Virtual Reality Systems

Virtual Reality Systems

1993, Pages 3-14
Virtual Reality Systems

1 - Virtual Reality: Definitions, History and Applications

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Virtual reality (VR) has received an enormous amount of publicity over the past few years. Along with this publicity has arisen a great deal of conflicting terminology, some unrealistic expectations, and a great deal of uninformed commentary. This chapter discusses that VR is an interactive, participatory environment that could sustain many remote users sharing a virtual place. VR is characterized by the illusion of participation in a synthetic environment than external observation of such an environment. It relies on three-dimensional, stereoscopic, head-tracked displays, hand/body tracking, and binaural sound. VR is an immersive, multisensory experience. It is also referred to as virtual environments, virtual worlds, or microworlds. It has the potential to provide additional power to its users through increased perceptual fidelity. It can also improve the performance of users by lowering the cognitive load in the completion of a task. VR can improve the quality of life for workers in hazardous or uncomfortable environments and may eventually have impact on the whole society.

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