oculus vr a virtual reality seminar report

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OCULUS RIFT VR 1. INTRODUCTION You pull a helmet over your head, and suddenly, you're inside a virtual world that seems completely lifelike. You can run around, fight, race and fly, doing things gamers have never done before. What was once the stuff of Hollywood fantasy is now becoming a reality? A startup called Oculus VR is creating personal virtual-reality goggles called the Oculus Rift for everyone to use. Virtual reality isn't new. There have been attempts to create virtual worlds since the '60s, and the idea really took off in the '90s, spawning games that were clunky and heavy, like Nintendo's 1995 disaster Virtual Boy. But it wasn't until the Oculus Rift that virtual reality became something attainable and, perhaps more importantly, desirable for consumers. The headset fits over the eyes, completely covering the wearer's field of vision. Unlike the virtual reality headsets of the past, it's light, with a screen that's easy to look at (even for extended gaming sessions), since it's set up to appear exactly as if the virtual world was being seen in real life. And, happily, the Oculus Rift website insists it's designed to be affordable for the average consumer. Palmer Luckey , the founder of Oculus, developed the idea of creating a new head-mounted display that was both more effective than what is currently on the market, and inexpensive for gamers. For developers, the Oculus Rift platform is a playground, B.C.A.6 TH 2014 1

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Page 1: Oculus Vr a Virtual Reality Seminar Report

OCULUS RIFT VR

1. INTRODUCTION

You pull a helmet over your head, and suddenly, you're inside a virtual world that seems

completely lifelike. You can run around, fight, race and fly, doing things gamers have never done

before. What was once the stuff of Hollywood fantasy is now becoming a reality? A startup

called Oculus VR is creating personal virtual-reality goggles called the Oculus Rift for everyone

to use. Virtual reality isn't new. There have been attempts to create virtual worlds since the '60s,

and the idea really took off in the '90s, spawning games that were clunky and heavy,

like Nintendo's 1995 disaster Virtual Boy. But it wasn't until the Oculus Rift that virtual reality

became something attainable and, perhaps more importantly, desirable for consumers.

The headset fits over the eyes, completely covering the wearer's field of vision. Unlike

the virtual reality headsets of the past, it's light, with a screen that's easy to look at (even for

extended gaming sessions), since it's set up to appear exactly as if the virtual world was being

seen in real life. And, happily, the Oculus Rift website insists it's designed to be affordable for

the average consumer.

 Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, developed the idea of creating a new head-mounted

display that was both more effective than what is currently on the market, and inexpensive for

gamers. For developers, the Oculus Rift platform is a playground, allowing them to put

themselves into any virtual world they can imagine, whether it's a favorite game like Skyrim

(Warning: NSFW language up ahead) or simply a situation you'll likely never experience in real

life.

Virtual Reality can be defined as an environment which is simulated by a computer

system. The environment can mimic the “real” world, or it can be a simulation of a completely

imaginary world. The term Virtual (or Artificial) Reality is attributed to Myron Krueger, an

American computer artist in the 1970s. It has been recorded as far back as 1938 however, by the

French artist Antonin Arnaud, who coined the phrase while discussing his theatre shows. The

first virtual reality equipment, which attempted to physically realize the concept, was developed

by Morton Heilig in the 1950s. He created the Sensorama machine, which contained a moving

seat, along with 3-D moving images, smell, sound, and even wind.

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Figure 1: SENSORAMA

MADISON, Wisconsin (January 21, 2014) – Almost three decades before Building Information

Modeling (BIM) would go mainstream, the term “Virtual Building” was used in the earliest

implementation of BIM through Graphisoft’s Archi CAD debut in 1987.

Figure 2: inside view from oculus rift

Since then, the concept hasn’t changed, but visualization technology has advanced to the point

where designers, engineers, contractors, and building owners can become so immersed in the

virtual building model that they feel as if they’re actually there.  Technologies like the Unity3D

game engine and the new $300 Oculus Rift virtual reality headset are making it possible.

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Figure 3: view of a virtual reality

VR is an immersive medium. It creates the sensation of being entirely transported into a

virtual (or real, but digitally reproduced) three-dimensional world, and it can provide a far more

visceral experience than screen-based media. Enabling the mind’s continual suspension of

disbelief requires particular attention to detail. It can be compared to the difference between

looking through a framed window into a room, versus walking through the door into the room

and freely moving around.

The Oculus Rift is the first VR system of its kind: an affordable, high-quality device with a wide

field of view and minimal lag. Until now, access to VR has been limited primarily to research

labs, governments, and corporations with deep pockets. With the Oculus Rift, developers,

designers, and artists are now leading the way toward delivering imaginative realms to a global

audience.

If VR experiences ignore fundamental best practices, they can create simulator sickness—a

combination of eyestrain, disorientation, and nausea. Historically, many of these problems have

been attributed to sub-optimal VR hardware variables, such as system latency. The Oculus Rift

represents a new generation of VR devices, one that resolves many issues of earlier systems. But

even with a flawless hardware implementation, poorly designed content can still lead to an

uncomfortable experience.

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Because VR has been a fairly esoteric and specialized discipline, there are still aspects of it that

haven’t been studied enough for us to make authoritative statements. In these cases, we put

forward informed theories and observations and indicate them as such. User testing is absolutely

crucial for designing engaging, comfortable experiences; VR as a popular medium is still too

young to have established conventions on which we can rely. We count on you, the community

of Oculus Rift developers, to provide feedback and help us mature these evolving VR best

practices and principles.

2: HISTORY OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Figure 4: oculus head mounted kit

Nowadays computer graphics is used in many domains of our life. The thought of virtual

reality has been around since 1965, when Ivan Sutherland expressed his ideas of creating virtual

or imaginary worlds. At MIT, he conducted experiments with three dimensional displays. In

1969, he developed the first system to surround people in three dimensional displays of

information. Between the '70's and late '80's, the concept of virtual reality was mainly used by the

United States. The military used it as flight simulators to train pilots. The other countries in the

world did not show any interest in this technology until the late 1980's. Since then, virtual reality

has developed in many ways to become an emerging technology of our time.

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3: HOW DOES THE OCULUS RIFT WORKS?

Picture a set of ski goggles in which a large cell phone screen replaces the glass. The

screen displays two images side by side, one for each eye. A set of lenses is placed on top of the

screen, focusing and reshaping the picture for each eye, and creating a stereoscopic 3D image.

The goggles have embedded sensors that monitor the wearer's head motions and adjust the image

accordingly. The latest version of the Oculus Rift is bolstered by an external positional-tracking

accessory, which helps track head movements more accurately. The result is the sensation that

you are looking around a 3D world.

