What is Virtual Reality? The term Virtual Reality (VR) is used by many different people and currently has many meanings. There are some people to whom VR is a specific collection of technologies, that is a Head Mounted Display, Glove Input Device and Audio. However, the general concept of the systems goes way beyond that. "Virtual Reality is a way for humans to visualize, manipulate and interact with computers and extremely complex data" The visualization part refers to the computer generating visual, auditory or other sensual inputs. The images are graphical renderings of a world within the computer. This world may be a CAD model, a scientific simulation, or a view into a database. The user can interact with the world and directly manipulate objects within the world. Some worlds are animated by other processes, perhaps physical simulations, or simple animation scripts. Some people object to the term "Virtual Reality", saying it is an oxymoron. Other terms that have been used are Synthetic Environments, Cyberspace, Artificial Reality, Simulator Technology, etc. VR is the most common and sexiest. It has caught the attention of the media. The applications being developed for VR run a wide spectrum, from games to building and business planning. Many applications are worlds that are very similar to our own, like CAD or architectural modeling. Some applications provide ways of viewing from an advantageous perspective not possible with the real world, like scientific simulators and telepresense systems, air traffic control systems. Other applications are much different from anything we have ever directly experienced before. These latter applications may be the hardest, and most interesting systems. Visualizing the ebb and flow of the world's financial markets. Navigating a large corporate information base, etc.A major distinction of VR systems is the mode with which they interface to the user. There are some non-technologically mediated met...
