3. Types of VR Systems
A major distinction of VR systems is the mode with which they interface to the user. This section describes some of the common modes used in VR systems.
3.1. Window on World Systems (WoW)
Some systems use a conventional computer monitor to display the visual world. This sometimes called Desktop VR or a Window on a World (WoW).
This concept traces its lineage back through the entire history of computer graphics. In 1965, Ivan Sutherland laid out a research program for computer graphics in a paper called “The Ultimate Display” that has driven the field for the past nearly thirty years.
“One must look at a display screen,” he said, “as a window through which one beholds a virtual world. The challenge to computer graphics is to make the picture in the window look real, sound real and the objects act real.” [quoted from Computer Graphics V26#3]
3.2. Video Mapping
A variation of the WoW approach merges a video input of the user’s silhouette with a 2D computer graphic. The user watches a monitor that shows his body’s interaction with the world. Myron Kruger has been a champion of this form of VR since the late 60’s. He has published two books on the subject: “Artificial Reality” and “Artificial Reality II”. At least one commercial system uses this approach, the Mandala system. This system is based on a Commodore Amiga with some added hardware and software. A version of the Mandala is used by the cable TV channel Nickelodeon for a game show (Nick Arcade) to put the contestants into what appears to be a large video game.
The Essay on Operating System Computer Coop Windows
My advice to someone starting his or her coop would be to start as soon as possible. 150 or 250 hours is a long time, especially if you already have another job. This coop led to two and a half months of a very busy and hectic schedule. It is a very important part of the learning process and I don't recommend rushing it. In my case I found it a difficult task remembering where I was supposed to be ...
3.3. Immersive Systems
The ultimate VR systems completely immerse the user’s personal viewpoint inside the virtual world. These “immersive” VR systems are often equipped with a Head Mounted Display (HMD).
This is a helmet or a face mask that holds the visual and auditory displays. The helmet may be free ranging, tethered, or it might be attached to some sort of a boom armature.
A nice variation of the immersive systems use multiple large projection displays to create a ‘Cave’ or room in which the viewer(s) stand. An early implementation was called “The Closet Cathedral” for the ability to create the impression of an immense environment. within a small physical space. The Holodeck used in the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” is afar term extrapolation of this technology.
3.4. Telepresence
Telepresence is a variation on visualizing complete computer generated worlds. This a technology links remote sensors in the real world with the senses of a human operator. The remote sensors might be located on a robot, or they might be on the ends of WALDO like tools. Fire fighters use remotely operated vehicles to handle some dangerous conditions. Surgeons are using very small instruments on cables to do surgery without cutting a major hole in their patients. The instruments have a small video camera at the business end. Robots equipped with telepresence systems have already changed the way deep sea and volcanic exploration is done. NASA plans to use telerobotics for space exploration. There is currently a joint US/Russian project researching telepresence for space rover exploration.
3.5. Mixed Reality
Merging the Telepresence and Virtual Reality systems gives the Mixed Reality or Seamless Simulation systems. Here the computer generated inputs are merged with telepresence inputs and/or the users view of the real world. A surgeon’s view of a brain surgery is overlaid with images from earlier CAT scans and real-time ultrasound. A fighter pilot sees computer generated maps and data displays inside his fancy helmet visor or on cockpit displays.
The Term Paper on Evolution Of The Pc Operating System part 1
Evolution of the PC Operating System Outline: 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Some facts about the history of computer and operating systems: software evolution depending on hardware development: 3.1 Batch operating systems; 3.2 time-shared operating systems; 3.3 Personal computers of the middle 70s: CP/M (Control Program/Microcomputer). and DOS operating systems; 3.4 Developing personal computers ...
The phrase “fish tank virtual reality” was used to describe a Canadian VR system reported in the 1993 InterCHI proceedings. It combines a stereoscopic monitor display using liquid crystal shutter glasses with a mechanical head tracker. The resulting system is superior to simple stereo-WoW systems due to the motion parallax effects introduced by the head tracker. (see INTERCHI ’93 Conference Proceedings, ACM Press/Addison Wesley , ISBN 0-201-58884-6)
4. VR Hardware
There are a number of specialized types of hardware devices that have been developed or used for Virtual Reality applications.
4.1. Image Generators
One of the most time consuming tasks in a VR system is the generation of the images. Fast computer graphics opens a very large range of applications aside from VR, so there has been a market demand for hardware acceleration for a long while. There are currently a number of vendors selling image generator cards for PC level machines, many of these are based on the Intel i860 processor. These cards range in price from about $2000 up to $6 or $10,000. Silicon Graphics Inc. has made a very profitable business of producing graphics workstations. SGI boxes are some of the most common processors found in VR laboratories and high end systems. SGI boxes range in price from under $10,000 to over $100,000. The simulator market has produced several companies that build special purpose computers designed expressly for real time image generation. These computers often cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