Figure 5: oculus view techniques

Motion parallax has to do with the apparent size of an object. If you put a soda can in

front of you and then move it closer, it will get bigger in your visual field. Your brain assumes

that the can didn’t suddenly grow and concludes that it’s just got closer to you.

Shape-from-shading is a bit trickier. If you stare at a point on an object in front of you

and then move your head around, you’ll notice that the shading of that point changes ever so

slightly depending on the lighting around you. The funny thing is that your eyes actually flicker

constantly recalculating the tiny differences in shading and your brain uses that information to

judge how far away the object is.

In the real world, both these cues work together to give you a sense of depth. But in

virtual reality systems, they’re not treated equally.

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Figure 6: parts of oculus rift

4: HOW DOES VIRTUAL REALITY WORKS?

For many of us born during the mind 1980’s the first thing that strikes us when we hear the

term VR is Jonny Quest and Quest world. Quest world was the digital world that could be

accessed through a computer program and a special headset. It was a move on the part of Hanna-

Barbera productions to introduce the concept of VR to children. So how does VR really work?

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Quest world captured its essence beautifully but there is much more to it. Today there is a lot of

argument on what exactly constitutes a VR experience with many people coming up with their

own points but the in general it includes-

Three dimensional images that appear life size from the perspective of the viewer

The ability to track a user’s movement especially his/her eyes and head movement and

adjust the image on the display to reflect the change in perspective

Now the question arises how does virtual reality work for this we have to trace its origin to the

person who opened the Pandora’s Box- Ivan Sutherland. In the year 1968 Sutherland and his

student Bob Sprull created the first ever virtual reality head mounted display (HMD) system.

This piece of machinery was known as the Sword of Damocles given its formidable appearance.

Following closely on the heels of the first ever HMD came the world’s first ever data glove

which was invented by Dan Sandin, Richard Sayfre and Thomas Defanti which allowed

interaction through body movement in the year 1977. Finally in the year 1983 Myron Krueger

came up with the first ever virtual environment called the video space.

Figure7: The Sword of Damocles

The 1990’s experienced a huge boom in VR technology development and those are the

research that has given us the three primary models of virtual reality systems used today-

Desktop Virtual Reality:

This is the simplest of the lot. It works on the principle of a viewer viewing a

virtual world through one or more computer screens. The user can interact with the

environment but is not completely immersed in it.

Video Mapping Virtual Reality:

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In this method cameras are used to project an image of the user into the computer

program creating a 2D computer character. The user is fully immersed in the environment

but finds it difficult to interact with its surroundings

Immersive Virtual Reality:

This model uses a HMD to project a video directly in front of the user’s eyes and

play audio directly into the user’s ear. The HMD can track the user’s movement and

compensate accordingly. It also uses a Data Glove or to track the user’s movement and

duplicate them in the virtual world. In this type of virtual reality the user experiences

complete immersion- the feeling that the user is inside and a part of the world. She/he is

also able to interact with the environment in meaningful ways. This sense of immersion

and interactivity is called telepresence. If the user is unable to distinguish between the

real and virtual environment then the immersion has succeeded.

The basic requirements of a virtual reality system:

One or more powerful computers:

Computers are the means through which a virtual environment can be stimulated.

Today’s computers are so powerful that a PC can run the software required to create a

virtual environment. The graphics card created keeping in mind the video game industry

are today one of the primary tools from creating advanced and sophisticated virtual

environment.

Input or Sensory devices:

Input devices play a vital role in the virtual environment they are the device with

which the user interacts with its surroundings. Today sensory devices include data glove,

body suit, joysticks and voice recognition. Research is still going on to enable the input

devices to be as natural as possible to increase the experience of telepresence.

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FIGURE8: Data Glove FIGURE9: Body Suit

Output or Display devices: The most common of all display devices in the virtual

environment is the HMD. HMD’s are headsets which consist of two monitors one for

each eye. The two monitors give a stereoscopic effect which gives the feeling of depth.

There are some virtual environment systems which projects images on the wall, floors

and ceiling of the room and are known as Cave Automatic Virtual Environments

(CAVE). Users can move around a CAVE display wearing special goggles which

complete the illusion of moving through a virtual environment. CAVE also gives a wider

view which helps in the feeling of immersion. Also many people can have the experience

together.

FIGURE10: HMD FIGURE11: CAVE

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Tracking System: Tracking systems are closely related to the display techniques if

display techniques are the eyes then the tracking system is the mind in a virtual

environment. Tracking systems track the movement of the body and send the right image

to the display units so that the experience of telepresence is maximized. The development

of tracking system lags behind other virtual reality enabled technology as the tracking

system is only virtual reality focused.

Virtual Reality Software: The HMD, the tracking systems and the computers all need to

interact with each other to give the user the complete virtual environment. Also the

computer needs an interface to create a virtual world which can interact with the user.

This need can be fulfilled by various virtual realities enabling software. This software is

the connecting link between the hardware and also allows the user to interface with the

virtual reality system. Some of the popular virtual reality software available today are:

panaroma2 flash, tourweaver, panoweaver, world of warcraft etc.

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5: TECHNOLOGIES of VIRTUAL REALITY

After a deep study of this emerging technology, we have classified Virtual Reality into

three types. They are as follows:

5.1 Virtual Reality using Hardware

There is a number of hardware developed for the usage by Virtual Reality. Among them

some are explained below.

5.1.1 Head Mounted Display

The Head mounted display consists of two miniature display screens that produce the

stereo scopic images and an optical position tracking system that tracks the orientation of the

humans head in the Virtual world and that produces the impulse to the image generating

computer.

Figure 12: head mounted

The image-generating computer produces the respective view corresponding to the

orientation of the user head in the Virtual world. This is the basic device used in the IVR. As a

result the user can see in the direction that he wants and he can walk through the Virtual world.

5.1.2 Boom and Cave

To overcome the intrusiveness with the HMD the Boom and Cave are used. These are

also extensively used in the IVR.

Screens and stereo scopic image generating apparatus are fixed in a box, which is

attached to a multi-link arm. The user peeps into the Virtual world through two holes, and

controls his motions with the arms.

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Figure 13: boom with controller

The Cave is an interesting topic in IVR. A cave consists of a cube shaped room. The

stereo scopic images are projected on to the walls and the floor of the room with the help of a

number of projectors. The head tracking system worn by the leading user controls the view of the

Virtual world. Several users may sit on the Virtual world at a time.

Figure 14: virtual cave figure15: technique of virtual cave

5.2Virtual Reality using software

The most commonly used tools for developing 3d worlds are VRML v1.0, VRML97,

VRML v2.0, 3d Studio max, Rhino3d, Amapi3d, ALICE99, BLENDER and other such software.

