate his virtual world by a realistic interaction with virtual objects using head mounted display, data gloves or other devices. The interacted user can look, touch, walk around or fly through capabilities & enhance his/her virtual experience by other non-visual technologies such as auditory. As a result, users will not be able to differentiate between the real world & their imaginary world.

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	Desktop VR	Video Mapping VR	Immersive VR
Advantages	-Use the computer screen all the time to view the V-environment -Using one or more computer screen	-Image of the user is displayed using cameras into the computer program -creating a 2D computer character -User is fully immersed	-User is completely immersed in a 3D world -Realistic interaction using HMD & data gloves -look walk around & flying through capabilities! - user can’t differentiate between real world & imaginary one
Disadvantages	-User not immersed	-difficult to interact with the user’s surroundings

Virtual Reality Devices

1. Head-Mounted Display (HMD)-goggles: it is the 1st & the most important device to provide the user with an immersive experience in his virtual environment. The device is like a headset with two monitors one for each eye. It could be as a helmet or a pair of glasses. HMD contains two systems, the optical system & a tracking system. The first system job to channels images from the screen to the user’s eyes & view the virtual world. However, the tracking system will track the position & the movements of the users’ head & update the image or the representation to follow that movement. As a result, immersive experience will be developed when the user has the ability to look & walk in his virtual environment.

2.Boom (Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor): Boom is a head-coupled stereoscopic display device & one of the oldest virtual Reality displays. This device has a multi-link arm connected to a box which contains screens and an optical system. User can adjust & guide that box to any position after looking through two holes to determine the position of objects in the virtual environment.

3. Cave (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment): The cave is a cube-shaped room supplied with projectors to display images on walls, ceiling and floor to provide the illusion of immersion. Through special stereo glasses representing 3D images, users can enter the cave to walk freely. As well, a head tracking system is used to adjust stereo projection to the current position of the leading viewer. Therefore, the CAVE was the first virtual reality system which allows several users to participate in the experience concurrently. On the other hand, CAVE displays are very expensive and require more space than other systems.

Because there is no visual contact between the user & the physical world, input & interacting devices are important for the user. These devices will allow the user to navigate & interact with virtual objects in the virtual environment & develop more real experiences.

• input devices are:

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   Data gloves: have sensors for position sensing & tracking. These sensors Read the angle of each of the finger joints in the hand to tracks movements. As well, it allows the user to point & manipulate objects on the computer.
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  Joysticks
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  hand-held wands
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  Force balls/tracking balls
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  Voice recognition
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  Motion trackers/bodysuits

Virtual Reality Applications

Virtual reality is used to improve different fields operations. As a result, many applications have been developed to increase productivity & decrease costs with resources as the following.

1. Military Training:Virtual reality began in 1950 when they used flight simulators to train pilots. As a result, Virtual reality used in the military field for driving simulators flight simulators, hip/sub simulators & tank simulators.

2. Manufacturing & Design:

Virtual reality has been used to visualize real life manufactured products before building them. Therefore, testing designs & checking for any errors, safety or passengers comfort would be possible before the final manufactured product. For example, NASA has used virtual reality to design a helicopter.

3. Medicine:

Virtual reality provides great benefits for researchers & doctors in the medicine field. VR helped them to diagnose & treat heart defects using 3D ultrasound images or visualize the topology of a tumor. Moreover, virtual reality is used in anatomy instruction & surgery simulation to view them from a wide range of angles & to guide surgeons during the surgery. This guidance will be provided during the simulated operation by providing vocal and visual feedback to the user or warnings in dangerous actions.

Virtual reality has also been used widely to treat phobias (such as a fear of heights, driving, flying…). Also, it gives disabled people the opportunity to join in activities not usually available to them. For example, people in wheelchairs, can have a freedom of movement that they do not have in real world.

4. Entertainment:

Entertainment applications using virtual reality are the most common one between people. VR is used to provide different interesting & amazing games for different ages to be played alone or shared. Also, it is used as a simulation tool to test unprofitable uses in V-environments.

5. Education:

The excitement capabilities of virtual reality have enhanced learning environments by having virtual classes with other multimedia forms & virtual labs for scientific experiments. This virtual way of teaching created a more interested environment for students to visualize concepts such as atomic or planetary scales, Interact with events & visit environments without considering distance, time, or safety factors. Additionally, it supported visually oriented learners or other types by explaining any concept in their subjects in a virtual environment.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is a computer-based technology, incorporates specialized input & output devices to allow the user to simulate real or imaginary world & be fully immersed in a 3D artificial environment. The simulated Real world environment could be simulations for pilot training or education classes & simulated imaginary world environment could be virtual reality games or interactive story. Artificial & immersed environment means allowing the user to feel & believe that he is an inside participant exploring a real world. Therefore, the user can listen, look, manipulate, interact, feel, speak & even smell if it is possible in these Virtual Reality simulated environments. The provided perception & interaction in this artificial environment came from special sensors & effectors corresponding to the movements of the users. For instance, the user can feel that he is flying in the space or throwing a ball simply be a hand gesture a nod or a sound.

Virtual Reality is immersive & providing highly visual experiences. These Visual experiences displayed either on computer displays or stereoscopic displays which allow you to see 3D information, simulate real environments & creates the illusion of depth in an image.


• Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML):

In addition to the definition of Virtual Reality we should know that it uses a special language to design these 3D virtual environments, called Virtual Reality Modeling language (VRML). This language uses textual statements (text file format) to describe 3-Dimensional images sequences, shapes, 3D world & other rules of possible user interaction. As a result, the user can interact with a sequence of images by viewing, rotating or moving them as he likes. For example you can explore or view a room & use controls to move it as you would experience it if you were walking inside that room with real space. However, to view these VRML you should have a VRML browser (plug in for your browser) or a viewer such as Platinum's Cosmo Player, WebEx or Worldview & many more.