Capturing water and sound waves to interact with virtual nature

To improve the interaction of people with virtually generated environments we need first to break the barriers that prevent the user from getting an experience as close to reality as possible. The main problem is to give the user the sensation that his/her presence affects the virtual world and then to let the user perceive that the actions he/she takes on the real world can change the virtual one in a smooth natural way in order to achieve virtual biofeedback. Interacting with virtual nature can transport us out from reality. We developed an interactive application with two interfaces on which the user can pretend to be the wind and interact with a virtual pond. Our application makes the user believe and feel that he/she is modifying a 3D virtual pond by the interaction with a small water receptacle in the real world using innovative wave-sensing device. The user, by speaking to a microphone, can also interact with a virtual tree by making it move according to his/her wishes. The physics for the tree are calculated to present the user's action as a wind force making this an entertaining experience.