The VRMLv1.0 is the child language developed from the XML family. There aren’t many

differences between the later versions of VRML (VRML97 and VRML v2.0). The programming

paradigms are entirely different from VRMLv1.0 to VRMLv2.0. There are many companies

dedicated to develop the tools for creating virtual worlds, such as Parallel Graphics Co., and

Trapezium Co.,

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Also there are many concepts of developing the virtual worlds using the software.

They are:

5.2.1 Rendering

In this we are conscious about the rendering techniques. Here we use the technique of

wire framing. A sample output and its wire frame model are shown below. After developing the

wire frame model what we have to do is simply to apply the texture to it. This is called texturing.

The texture applied can be a photograph or any predefined textures such as metal, rock, wood

and cement flooring.

5.2.2 Programming

The other tool available for developing the virtual worlds is by programming. There are

many programming languages by which we can develop the virtual worlds. The best one we

prefer is by using VRML v2.0. Prior to this language, people used to develop the virtual worlds

using the traditional programming language, JAVA. As we have mentioned earlier VRML is a

language born from the family of XML. VRML is Virtual Reality Modeling Language. VRML

v2.0 is more advanced compared to the version 2.0.

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6: ARCHITECTURE OF VR SYSTEM

Figure 16: architecture of VR system

Components of VR System:

(a) Input Processor,

(b) Simulation Processor,

(c) Rendering Processor and

(d) World Database

(a) 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.

- Keyboards, mouse, 3D position trackers, a voice recognition system, etc.

(b)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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InputProcessor

RenderingProcessor

World Database

Simulation

Processor

Architecture of VR System

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(c) Rendering Processor

figure17

-Create the sensations that are output to the user.

-Separate rendering processes are used for visual, auditory, haptic and other sensory

systems. Each renderer takes a description of the world stat from the simulation process or

derives it directly from the World Database for each time step.

(d) World Database:

- Store the objects that inhabit the world, scripts that describe actions of those objects.

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7: OCULUS RIFT HARDWARE SETUP

In addition to the Oculus SDK, you will also need the hardware provided by the Oculus

Rift Development Kit (DK). The DK includes an Oculus Rift development headset (Rift), control

box, required cabling, and additional pairs of lenses for different vision characteristics.

7.1 Display Specifications

Figure 18: hardware of oculus rift _ 7 inch diagonal viewing area

_ 1280 _ 800 resolution (720p). This is split between both eyes, yielding 640 _ 800 per eye.

_ 64mm fixed distance between lens centers

_ 60Hz LCD panel

_ DVI-D Single Link

_ HDMI 1.3+

_ USB 2.0 Full Speed+

7.2 Tracker Specifications

_ Up to 1000Hz sampling rate

_ Three-axis gyroscope, which senses angular velocity

_ Three-axis magnetometer, which senses magnetic fields

_ Three-axis accelerometer, which senses accelerations, including gravitational

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7.3 Additional Vision Lenses

The Rift comes installed with lenses for users with 20/20 or farsighted vision. If your

vision is 20/20 or farsighted, you won’t need to change your lenses

For nearsighted users, two additional pairs of lenses are included with the kit. Although they may

not work perfectly for all nearsighted users, they should enable most people to use the headset

without glasses or contact lenses. The medium-depth lenses are for users who are moderately

nearsighted. The shortest-depth lenses are for users who are very nearsighted. We recommend

that users experiment with the different lenses to find the ones that work best for them. The

lenses are also marked with the letters ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ to aid identification.

The recommended lenses are as follows:

Lenses Appropriate Vision

A> 20/20 or farsighted

B >moderately nearsighted

C >Very nearsighted

(Note: If your eyes have special characteristics such as astigmatism, the provided lenses

may not be sufficient to correct your vision. In this case, we recommend wearing contact lenses

or glasses. Note, however, that using glasses will cut down on your effective field of view.)

7.3.1 Changing vision lenses

Changing the lens may cause dust or debris to get inside the Rift. We strongly

recommend changing the lenses in the cleanest space possible! Do not store the Rift without

lenses installed. To change lenses, first turn the headset upside down (this is to minimize the

amount of dust and debris that can enter the headset) and gently unscrew the lenses currently

attached to the headset. Unscrewing the lenses doesn’t require much pressure; a light touch is

most effective. The right lens unscrews clockwise. The left lens unscrews counterclockwise.

Place the old lenses in a safe place, then take the new lenses and install them the same way you

removed the original pair. Remember to keep your headset upside down during this process.

Once the new lenses are securely in place, you’re all set! After changing the lenses, you may

need to adjust the distance of the assembly that holds the screen and lenses closer or farther away

from your face. This is covered next.

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7.4 Screen Distance Adjustment

The headset has an adjustment feature that allows you to change the distance of the fixture that

holds the screen and lenses from your eyes. This is provided to accommodate different facial

characteristics and vision lenses. For example, if the lenses are too close to your eyes, then you

should adjust the fixture outward, moving the lenses and the screen away from your face. You

can also use this to provide more room for eyeglasses.

(Note: Everyone should take some time to adjust the headset for maximum comfort. While doing

so, an important consideration is that the lenses should be situated as close to your eyes as

possible. Remember that the maximal field of view occurs when your eyes are as close to the

lenses as possible without actually touching them.)

7.4.1 Adjusting the screen distance

There are two screw mechanisms of either side of the headset that can be adjusted using a

coin. These screws control the location of the screen assembly. The setting for the two screw

mechanisms should always match unless you’re in the process of adjusting them. Turn the screw

mechanism toward the lenses to bring the assembly closer to the user. Turn the screw mechanism

toward the display to move the assembly farther away from the user. After changing one side,

ensure that the other side is turned to the same setting!

7.5 Control Box Setup

The headset is connected to the control box by a 6ft cable. The control box takes in video,

USB, and power, and sends them out over a single cord to minimize the amount of cabling

running to the headset.

1. Connect one end of the video cable (DVI or HDMI) to your computer and the other end to the

control box.

(Note: There should only be one video-out cable running to the control box at a time (DVI or

HDMI, not both).)

2. Connect one end of the USB cable to your computer and the other to the control box.

3. Plug the power cord into an outlet and connect the other end to the control box.

You can power on the DK using the power button on the top of the control box. A blue LED

indicates whether the DK is powered on or off. The Rift screen will only stay on when all three

cables are connected.

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7.5.1 Adjusting brightness and contrast

The brightness and contrast of the headset can be adjusted using the buttons on the top of

the control box. Looking from the back side:

_ The leftmost buttons adjust the display’s contrast.

_ The neighboring two adjust the display’s brightness.

_ The rightmost button turns the power on and off.

7.6 Monitor Setup

Once the Oculus Rift is connected to your computer, it should be automatically

recognized as an additional monitor and Human Input Device (HID). The Rift can be set to

mirror or extend your current monitor setup using your computer’s display settings. We

recommend using the Rift as an extended monitor in most cases, but it’s up you to decide which

configuration works best for you. This is covered in more detail in Appendix A. Regardless of

the monitor configuration, is it currently not possible to see the desktop clearly inside the Rift.

