A New View on Reality

Andrew Roach

Per. 4

10/18/16
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Table of Contents

Title PagePage 0

Table of ContentsPage 1

Part One: Description..Page 2

Part Two: Research.Page 4

Part Three: Reflection.Page 7

Part Four: Works Cited...Page 9

Part Five: Annotated Bibliography.Page 10

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Part One: Description

The past three years at Santa Susana High School has opened me up to new possibilities

and experiences in life and in our world. With the help of teachers and my fellow Troubadours, I

have learned that major advancements in technology have opened up the human race to a new

point of view with the use of interactive web pages and virtual reality. So for my senior project I

plan on using the skills I have learned in my computer classes to make an interactive web page

using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5 and evolve it into a virtual reality platform. Hopefully by

doing this project it will help me better use the technology I have available to overcome any

obstacles that I may face with a career in Psychology. This field uses a great deal of technology

on a regular basis by determining how the brain acts to a stimulus and by doing this project it

will better my understanding of the software that is inputted into the devices to make it function

and how it affects the person using it.

By completing this project I hope it will help me further my understanding the impact

technology has on our lives today. The steps i plan to take in accomplishing my project will start

with basic research on the topic of choice which would be What is virtual reality and how does

it affect mental responses? After the research I will begin to code the website using a basic

HTML5 format. Before putting it onto a mobile device I will add JavaScript and CSS to make

the site presentable and able to function in greater depth than just with regular HTML5. After

forming the backbone of the site I will look into greater depth into further expanding it into

virtual reality. This might prove an obstacle due to the fact that it is a new and developing

technology and still being experimented on by well-known companies such as Microsoft and

Sony. But I will not let this stop me and I will use all available sources such as internet sources

as well as experimenting with virtual reality itself with the use of applications and websites made
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with virtual reality. With this research and the help of my fellow peers as well as teachers I hope

to make a functioning virtual reality website.

The research I will undertake will include what makes virtual reality a reality and the

coding and software that goes into it. This will include how it came about and what were some

forms of technology that were forefathers to virtual reality. I have already conducted research on

my free time through the use of podcasts by professionals on the subject and internet sources

about what virtual reality is. I have also had the opportunity in my Exploring Computer Science

class to discover more about what virtual reality is and how it differs from another form of

computer generated images, Augmented Reality. Further research will include reading articles

and papers on advances in virtual reality as well as listening to lectures on how it will influence

us in the future. Other research will include the effects it might have on the health and welfare of

the world, how it might affect our social lives and who will business use it to advertise their

products. Virtual Reality, as stated before, is a new technology that has been in constant

development since the beginning of this century but has been used in different forms of

entertainment such as video games and movies. I will also be asking Mr. Clarke for help with my

project due to the fact that he has also been researching the topic of virtual reality.

I am interested in pursuing this topic for my senior project in regards to the fact that it

will challenge my computer skills through the use of coding and designing a functioning website

and taking it to the next level with the use of virtual reality. I hope by doing this project it will

help me delve deeper into why technology changes the way human beings react to their

environment.
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Part Two: Research

Virtual Reality has been around for decades and has been the focus of sci-fi films and TV

shows but now it is coming into focus and beginning to take off. From basic Head Mounted

Displays (HMDs) such as the Google Cardboard to High-End displays like the Oculus Rift and

HTC Vive, Virtual Reality is coming off the screen and into our daily lives. But first a little

background on virtual reality is important.

Virtual reality is not a new concept and has been around for about Forty years mainly

surfacing in the 1950s. A man named Douglas Englebart thought of computers as more than just

massive machines that can only do simple math problems. He thought of it as a way of

connecting man and machine and being able to display this information. But people looked down

on his idea and it wasnt till the 60s that people started to see his point of view. With fear of

nuclear attacks the first real-time display was used as radar. But the first use of virtual reality

was something we all did and got mad at, flight simulators. These real-life simulations were used

to train Air Force pilots on what to do in certain situations. This was one of the first times that a

real life experience has turned digital. Over the years, virtual reality has evolved from basic

computer graphics to a fully immersive environment.

