Virtual Reality

CS60-520 Presentation 
Instructor: Dr. Aggarwal
Student: Yang Gao
Semester: Winter 2004

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 Outline
 Introduction
 The history of VR
 Types of VR
 Technologies of VR
 Architecture of VR system
 Applications of VR
 Current problems & Future work
 Summary
 Reference
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 Introduction

 What is Virtual Reality(VR)?

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 Introduction
(Cont’d)
 Why VR?
VR is able to immerse you in a
computer-generated world of your own
making: a room, a city, the interior of
human body. With VR, you can explore
any uncharted territory of the human
imagination.

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 Brief History
 In 1950s, flight simulators were built by US
Air Force to train student pilots.
 In 1965, a research program for computer
graphics called “The Ultimate Display” was
laid out.
 In 1988, commercial development of VR
began.
 In 1991, first commercial entertainment VR
system "Virtuality" was released.

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 Types of VR System
 Windows on World(WoW)
– Also called Desktop VR.
– Using a conventional computer monitor to
display the 3D virtual world.
 Immersive VR
– Completely immerse the user's personal viewpoint inside
the virtual 3D world.
– The user has no visual contact with the physical word.
– Often equipped with a Head Mounted Display (HMD).

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 Types of VR System(Cont’d)
 Telepresence
– A variation of visualizing complete computer
generated worlds.
– Links remote sensors in the real world with the senses of
a human operator. The remote sensors might be located
on a robot. Useful for performing operations in dangerous
environments.

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 Types of VR System(Cont’d)
 Mixed Reality(Augmented Reality)
– The seamless merging of real space and virtual space.
– Integrate the computer-generated virtual objects into the
physical world which become in a sense an equal part of
our natural environment.

Distributed VR
– A simulated world runs on several computers which are
connected over network and the people are able to
interact in real time, sharing the same virtual world.

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 VR Examples (Cont’d)
 Telepresence VR

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 VR Examples (Cont’d)
 Augmented VR

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 VR Examples (Cont’d)
 Distributed VR

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 Technologies of VR--Hardware

 Head-Mounted Display (HMD)

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 Technologies of VR--Hardware
 Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor (BOOM)
 Head-coupled stereoscopic display device.
 Uses CRT to provide high-resolution display.
 Convenient to use.
 Fast and accurate built-in tracking.

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 Technologies of VR--Hardware
 Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE)
 Provides the illusion of immersion by projecting stereo
images on the walls and floor of a room-sized cube.
 A head tracking system continuously adjust the stereo
projection to the current position of the leading viewer.

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 Technologies of VR--Hardware
 Data Glove
– Outfitted with sensors on the fingers as well as an overall
position/orientation tracking equipment.
– Enables natural interaction with virtual objects by hand gesture
recognition.

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 Technologies of VR--Hardware
 Control Devices
– Control virtual objects in 3 dimensions.

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 Technologies of VR--Software
 Toolkits
– Programming libraries.
– Provide function libraries (C & C++).

 Authoring systems
– Complete programs with graphical interfaces for creating
worlds without resorting to detailed programming.

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 Technologies of VR--Software
 Software packages available in market
– Multiverse (Freeware)
– Virtual Reality Studio ($100)
– Sense8 World Tool Kit (WTK) (over $1000)
– Autodesk Cyberspace Development kit (over $1000)

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 Technologies of VR--Software
 VRML(Virtual Reality Modeling Language)
 Standard language for interactive simulation
within the World Wide Web.
 Allows to create "virtual worlds" networked via
the Internet and hyperlinked with the World
Wide Web.
 Aspects of virtual world display, interaction and
internetworking can be specified using VRML
without being dependent on special gear like
HMD.
– VR models can be viewed by Netscape or IE with a
browser plug-in.
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 Architecture of VR System
 Input Processor, Simulation Processor,
Rendering Processor and World
Database. visual,
auditory,
Position & haptic,
Orientation touch…

Input Rendering
Processor Processor

Simulation
Processor

World Database
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Components of VR System (Cont’d)

 Input Processor
– Control the devices used to input
information to the computer. The object is
to get the coordinate data to the rest of the
system with minimal lag time.
– Keyboard, mouse, 3D position trackers, a
voice recognition system, etc.

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Components of VR System (Cont’d)

 Simulation Processor
– Core of a VR system.
– Takes the user inputs along with any tasks
programmed into the world and determine
the actions that will take place in the virtual
world.

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Components of VR System (Cont’d)

 Rendering Processor
– Create the sensations that are output to
the user.
– Separate rendering processes are used for
visual, auditory, haptic and other sensory
systems. Each renderer take a description
of the world stat from the simulation
process or derive it directly from the World
Database for each time step.
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Components of VR System (Cont’d)

 World Database (World Description

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 Applications
 Entertainment
– More vivid
– Move exciting
– More attractive

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 Applications (Cont’d)
 Medicine
 Practice performing surgery.
 Perform surgery on a remote patient.
 Teach new skills in a safe, controlled environment.

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 Applications (Cont’d)
 Manufacturing
– Easy to modify
– Low cost
– High efficient

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 Applications (Cont’d)
 Education & Training
– Driving simulators.
– Flight simulators.
– Ship simulators.
– Tank simulators.

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 Current problems & Future work
 Cybersickness / simulator sickness
 Low-fidelity
 Expensive
 Lack of integration between application packages

 High-fidelity system
 Cost-saving
 Collaborative
 High-level contact between participants in distributed
VR
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 Summary
 Visualization of complicated, large data is
helpful for understanding and analysis.
 VR offers us a new way to interact with
computer.
 VR enables us to experience the virtual world
that is impossible in real world.
 VR is changing our life, eventually VR will
increasingly become a part of our life.

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 Reference
 [1] What is Virtual Reality?,
http://vr.isdale.com/WhatIsVR/frames/WhatIsVR4.1.html.
 [2] Augumented and Mixed Reality,
http://www.mic.atr.co.jp/~poup/research/ar/.
 [3] Virtual Reality Applications,
http://vresources.jump-gate.com/applications/application
s.
shtml.
 [4] K.-P. Beier. Virtual Reality: A short Introduction.
http://www-vrl.umich.edu/intro/
 [5] Franchi,J. Vertual Reality: An Overview. ERIC Digest,
June 1995 31
Comments & Questions?

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