This would require stereo rendering and distortion correction, which is only available while

rendering the game scene. Whether you decide to mirror or extend your desktop, the resolution of

the Rift should always be set to 1280 00 (720p).

8: OCULUS RIFT SDK SETUP

Figure 19: Front back control box

8.1 System Requirements

8.1.1 Operating systems

The Oculus SDK currently supports MacOS, Windows (Vista, 7, 8) and Linux.

8.1.2 Minimum system requirements

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There are no specific computer hardware requirements for the Oculus SDK; however, we

recommend that developers use a computer with a modern graphics card. A good benchmark is to

try running Unreal Engine 3 and Unity at 60 frames per second (FPS) with vertical sync and

stereo 3D enabled. If this is possible without dropping frames, then your configuration should be

sufficient for Oculus Rift development!

The following components are provided as a guideline:

_ Windows: Vista, 7, or 8

_ MacOS: 10.6+

_ Linux: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

_ 2.0+ GHz processor

_ 2 GB system RAM

_ Direct3D 10 or OpenGL 3 compatible video card.

Although many lower end and mobile video cards, such as the Intel HD 4000, have the

shader and graphics capabilities to run minimal Rift demos, their rendering throughput may be

inadequate for full-scene 60 FPS VR rendering with stereo and distortion. Developers targeting

this hardware will need to be very conscious of scene geometry because low-latency rendering at

60 FPS is critical for a usable VR experience.

If you are looking for a portable VR workstation, we’ve found that the Nvidia 650M

inside of a MacBook Pro Retina provides enough graphics power for our demo development.

9: FIELD OF VIEW AND SCALE - 0.2 SDK VERSION

Real-world and virtual FOV (abbreviated cFOV and dFOV here) need to match. In

general, don’t mess with the default FOV.

For the sake of precision, we must first disambiguate different uses of the term “field of

view.” We will use the term display field of view (dFOV) to refer to the part of the user’s visual

field occupied by VR content. It is a physical characteristic of the hardware and optics. The other

type of type of FOV is camera field of view (cFOV), which refers to the range of the virtual

world that is seen by the rendering camera at any given moment. All FOVs are defined by an

angular measurement of vertical, horizontal, and/or diagonal dimensions. In ordinary screen-

based computer graphics, you usually have the freedom to set the camera’s cFOV to anything

you want: from fisheye (wide angle) all the way to telephoto (narrow angle). This works because

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the image on the monitor is simply a two-dimensional object that is seen within the observer’s

total view of the environment. While the image may be compelling, it does not occupy the user’s

entire visual world, and differences between cFOV and dFOV do not cause problems for most

people.

In virtual reality, there is no view of the external room; the virtual world fills a large

section of your field of view and provides the only visual feedback to your head movements. It is

therefore very important that the cFOV and the dFOV match exactly. The ratio between these

two values is referred to as the scale, and in virtual reality the scale should always be exactly

1.0.Deviations between dFOV and cFOV can be extremely discomforting.1 The scale of the

scene will no longer appear to correspond to real-world dimensions, the motion of the head and

the motion of the eyes will no longer match, and the default distortion correction values will

cause the rendered scene to warp. Manipulating the camera FOV can induce simulator sickness

and can lead to a maladaptation in the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which allows the eyes to maintain

stable fixation on an object during head movements. You should not change any of the default

settings related to FOV or scale under any circumstances, and care must be taken to get the view

scaling exactly the same way the SDK specifies. As noted elsewhere, it is quite easy to get a view

that looks almost—but not exactly—right, causing disorientation and discomfort in users

Figure20: A complete VR system with limited movement facility

Since the days of Sutherland till today all the development that have occurred have been

limited to the realm of sight and sound as under the present technology they are only two senses

which can be best used to stimulate reality. In the nearby future development will reach such a

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level that visual realism in HMDs will be achieved and in the realm of audio three dimensional

sounds will be the next big thing as this will add to the virtual reality experience. Currently

research is going on to stimulate smell and use it in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder by exposing combat veterans to stimulated combat environment complete with smell.

With virtual reality technology reaching smell the other two senses that are left over are taste and

touch. In order to stimulate them also the brain must be manipulated directly, if and when it is

achieved it will the entire concept of virtual reality will give way to simulated reality in many a

way similar to the brain interface port shown in The Matrix. But even before stimulated reality

can be achieved there is a lot of work to be done in the arena of virtual reality like development

of better tracking systems, more powerful processing systems to minimize the total lag time etc.

Thus in the present day scenario virtual reality is not only a socio-economic tool of immense

importance but it is a technology that will be instrumental in changing the future.

10: APPLICATIONS

Real Time Applications of Virtual Reality:

Figure 21: unboxed oculus rift kit

The applications being developed for Virtual Reality run over a wide spectrum from 3d

games to architectural planning of buildings. The applications may be scientific and technical

that cannot be viewed in actual life. The flexibility of the Virtual Reality makes it use in the

scientific applications like architectural planning, rocket launching, war strategies, cockpit

simulation, robotics and medical related applications.

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10.1Virtual Reality in war strategies

SIMNET is the first war related Virtual Reality application. This project is

standardization being pushed by the USA Defense Department to enable diverse simulators to be

interconnected into a vast network. The soldiers can be trained to the war by developing a Virtual

world that looks exactly the war field. This helps them in knowing how to deal in war fields.

Distributed Interactive System (DIS) protocol has been developed by the Orlando Institute of

Training and Simulation, which is the future of Virtual Reality in war strategies.

10.2Virtual Reality in medical

Figure22: controller glove and staring wheel for gaming

Virtual Reality is now being used to train physicians to carry out intricate surgical

procedures such as laparoscopies, arthroscopies, endoscopies and other minimally invasive

surgeries.

Nano surgery is another medical application, where the doctors located at a distinct place

guide the robots. They guide the robots with the help of multi-link arms that we have already

seen in the case of booms.

1. Virtual Reality in designing aspects

Virtual Reality helps in designing the virtual models of the certain objects. By building

the virtual models we can see how the model works, what the defects may be and how we can

overcome the previous defects. These all cannot be seen by actually developing the model as it

includes a lot of cost and laborious time. This concept of Virtual Reality is being is mostly used

in the designing of conceptual cars. Concept cars are being designed to study new ideas. Most of

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these designs are never built. Virtual reality provides a tool for evaluating such designs in full

scale without building time consuming and costly physical prototypes.

2. Virtual Reality in amusement parks

Virtual Reality is also playing a vital role in the amusement parks. The conceptual cars

that we have discussed above and the racing games are being developed to attract people. With

the help of electronic gloves, head-mounted displays and stereo scopic vision racing games

attract the people.