Even though virtual reality is not a new concept it has gotten major upgrades since the

1950s. Major software companies have accepted the challenge in bringing the world into the

virtual age. Companies such as Sony, Oculus, Samsung and HTC are conducting new research

on how to make the best virtual experience out there. But they are not the only ones doing their

research, Universities and Psychologists are doing another kind of research, how does virtual

reality affect the brain and what are some of the side effects of using virtual reality. One of the

most common side-effects of virtual reality is something known as virtual sickness or

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cybersickness. This occurs when you are inside virtual reality for an extended period of time and

you get motion sickness. The difference though is how you contract this sickness.

Cybersickness you get mainly on vision itself without any motion involved while motion

sickness is caused by motion and doesnt require any visual stimuli. Researchers discovered

initial cybersickness when testing out a program for surgeons. After the student experimenter got

out of VR they went to grab a drink of soda and instead of pouring it in their eyes. This was due

to disorientation caused by the HMD.

As virtual reality is continuing to evolve and begins enveloping the human race inside a

virtual world the question being asked by consumers is how real does it look?. The answer is

very interesting in the sense that to our eyes it looks like we are scuba-diving with sharks or

flying a ship in space, but to our brain it appears to be an image on a screen. Researchers of

neuroscience at UCLA have been doing tests to see whether or not our brain is able to

comprehend virtual reality and the answer was quite shocking. For the experiment, they took a

rat and put a harness on him and put on a one dimensional maze on a screen. When monitoring

the hippocampus which deals with spatial awareness and memory they say that the rat was

completely lost and not able to complete the maze. But when put into a regular maze the rat was

able to complete it. This shows that virtual reality no matter how advanced in technology there

will always be room for improvement, whether it is in the realism or the tracking.

Virtual reality as well as technology continues to evolve and expand in order to suit the

lifestyle of human-kind. From the car to the microwave to the washer humanity adapts to every

situation in order to better itself. Virtual Reality is no exception. Virtual Reality has evolved

through the decades starting off as science fiction to know being in the humans of everyday

consumers. It allows us to be integrated with machine and closing the gap between humanity and
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technology. It also brings humanity closer to one another by connecting us to a common goal and

that is the expansion of technology to suit our everyday needs. Reality is what we make of it and

companies are building a perfect reality, one where we can explore the ocean depths or the

farthest reaches of space or inside the microverse. VR allows to escape the troubles of everyday

life and enter a new reality, one in which we are in charge. Virtual Reality itself is not only a fun

thing to use in your free time but it is a tool, one that is used to help give our troubled life a little

peace. Life will continue to be hard no matter what we do with it but we can adapt and with the

use of VR, we will continue to grow and adapt.

Part Three: Reflection

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Virtual Reality as well as computer programing in general is a new and upcoming

technology that is available to anyone. By doing this project I have learned the advancement of

these new technologies first hand. One thing i have learned through my research was how far

back VR actually went, starting in the 1950s and how it has grown from a purely business and

corporate technology that cost thousands of dollars to something the common person can have in

their home.

I have known from the start that my project will be difficult and will have ups and downs

but I predict that I will be able to provide a website in virtual reality and that it will function

according to my expectations. I believe that the strengths of my project include how different it is

and how it stands apart from previously done projects through the fact that it is using a fairly new

technology as an aspect of the project. But this strength could also be a challenge that I will have

to overcome but once I do overcome it, it will help me grow in my knowledge of the subject.

One problem I think I will encounter while working on this project will be the possibility

of transforming the HTML website into a virtual reality platform. VR is still a very new

technology and new research is being undergone every day. One way I hope to overcome this

challenge is with the help of my mentor as well as the research I have done. Another challenge I

expect to find is finding a coding language that would be easy to transform into a virtual reality

website. One of the many solutions I can think of is doing more research and look at the source

code of VR websites to see what markup language they used and begin to learn that.

By first experimenting with VR through this project I hope to gain a better understanding

of how it works and eventually work in the field and help expand the research. By starting small

with a website I hope to gain the knowledge necessary to move onto bigger projects such as a
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VR game or even a movie. I will hopefully learn to improve on this new technology with the use

of everything I have gained so far.

