3.03 Explore virtual reality design and use. 3.03B Common Types and Interface Devices and Systems of Virtual Reality 3.03 Explore virtual reality design and use.

Types of Virtual Realities

Types of Virtual Realities Desktop 3-D Illustrators Does not require additional equipment. Immersion Requires additional equipment. Is the most effective of Virtual Reality technologies. Eyes, ears, or other body senses are isolated from real environment and fed information that is generated by the computer. Telepresence This technique is used in the movie industry to create animations by using body sensors to record human motions and transfer them to animated subjects.

Common Interface Devices

Interface Devices Head-mounted display (HMD) Facial sensor/body suit

Interface Devices Wand Data glove

Head-Mounted Display (HMD) Device on top of helmet signals head movements. A computer continually updates the simulation to reflect new perspectives. Its viewing screen adds depth to flat pictures. Blocks out surrounding environment. Is popular with the entertainment industry.

Facial sensor/body suit Data Glove Programs the computer to change modes in response to gestures made with data gloves. Some use fiber optic cables. Some use strain sensors over joints. Facial sensor/body suit Sensors read facial expressions/body movements and transfer information to animations.

Wand Is simplest of interface devices. Most have on/off buttons. Some have knobs, dials, or joy sticks. Biologists use wands like scalpels to slice tissue samples from virtual brains. Wands operate with six degrees of freedom. By pointing a wand at an object, its position and orientation can be changed in any of six directions  forward or backward, up or down, or left or right

Interface Systems

Interface Systems Three common systems: HMD – Head-mounted Display BOOM – Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor CAVE – Automatic Virtual Environment

BOOM (Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor) Is similar to HMD – but no helmet. Viewing box suspended from rotating arm. Uses handles on box sides to move image around. Buttons on handles allow user to interact with object. Can also hook up data gloves.

CAVE One of the newest, most "immersive" virtual environments. 10 x 10 x 9-foot darkened cubicle. Is like climbing into the computer’s screen. Display enables user to experience the. sensation of being "inside" the data.

Advantages of CAVE Only need special glasses and wand instead of clunky equipment. Has a large field of view of data that is projected in stereoscopic images onto the walls and floor of the CAVE. Multiple users can be in CAVE at same time. Sound can be added to images.

Shared Virtual Environments In this illustration, three networked users at different locations (anywhere in the world) meet in the same virtual world by using a BOOM device, a CAVE system, and a Head-mounted Display. All users see the same virtual environment from their respective points of view. Each user is presented as a virtual human (avatar) to the other participants. The users can see each other, communicate with each other, and interact with the virtual world as a team.

Review Common virtual reality Types Interface devices Interface systems