Figure23: a horror ride in Disneyland

3. Virtual Reality in web development.

4. Virtual Reality in cockpit simulation.

Figure24: cockpit simulator

5. Virtual Reality and Cryptography.

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11: CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS

Virtual Reality is not without its own challenges and concerns. It is true that there has

been giant leap forward in terms of technological advancement in both hardware and software

but sadly they have been limited to specific fields of virtual reality. Today the biggest challenges

that are faced in the field of virtual reality are:

Development of Tracking Systems:

Tracking systems as a tool are unique to the field of virtual reality. That is the

primary reason why it always lags behind other hardware developments. There are few

companies that have been developing these systems since the earliest days of virtual

reality but they are both small in size and number. Thus the uniqueness of the product and

the strength of the companies who develop it are the biggest hindrance to the faster

development of Tracking systems which in turn is a major concern in the world of virtual

reality as tracking system is like the brain of the system without this the entire concept of

virtual being real goes to pieces.

Natural Ways of Interaction:

Like the development of tracking systems there aren’t many companies which are

working on developing input devices uniquely for virtual reality. The virtual reality

developers have to rely on products and technology discipline. Thus the natural feel that

the user should have got by now while interacting with its surrounding is still not there.

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Figure24: difference between 2D and 3 D displays

Time taken to create Virtual Worlds:

Virtual worlds take a long time to create. The more realistic the world is the more

time it will take for its development. It will take a team of programmers more than twelve

months to recreate a room in all its details in the virtual world

Cyber sickness:

It is a huge challenge on the part of a virtual environment developer to create a

system that avoids bad ergonomics. Many systems are limited in the virtual environment

due to the hardware involved. Without proper hardware in place an user could have

trouble with his sense of balance with decrease in the sense of telepresence or he could be

affiliated with cyber sickness which results in disorientation and nausea.

Psychological Effects:

There’s a fear amongst Psychiatrists that children who are perpetuator of violence

in a virtual environment will turn out to be sociopaths in the future. Another concern

which has been raised is that virtual environment will lead to cyber addiction. Yet another

point of concern is virtual crime. At what point do authorities charge a person engaging in

virtual crimes in the real world?

Virtual reality today is in a Catch 22 phase when it comes to over-coming the challenges

faced by the developers. Take for instance the challenge of lowering the time taken to create a

virtual world with the help of the powerful computers being developed today but with these

computers developer tend to create richer and more realistic worlds which in turn leads to their

development taking more time. Also when it comes to development of better tracking and input

systems companies are wary that by going for their large scale development and production now

when virtual reality as a business concept hasn’t taken hold in that big a way will have them

making a loss. But what they don’t realize that if these systems aren’t developed fast then virtual

reality will never reach the stage where they will be able to make a profit out of it.

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12: SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual Reality gives us a new reality to inhabit, it gives us the power to do in there things

which we wouldn’t even have dreamt of in our real life. It is a technological marvel that with the

passing of days slowly but steadily becoming a reality for people all around the globe. From the

time when Sutherland came out with his Sword of Damocles there has been a huge debate on the

effect that virtual reality will have on human kind. Whether it will be have a wide spread positive

impact or a negative impact is still open to debate and the answer is hidden away in the elusive

fist of time. But one thing is certain Virtual Reality has arrived and it is here to stay and with the

future becoming the present it will have an increasingly important role in our private as well as

public life. Some of the biggest advantages of using virtual reality are:

It more personal than instant messaging and email gives a feeling of belonging.

It can be considered as a great social leveler as it finds a common ground across age,

gender, cultural and linguistic orientation.

It will enable people with common interests to come together irrespective of

geographical barriers.

It will enable communication to be more effective and productive.

It will open up new markets as geography won’t be a barrier any longer.

With every positive these is a negative it is the case with virtual reality also, it offers a great deal

in terms of social networking, economy, political mileage, health care but it is not without its

own brand of evil which arises due to the nature of the technology offered. Some of the major

cons to overall acceptance of this technology are:

There’s a fear that people will slowly be cut off from reality as they start living more

and more in a virtual world.

There is a chance by undertaking various violent deeds in the virtual world there’s the

chance that people will develop aggressive impulses which will affect their real lives.

A distinction will be drawn between countries with the technology to implement virtual

reality and countries which do not.

Virtual reality might end up remaking the world into one which is run by technocrats

and sociopaths and driven by commercialism.

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Community will at one point of time or another will be substituted for interaction which

in turn will lead to low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and self-destructive acts

With the physical exercise reduced to a bare minimum as people start spending more

and more time in the virtual world their real life health will be affected.

Keeping in mind the pros and cons arising out of the wide spread use of virtual reality, it

has been aptly described by Kelly Kershner as “It could be a lifesaving godsend, a ground

breaking educational tool a means of becoming our best selves. Or it could be a mindless energy

sapping diversion an off ramp to electronically isolation, a playground of immorality. Chances

are it will be all of these things.”

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13: CURRENT USES

Virtual Reality is currently in use in a wide variety of different forms. This report will look at

some of these forms.

Medical Training

Historically, medical training and specifically surgery training has been accomplished

by students learning by watching more experienced surgeons perform. This approach is a

satisfactory one, but does have its own inherent problems; the sporadic nature of having a patient

to operate on, the quality of the surgeons teaching skills. One of the main ways that virtual reality

is used in this context is that of training for laparoscopy surgery, also known as keyhole surgery.

This technique employs a camera on the end of a rod, which is used to view the surgery on a

magnified view screen. This makes the incision smaller, which has obvious benefits for the

patient. This process lends itself wellto simulated training, as the operation already uses a display

screen for the surgeon to view the magnified procedure they are carrying out. The simulation

involves the trainee surgeon using surgical instruments as normal, and the operation being

simulated onscreen. According to Sophie Leisby, a trainee surgeon, the simulation is very real,

the instruments act as they would in a real life situation, and when a vessel is accidentally cut in

the simulation, it bleeds, and in the example shown, the surgeon failed the situation. This

illustrates the benefits of virtual training; if the trainee surgeon had made this mistake in a real

operation it is likely the patient would have experienced severe problems as a result. In the

example given from Denmark, each trainee has to attain a certain score in the simulation before

they will be considered for real life surgery.

Figure25: Sophie Leisby using a Virtual Reality Simulator

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This is obviously a very useful tool in training surgeons. Previous methods, such as practicing on

cadavers offer valuable experience of interacting with a real human body. Interacting with a live

patient is obviously a different matter however. Virtual Reality training offers trainees the

opportunity to interact with material very close to what they would experience in a real operation.