Overall, I believe that through my project I will be prepared for whatever life might

throw at me. This project like most projects requires time management, planning, dedication, as

well as research in order to fully understand what it is you are doing. With my research, the help

of fellow students, as well as my mentor I believe that I will be able to make a working website

that is able to immerse the viewer into a virtual reality experience.

Part Four: Works Cited

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Works Cited

Erickson, Liv. Entering The Metaverse: A Guide to Joining the Virtual Reality Industry n.p.

n.d.

"Why the Brain Can't Make Sense of Virtual Reality." Motherboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct.

2016.

"VIRTUAL REALITY - History." VIRTUAL REALITY - History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

Part Five: Annotated Bibliography

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Erickson, Liv. Entering The Metaverse: A Guide to Joining the Virtual Reality Industry

n.p. n.d.

This Book is about how Virtual Reality has developed and some ways you can be part of

the ongoing research and development. It goes into further detail in describing how we human

beings are spatial creatures and for the past several years we have only been viewing things on a

2D screen. Virtual Reality allows us to become one with computers and allows us to enter the

virtual world. The purpose of this is to introduce people to the new technology that is virtual

reality.

I believe this is a reliable source due to the fact that the author is currently expanding

research into the field of virtual reality and is knowledgeable of the subject she is talking about.

There is a slight bias in the sense that she talks about all the pros of virtual reality but doesnt

really go into any of the cons.

"Why the Brain Can't Make Sense of Virtual Reality." Motherboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 15

Oct. 2016.

This website explains how our brain isnt able to comprehend the concept and visual

stimuli of virtual reality. The author is a neuroscientist at UCLA and he goes into how the

hippocampus which deals with memory and spacial awareness isnt able to fire the neurons as

fast as they usually due when dealing with a real life situation. They tested this by using a rat and

when put into a virtual maze he was unable to find his way through.

I believe this source to be reliable due to the fact that it is a report on scientific research

that was conducted on a college campus. The author being a neuroscientist also improves his
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credibility as well as the limited amount of bias due to the fact that he is recording his findings

not supporting or establishing an opinion.

"VIRTUAL REALITY - History." VIRTUAL REALITY - History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct.

2016.

The website explains how virtual reality has developed over the years from an idea in the

1950s to where it is now. It goes into detail of the stages of the development of this technology

from early number cruncher computers to the display to flight simulators to modern day HMDs.

It also explains how scientific research demanded more and better visualization and the demand

for virtual reality grew more.

I would say the source is reliable due to the fact that it comes from the University of

Illinois Supercomputing Association. On the other hand it goes into how the world needed better

visualization and didnt go into detail how virtual reality actually came about. Overall it did

provide needed information on how the world grew to need virtual reality as a necessity to

expand.

Van, Jon. "Actual Side Effects from Virtual Reality."Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. N.p., 14

Aug. 1995. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

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This is an article written for the Chicago Tribune by Jon Van about the side effects known

as cybersickness. It goes into explaining how major companies are dealing with these side effects

as well as the causes of them. He states that certain headsets are the cause of certain ailments.

This article is reliable because after doing some research discovered that he is the Science

and Tech news correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and has done research into this certain

topic as well as interviewing major players in the virtual reality game. He does a good job at

hiding any obvious biases but he leans towards the fact that virtual reality does have major side

effects that need to be fixed.

Workman, Robert. "A Brief History of Video Game Virtual Reality, and Why This Time

Will Be Different." Prima Games. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

This is an article that goes into describing how virtual reality has evolved in the video

gaming field. From early VR gaming consoles such as Nintendos Virtual Boy released in 1995

to Sonys PlayStation VR which is set to be released October of 2016, virtual gaming has grown

and developed over the course of the decades. Virtual Reality has become a major implement

into video games and video game producers and creators are taking advantage of this new

technology in order to make video games more interactive and immersive.

I believe the source was a good source in that it used information that can easily be traced

back. It used good information but it just described types of VR displays that were used in video

gaming and only gave two examples instead of furthering their explanation with more examples

of gaming HMDs.