VIRTUAL REALITY

Kunal Arora
737/IT/12
Divyansh Agarwal 726/IT/12

INTRODUCTION

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is an experience that simulates immersive physical
presence in a real or imagined environment called the virtual
environment. The term refers to a computer simulated reality that
allows the user to interact with the virtual world through an artificially
created sensory experience.
A virtual environment (VE) is a digital space in which a users
movements are tracked and his or her surroundings rendered, or
digitally composed and displayed to the senses, in accordance with
those movements. This allows for a much higher level of interactivity
than traditional media.

Virtual reality can be created using a variety of technologies for numerous

applications. Virtual Reality is able to immerse the user in a computer
generated world that can model anything ranging from a room, a city, to the
interior of the human body using real time simulation and interactions
through multiple sensory channels.
Virtual Reality environment can be similar to the real world in order to create
a life-like experiencefor example, in simulations for pilot or combat
trainingor it can differ significantly from reality, such as in VR games.
Virtual Reality makes it possible to explore the unchartered territories of
human imagination.
Virtual Reality, along with Augmented Reality is a technology that seems
really promising for the future, and its applications are endless.

Virtual Reality v/s Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a concept that immerses a user into the digital
world, where the user can interact with it, whereas AR is about
bringing the digital information into the real world.
With AR, users continue to be in touch with the real world while
interacting with virtual objects around them. With VR, the user is
isolated from the real world while immersed in a world that is
completely fabricated.
However, virtual reality and augmented reality are similar in the goal of
immersing the user, though both systems to this in different ways.

Brief History
In 1968, Ivan Sutherland created what is widely considered
to be the first virtual reality and head-mounted display
(HMD) system.
Atari founded a research lab for virtual reality in 1982
In 1985, Jason Lanier had founded the company VPL
Research , which has developed several VR devices
In 1988 commercial development of VR began
In 1991, Sega announced the Sega VR headset for arcade
games and the Mega Drive console

In the same year, the first commercial VR entertainment

system called Virtuality was released.
In 2010, Palmer Luckey, who later went on to found Oculus
VR, designed the first prototype of the Oculus Rift.
In 2014, Google announces Cardboard, a do-it-yourself
stereoscopic viewer for smartphones.
In March 2015, HTC partnered with Valve Corporation
announced their virtual reality headset HTC Vive
In July 2015, OnePlus became the first company to launch a
product using virtual reality.

The 3 Is of Virtual Reality

1. Immersion
a.The feeling of presence, being there
b.The amount and quality of stimuli and sensations
c.Real time - very little latency/delay accepted

2. Interactive
a.Not just passive watching
b.Moving in the virtual world
c.Communicating through sensory perceptions

3. Imagination
a.The applications
b.The ideas and virtual worlds
c.The flexibility in design and usage

Types of Virtual Reality

Systems
Immersive VR
Completely immerses the user into the virtual environment
by engaging multiple sensory perceptions.
The user has no visual contact with the physical world.
Equipped with a Head Mounted Display (HMD).

Oculus Rift - An advanced Virtual Reality headgear by Oculus

VR.

 Distributed VR

A distributed virtual reality system simulates a virtual

environment on several computers which are connected
over the network, and the people are able to interact in
real time using the same virtual environment.

 Mixed Reality VR

Presents an integration of Virtual reality and Augmented reality

techniques through a seamless merging of the real and virtual
space.
Mixed Reality VR is about integrating the computer-generated
virtual objects into the physical world, which in a sense become
a part of our natural environment.

Technologies of VR
Head Mounted Display(HMD)
A Helmet or a face mask providing the visual and auditory displays
Use LCD or CRT to display stereo images.
May include built-in head tracker and stereo headphones
Immersive Experience
Depth Perception
E.g: Oculus Rift,Samsung Gear VR

 Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor (BOOM)

The BOOM is a counterbalanced CRT-based stereoscopic viewing
device that enables interactive, real-time viewpoint control in a 3D
environment generated by computer or camera.
Images presented on BOOM are more stable than head mounted
systems.
Uses CRT to provide high-resolution and display with a wide field
of view.
Convenient to use
Fast and accurate built-in mechanical tracking

 Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE)

CAVE is an immersive virtual reality environment which provides
the illusion of immersion by projecting stereo images on the walls
and floor of a room-sized cube.
A head tracking system continuously adjusts the stereo projection
to the current position of the leading viewer.
The walls of the CAVE are typically made up of projection screens,
however flat panel displays are becoming increasingly common.

People using the CAVE can see objects apparently floating in the air,
and can walk around them, getting a proper view of what they would
look like in reality

Architecture of a VR system

Components of a VR system
Input Processor
Controls the devices used to input information to the
computer. The objective is to get the data to the rest of
the system with minimum lag.
Eg: Keyboard, mouse, 3-D tracking system, Voice
recognition system etc.
Simulation Processor
The simulation processor forms the core of a VR system.
It takes the users inputs along with any task
programmed into the virtual system to determine the
actions that will take place in the virtual world.

Rendering Processor
Creates the sensations that act as outputs to the user
Separate rendering processes are used for visual,
auditory, haptic and other sensory systems.
World Database (World Description Files)
Stores the objects and the entities that are perceived in
the virtual world and describes their actions.

Applications

Entertainm
ent
Virtual Reality makes
More vivid
More exciting
More attractive

entertainment,

Some examples of VR in
entertainment : Gaming
Virtual Museums
Virtual theme parks
Theatre
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Medicine
Health Care is one of the biggest users of Virtual Reality for
things like,
Surgery simulation.
Perform surgery on a remote patient using robotic surgery.
Teach new skills in a safe, controlled environment.
Phobia Treatment.

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Data Visualization
Virtual Reality can open new avenues in the
field of data visualization, giving us access to an
immersive environment to view data of all kinds.
This will also help us analyze data in a more
effective manner.

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Education & Training

Virtual Reality is one of the many forms of technology that schools
have begun to use in the last decade.
VR offers a novel form of visualization which can lead to a much
more effective method of learning than traditional methods.
VR can also be used to train teachers in a virtual classroom.
Using a virtual classroom, students can attend classes from
anywhere they can find internet access.

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Engineering
The use of Virtual Reality in engineering includes the use of 3-D
modelling tools and other visualization techniques as a part of the
design process.
VR technology allows engineers to gain a deeper understanding of
their project and make changes accordingly. Any potential flaws or
risks can be spotted more easily. This saves both time and money.
It can be used for prototyping during the design phase.
Fine grain details of an engineering product can be visualised in a safe
environment.

Current problems & Future work

Cyber Sickness / simulator sickness
Expensive
Lack of integration between application packages
Cost-saving
Collaborative
High-level contact between participants in distributed VR

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References
[1] What is Virtual Reality?,
http://vr.isdale.com/WhatIsVR/frames/WhatIsVR4.1.html.
[2] Augumented and Mixed Reality,
http://www.mic.atr.co.jp/~poup/research/ar/.
[3] Virtual Reality Applications,
http://vresources.jump-gate.com/applications/applications.shtml.
[4] K.-P. Beier. Virtual Reality: A short Introduction.
http://www-vrl.umich.edu/intro/
[5] Franchi,J. Vertual Reality: An Overview. ERIC Digest, June 1995

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Comments & Questions?

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ROUGH WORK
Topics:
Introduction - Divyansh
VR vs AR - D
History - K
3 Is - D
Types of VRs - D
Technologies of VR - K
Architecture+Components of VR - K
Applications - D, K split
Current problems and future work - K,D