The use of such technologies as haptic feedback can only enhance their training further. Care

needs to be taken though, to guard against complacency, and detachment from the dangers

present in the operations that are being performed. This is an issue with Virtual Reality as a

whole, not just with surgical training. There is a danger that the user will become desensitized to

the consequences of mistakes. After all, if you die while playing a computer game, you simply

respawn at your last save point. Using Virtual Reality to train people in anything runs the risk of

this becoming a natural reaction. Another use of Virtual Reality in the medical world is that of

treating phobias. This article lists the types of phobia which can be treated using Virtual Reality.

These include fear of spiders, flight, driving, and claustrophobia among others. This kind of

treatment, known as “exposure therapy”, refers to the practice of exposing a patient to the very thing

that they have a phobia of. Obviously Virtual Reality has the potential to play a significant role in this

kind of treatment, as the patient can be exposed to the stimuli in a virtual manner, which means they are

more likely to participate in the treatment. A lot depends on the individual patient however. The first

article states that the study carried out was inconclusive; that certain patients responded well to the virtual

treatment, but others did not. Another factor is how severe the phobia is, and how relevant the virtual

nature of the treatment is to the patient. A lot would depend on the patient being able to suspend their

knowledge of the virtual environment, simulated flight very different to the real thing, especially if one

has a related phobia. The research carried out for this report could not locate many recent references to

this practice, most dated from the 1990s. It can be assumed from this that this was not followed up on as

being a viable treatment for phobias. Possibly as the technology improves and becomes more

sophisticated it will be revisited in the future.

Training

Virtual reality can be used in many other disciplines as a safe alternative to in-the-field

training. One such example is that of coal mine. The example shown offers a variety of simulated

coal mine environments, and users can take part in courses that will train them in the different

situations that could arise in an environment such as this. Again this allows trainees to experience

the real life dangers to both themselves and expensive equipment without placing themselves in

physical danger. A very relevant point made by this company is that this is a “High impact

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experience for maximum learning and retention”. Learning is always most successful when the

student has a memorable experience to look back on, and will learn and retain far more from

actually doing the tasks they are learning than from reading about them. Virtual Reality offers

students such as these the opportunity to experience firsthand the realities of the job they are

training for, something that may not have been possible before the advent of this technology.

Conferencing

Another environment in which virtual reality is currently employed is in conferencing.

There are areas where this approach has many benefits over its real life equivalent. The primary

factor is that of attendance and travel, if great distances have to be travelled to attend a

conference, this obviously costs time and money to achieve. Using Virtual conferencing,

attendees can view and interact in proceedings without leaving their office or home. One of the

main proponents of this facility is the virtual world Second Life, which offers businesses the

facility to hold meetings, conferences. The idea is that each participant has an avatar, who sits at

the virtual table (or similar), and contributes with the meeting through text using audio

technology to chat in real time with their colleagues. One interesting innovation mentioned is the

“Frustration Orb”. This allows attendees to click it anonymously if they are unhappy with the

direction of the meeting. The more clicks it receives, the orb turns red, intimating that the group

are unhappy. This illustrates features of Virtual Conferencing that would enhance the experience.

The ideas used behind this can be expanded to cover a wide range of scenarios. Education is an

example; distance learning, or programs such as the Open University would benefit hugely from

having virtual lectures. Such facilities already exist in various forms;

FIGURE26: VIRTUAL CONFRENSING IN NEWS CHANNAL

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The example referenced here is from the Twenty University in The Netherlands. This example

has a lecturer giving his lecture in one University, and it is viewed in real time, with interactivity

possible, at two further universities. It can be argued that this is not truly Virtual Reality, but it is

certainly a step in that direction. It is certainly moving towards virtual classrooms, where each

student will have a computer linked to the other students and the teacher. Distance becomes an

irrelevance, and it will allow for specialized study, with likeminded students and teachers able to

work together while studying, which really helps to give the student an idea of the placement of

their work in the larger scheme.

Military

Virtual Reality has been around for a long time in military training, before the term was

coined. In the 1920s and 30s, primitive flight simulators were employed to train pilots. Sawed off

“coffins” were placed on a pedestal, with realistic instruments placed inside. The darkness inside,

the movement and the instruments made this an effective method of training pilots to fly at night.

Later on, more sophisticated flight simulators were used, not just for military training. Cockpits

surrounded by projected images to simulate flight can train all pilots, not just military. For

military purposes though, this approach offers a way to train for and develop tactical situations,

without risking expensive equipment and personnel in the field. These techniques are used in

military training apart from that of flight training. Increasingly, soldiers can be trained using

laptops connected through a network to others, which allows “large numbers of personnel to

interact in a simulated face-to-face environment with other distant military units through the

Internet (or through the classified network known as SIPRNET), and with first-responder units,

civilians, and even medical personnel units, providing a training experience that is increasingly

effective, but at a much lower cost than would be required for assembling these personnel for a

real-life face-to-facet raining exercise.” This technique also allows virtually any scenario or

environment to be played out for the purposes of training. The influence of this kind of

technology can be seen in the current gaming world, the likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is

clearly inspired by these kinds of training simulations. The blending of these worlds is apparent

as the US army have used XBOX controllers to control remote devices, including robots (some

with guns), and spy planes.

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Figure 27: US Army uses XBOX Controllers

As stated, the rise in the use of Virtual Reality in training situations like this is down to the fact

that it is very cost effective; the cost of setting up simulations is a lot more affordable now than it

has been previously. The benefits in a military setting are obvious. Safety of equipment and

personnel are paramount, and the process of developing new tools and weapons is rendered

simpler, through the use of prototyping in a virtual environment, many design issues can be

caught and eliminated without the need for in the field testing. It can all be done in a virtual field

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14: SAMSUNG + OCULUS

Recently Samsung announce the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition, a new mobile

virtual reality headset using the Galaxy Note 4, created by Samsung and powered by Oculus.

The culmination of that work is Gear VR Innovator Edition, an add-on to the new

Samsung Galaxy Note 4, using the phone’s GPU/CPU to power the device and the Quad HD

low-persistence 5.7 inch 1440p AMOLED screen as the display. One of the best aspects of

mobile VR is the completely untethered, easy-to-use experience: you connect the Note 4 to the

headset, you put it on, and you’re in. That level of accessibility, combined with Oculus software

to easily launch and transition between VR applications without taking the headset off, really

makes the experience magical.

The Gear VR is powered by the new Oculus Mobile SDK, and also uses variations of the

Oculus Tracker and firmware built into the headset for extremely accurate, ultra low-latency

3DOF tracking. It’s impossible to deliver a high quality mobile experience without this kind of

deep end-to-end hardware, software, and firmware optimization. As a result, we’ve been able to

achieve sub-20 millisecond motion-to-photons latency, roughly equivalent to the most highly

optimized experiences on DK2.

