Virtual realities

Abstract

Virtual realities are a set of emerging electronic technologies, with applications in a wide range of fields. This includes education, training, athletics, industrial design, architecture and landscape architecture, urban planning, space exploration, medicine and rehabilitation, entertainment, and model building and research in many fields of science (Aukstalnis, & Blatner, 1992; Earnshaw, Vince, Guedj, & Van Dam, 2001; Hamit, 1993; Helsel, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c; Helsel & Roth, 1991; Hillis, 1999; Mayr, 2001; Middleton, 1992; Pimentel & Teixiera, 1992; Rheingold, 1991; Vince, 1998). Virtual reality (VR) can be defined as a class of computer-controlled multisensory communication technologies that allow more intuitive interactions with data and involve human senses in new ways. Virtual reality can also be defined as an environment created by the computer in which the user feels present (Jacobson, 1993a). This technology was devised to enable people to deal with information more easily. VR provides a different way to see and experience information, one that is dynamic and immediate. It is also a tool for modelbuilding and problem solving. VR is potentially a tool for experiential learning. The virtual world is interactive; it responds to the user’s actions. Virtual reality evokes a feeling of immersion, a perceptual and psychological sense of being in the digital environment presented to the senses. The sense of presence or immersion is a critical feature distinguishing virtual reality from other types of computer applications. An excellent extensive set of web links for companies involved with the production of virtual reality technologies, applications, and consulting services is available at http://www.cyberedge.com/4f.html. Virtual reality is a new type of computer tool that adds vast power to scientific visualization. Buxton (1992) explains that “Scientific visualization involves the graphic rendering of complex data in a way that helps make pertinent aspects and relationships within the data more salient to the viewer. The idea is to tailor the visual presentation to take better advantage of the human ability to recognize patterns and see structures” (p. 27). However, as Erickson (1993) explains, the word “visualization” is really too narrow when considering virtual reality. “Perceptualization” is probably more appropriate. With virtual reality, sound and touch, as well as visual appearance, may be used effectively to represent data. Perceptualization involving the sense of touch may include both tactile feedback (passive touch, feeling surfaces and textures) and haptic feedback (active touch, where there is a sense of force feedback, pressure, or resistance) (Brooks, 1988; Delaney, 2000; Dowding, 1991; Hon, 1991, 1992; Marcus, 1994; McLaughlin, Hespanha, & Sukhatme, 2001; Minsky, 1991; Sorid, 2000). The key to visualization is in representing information in ways that can engage any of our sensory systems and thus draw on our extensive experience in organizing and interpreting sensory input (Erickson, 1993). The term Virtual Reality was coined by Jaron Lanier one of the developers of the first immersive interface devices (Hall, 1990). Virtual often denotes the computer-generated counterpart of a physical object: a “virtual room,” a “virtual glove,” a “virtual chair.” Other terms such as “virtual worlds,” “virtual environments,” and “cyberspace” are used as global terms to identify this technology. For example, David Zelter of the MIT Media Lab suggests that the term “virtual environments” is more appropriate than virtual reality since virtual reality, like artificial intelligence, is ultimately unattainable (Wheeler, 1991). But virtual reality remains the most commonly used generic term (although many researchers in the field vehemently dislike this term). Virtual reality provides a degree of interactivity that goes beyond what can be found in traditional multimedia programs. Even a sophisticated multimedia program, such as the Palenque DVI program, which features simulated spatial exploration of an ancient Mayan pyramid, is limited to predetermined paths. With a virtual world you can go anywhere and explore any point of view.