The Innovator Edition is also launching with four new experiences built by Oculus: Oculus

Home, Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Videos and Oculus 360 Photos.

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GEAR VR(CONFIGURATION)

Optical Lens

-96˚ Field of View

Sensor

-Accelerator, Gyrometer, Magnetic, Proximity

Motion to Photon Latency

-< 20ms

Focal Adjustment

-Covers Nearsighted / Farsighted Eyes

Interpupillary Distance Coverage

-55 ~ 71 mm

Physical User Interface

-Touch Pad, Back Button, Volume Key

Connection

-micro USB 1.1 connection to the Galaxy Note 4

Dimension (Headset)

-198(W) x 116(L) x 90(H)mm

Contents

-Available through Oculus Store

* micro SD Card(16GB) in-box

What samsung working on for their Samsung Gear VR?

There are two games in development that they are publishing. The first one is an arcade

shooter based around World War 2 bomber gunners called Bandit Six.

 The second title is still under wraps and it’s developing in collaboration with Oculus.

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15: THE FUTUER

As can be seen from the preceding report, the technology behind Virtual Reality

continues to be developed, and, impressive as some of it is at this time, we are still some way off

from having systems that will provide fully immersive virtual reality. It can be mimicked

however.

Figure28: Homemade Virtual Reality Goggles

As this video shows, easily accessible technology can be used and modified to create a

form on immersive virtual reality. In this example, an HTC Android phone is attached to a

homemade headset, which blocks out all other vision for the user. The phone has a digital

compass application installed on it, which allows in this case the user to turn his head and body,

and the viewpoint on the phone will dynamically react to this movement. It is not difficult to see

how this concept could be improved on, to offer users fully immersive views of any location on

the planet (and possibly off it) that is desired.

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Figure 29: Google’s street view

Google’s Street View project is a form of Virtual Reality that makes this sort of

immersion possible. Google have taken panoramic photographs of large portions of the planet. It

is not comprehensive in its locations yet, but over time this will increase, and users will be able to

virtually visit anywhere they desire. As discussed earlier, the hardware underpinning Virtual

Reality is steadily moving forwards, with the military and medical professions two of the

industries that are taking advantage of the ever more sophisticated equipment. In the home,

progress has been slower, largely down to the cost of equipment, but this may change in the next

few years, as Microsoft push their Project Natal, and their competitors will undoubtedly attempt

to develop rival technologies. One recent innovation has come from the use of Nintendo’s DSi

gaming console. The remit of this report was specific in its “not gaming” direction, but this

technology has wider implications for user interaction with 3D environments, and has been

included. The technology uses the front facing camera present on the new model of Nintendo’s

DS console, the DSi. It employs face tracking software, which will analyze the position of the

viewers face and eyes, and the images displayed on screen react in accordance to this. A 3D

image is then given depth, and if the DSi is tilted, or the viewer moves his head back, the depth

of the image changes, mimicking the real life perspective of the objects. It is difficult to explain

this properly, as it is a very visual effect.

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Figure30: Nintendo’s DSi gaming cell phone

These kinds of technologies, which are available to buy at relatively inexpensive prices,

seem to be the future of Virtual Reality, for the average consumer anyway. Obviously large

businesses will continue to make strides in fully immersive systems, such as CAVE, for training

purposes. The portable nature of technology such as the DSi, and mobile phones, is a lot more

accessible and exciting for the average user. If the homemade Virtual Reality headset discussed

earlier can be expanded upon, this could be as close to truly immersive Virtual Reality as anyone

is likely to get, without spending vast amounts of money. Even combining this with proper

HMDs (Head Mounted devices) would seem to offer a relatively inexpensive way of immersing

oneself in a Virtual World, albeit in the case of Street View, a virtual simulation of the real

world. The DSi technology too, offers tantalizing glimpse of what the future could hold. If this

can be successfully transferred to large screen televisions, or similar devices, and utilize head

tracking technology, real life depth and perspective can be used in a variety of applications. The

real advances will come when these techniques are successfully combined with the various haptic

technologies. As humans have five senses, for Virtual

Reality to succeed, at least three of these should be stimulated (sight, hearing and touch). The

other two are more difficult, and possibly less relevant, although it has been attempted, using

smell at least, in Heiligs Sensorama machine .Virtual Reality has then progressed since the term

was first coined in the1970s. While it was a buzz word of the 1980s, with fantastical promises of

truly immersive systems that would be freely available to all, the reality is that this has been far

more difficult to achieve than it was thought twenty or thirty years ago. Cost has been a hugely

prohibitive factor; it is only fairly recently that technology capable of producing anything

approximating the vision of immersive Virtual Reality has been available at prices near what the

average consumer can afford. The basic pieces of equipment, such as Head Mounted Displays are

a lot more affordable now than they have ever been. The fact remains that they are regarded as

luxury items. The day may come when such items are commonplace in the average home, but

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this is still a long way off. The large scale virtual environments, like CAVE which were

discussed earlier, are prohibitively expensive for the average company to use, let alone purchase

for repeated use. Another pitfall or possible danger inherent in the use of Virtual Reality in

various scenarios is the effect it can have on the user. This report mentioned earlier the problem

that medical students, among others can have with user detachment; becoming desensitized to the

fact that their actions will have real life consequences, something that is not always readily

reinforced in a virtual environment. A similar issue is that of the social problems that using a

virtual world can cause. Anonymity is a factor, not just in virtual worlds, but in the use of the

internet as a Communication tool as a whole. A current issue in the news is that of social

networking site Facebook installing a “panic button” for its users. The issues this story raises are

similar to those found in virtual worlds; how can the user know who they are dealing with? It is

very easy to create a virtual character or avatar, which can bear little or no Resemblance to the

person who uses it. This leads to obvious safety concerns in the case of the news story

referenced, but also to less sinister, but relevant issues of trust within a virtual world. The world

of Star Trek, with the Holodeck offering real life worlds of the users choosing still seem a long

way off. This is possibly for the best however. It has been postulated that such an invention

would mark the end of human civilization. If everyone could live in a virtual world, who would

be left to go to work, producing food and power to sustain the human race’s new virtual

existence?

16: WHAT ARE THE FEARS?

With the introduction of VR to society there is a need of finding ethical norms for it.

People also should know about the potential dangers of the new technology: which negative or

even destructive influence it can bring along. One may notexaggerate because humans have a

great ability of adaptation to new conditions: finally they will always find their place in new

(even virtual) realities. Nevertheless it is better to prevent than to correct. Virtual reality systems

of the future can be divided into four groups according to two criteria: social vs. non-social and

creative vs. non-creative. Non-social virtual realities allow a single user to interact with the

environment. This can be an interaction either: with a prefabricated (i.e. reprogrammed)

environment (they are then called: non-creative systems) or with an environment that can be

modified according to the user’s needs and wishes (they are then called: creative systems).

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Social virtual realities on the other hand allow multiple users to interact with each other and with

the environment itself. Again, as with non-social systems, the environment can be

Preprogrammed or it be created and altered by the user or a group of cooperating users.

Figure 31: four type of VR

Different types of VR systems can have different influences on people’s mentality. Non-social

virtual realities for example may lead to closing of people in their “own worlds”. This has

already partially happened – some of the most fanatic computer-game players can hardly be

forced to come back to reality! And with more convincing and realistic systems, it can only

become worse...

Non-creative applications (like games) may have an additional negative effect:

Closing the user in the world that cannot be modified is against human nature and can

lead to degradation of our imagination. Non-social and creative virtual worlds that potentially can

be great tool for designers are at the same time even bigger temptation for complete escape from

reality. They offer to the user the possibility of modifying the surrounding according to one’s

wishes (which is very often not possible in real world). Thanks to it, creating an artificial

wonderland of dreams will be as easy as building a house using a Lego-set. With these

considerations several existential questions arise: Is our everyday life so bad that so many people

escape from it? Will VR make people at least happier? Which influence will it have on the ability

of coexistence with other humans?

This last question becomes even more important when considering social virtual worlds,

allowing people to communicate and collaborate. They can certainly be a great help in work and

in everyday life, but are they going to replace physical contacts totally? Even today a lot of

people spend hours on the telephone because they are too lazy to pay a visit to their friends. In

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virtual reality, the user will be able to create an image of himself/herself – often very idealized

and far from reality. Hidden behind our masks we will meet only equally “perfect” but cold

Creatures. How long can one continue living without feelings and how destructive can it be?

How easy will it be to come back to reality and make contacts with real people? How easy will it

be to switch between real and virtual images, and can it eventually cause a virtual schizophrenia?

Beside the dangers of VR discussed previously, there are other more general hazards. TV

has in the 1960s increased the homicide rate in American society. VR can potentially have the

same influence on our society a few years from now. People playing brutal games may identify

themselves with the virtual heroes and adopt their violent behavior. With the improvement of the

simulation and visual quality of virtual worlds the differences between reality and VR will be

constantly disappearing and consequently people may become confused what is real and what is

virtual. In fact this process has already begun: military simulations are becoming so close to

reality that soldiers do not know any more whether they are remotely steering a real “death-

machine” or just making training. This may eventually lead to the lack of responsibility for our

actions: one can kill cold-blooded thousands of innocent people not knowing (or rather

pretending not to know) if taking part in a simulation or a real mission. All these questions are

intentionally left open. The overwhelming evolution of virtual reality technology indicates that

there may be an all too real danger for society. VR may become the ultimate drug for the masses.

It is our responsibility to choose the right dose.

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17: FUNDING

Following the demonstration of the Oculus Rift prototype at E3 in June 2012, on August

1, 2012, the company announced a Kickstarter campaign to further develop the product. Oculus

announced that the "dev kit" version of the Oculus Rift would be given as a reward to backers

who pledged $300 or more on Kickstarter, with an expected shipping date set of December 2012

(though they did not actually ship until March 2013).There was also a limited run of 100

unassembled Rift prototype kits for pledges over $275 that would ship a month earlier. Both

versions were intended to include Doom 3 BFG Edition, but Rift support in the game was not

ready, so to make up for it they included a choice of discount vouchers for either Steam or the

Oculus store. Within four hours of the announcement, Oculus secured its intended amount

ofUS$250,000, and in less than 36 hours, the campaign had surpassed $1 million in

funding, eventually ending with $2,437,429.

On December 12, 2013, Marc Andreessen joined the company's board when his firm, Andreessen

Horowitz, led the $75 million Series B venture funding.

In total, Oculus VR has raised $91 million with $2.4 million raised via crowd funding.

18: ACQUISITION

Though Oculus VR had only released a development prototype of its headset, on March

25, 2014, Mark Zuckerberg announced via his Facebook profile that Facebook would be

acquiring Oculus VR for US$2 billion, pending regulatory approval. The deal includes $400

million in cash and 23.1 million common shares of Facebook, valued at $1.6 billion, as well as

additional $300 million assuming Facebook reaches certain milestones. Some Kickstarter backers

and game industry figures, such as Minecraft developer Notch, criticized the sale of Oculus VR

to Facebook.

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19: CONCLUSION

The most impressive thing about the Rift isn’t even the hardware, but the great platform

for virtual reality Oculus VR has created. The SDK allows any developer to easily integrate

Oculus Rift into their projects, with no or little knowledge about VR. And it’s even easier for

developers using Unity or UDK, where it's as easy as drag and drop. Of course there is more to a

good integration than this, but it shows that Oculus VR has the attention of developers already

and this may very well be the key to succeeding.

  Oculus VR also managed to hire some of the most skilled people in the business and combined

with support from developers like Valve, id Software, Dice and Epic, great things is bound to

happen. That’s why I think there is every reason to believe in a bright future for Oculus Rift and

VR in general. All technologies go through the various stages of development and if we look at

virtual technology then it is just about to hit its growth phase. The world today stands on the

brink of a tidal wave which will not only wash away many of our conventionally held norms but

will usher in an era that will make all the technological innovations that have occurred in the so

called age of information technology as those made in the stone ages. All this depends on how

fast and how effectively virtual reality is integrated into our lives.

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20: REFERENCE

Web reference

1. http://developer.oculusvr.com/best-practices

2. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-oculus-rift,news-18026.html

3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/oculus-rift-facebook-_n_5031342.html

4. Multimedia Technology 2 – Virtual Reality (PDF)

5. http://archvirtual.com/2014/01/19/bim-goes-virtual-oculus-rift-and-virtual-reality-take-

architectural-visualization-to-the-next-level/

6. http://static.oculusvr.com/sdk-downloads/documents/OculusBestPractices.pdf

7. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-oculus-rift,news-18026.html

8. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/other-gadgets/virtual-reality.htm

9. http://www.bilawchuk.com/mark/index.html

10. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aeronautics/labs/human_immersive.html

Image reference

1. http://www.insightsinretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ivan-sutherlands-sword-of-

damocles-virtual-reality-head-mounted-viewer.jpg

2. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/virtual-reality-pictures6.htm

3. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/virtual-reality-pictures7.htm

4. http://www.inition.co.uk/inition/images/product_hmd_cybermind_visette45sxga.jpg

5. http://cb.nowan.net/images/vr/cave.jpg

6. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/other-gadgets/virtual-reality7.htm

7. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/338/may14_2/b1802 (video)

8. http://gizmodo.com/5481451/nintendo-dsi-uses-camera-face-tracking-tocreate-3d-

mirages

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