Virtual reality
hideVirtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, whether that environment is a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special or stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones. Some advanced, haptic systems now include tactile information, generally known as force feedback, in medical and gaming applications. Users can interact with a virtual environment or a virtual artifact (VA) either through the use of standard input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, or through multimodal devices such as a wired glove, the Polhemus boom arm, and omnidirectional treadmill. The simulated environment can be similar to the real world, for example, simulations for pilot or combat training, or it can differ significantly from reality, as in VR games. In practice, it is currently very difficult to create a high-fidelity virtual reality experience, due largely to technical limitations on processing power, image resolution and communication bandwidth. However, those limitations are expected to eventually be overcome as processor, imaging and data communication technologies become more powerful and cost-effective over time.
Virtual Reality is often used to describe a wide variety of applications, commonly associated with its immersive, highly visual, 3D environments. The development of CAD software, graphics hardware acceleration, head mounted displays, database gloves and miniaturization have helped popularize the notion. In the book The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality, Michael Heim identifies seven different concepts of Virtual Reality: simulation, interaction, artificiality, immersion, telepresence, full-body immersion, and network communication. The definition still has a certain futuristic romanticism attached. People often identify VR with Head Mounted Displays and Data Suits.
For more information about Virtual reality, read the full article at
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News tagged with virtual reality
Pushing the brain to find new pathways
Nov 17, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
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Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining ...
Virtual Reality May Help Arm Minds for Combat
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth received a federal grant to fund research examining brain performance enhancement in America’s fighting men and women through the use of state-of-the-art ...
Iowa State engineers develop 3-D software to give doctors, students a view inside the body
Nov 11, 2009 |
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James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen and used the device's buttons and joystick to fly through a patient's chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart.
Virtual reality games could help bullying victims
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Virtual reality games could help children to escape victimisation and bullying at school, according to researchers at the University of Warwick.
Crushing cigarettes in a virtual reality environment reduces tobacco addiction
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes as part of a psychosocial treatment program in a virtual reality environment had significantly reduced nicotine dependence and higher rates of tobacco abstinence than smokers ...
Study examines how much is too much visual information when it comes to learning
Oct 27, 2009 |
4 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. But with advances in computer graphics capabilities, more recent cognitive theory related to multimedia learning suggests that very ...
Increased success a 'virtual' certainty for rugby players (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 14, 2009 |
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Rugby players worldwide could benefit from a new virtual reality training programme created at Queen's University Belfast. Team members from Ulster Rugby have been working with researchers in the School of Psychology at Queen's ...
Communicating person to person through the power of thought alone (w/ Video)
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 06, 2009 |
3.6 / 5 (25) |
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New research from the University of Southampton has demonstrated that it is possible for communication from person to person through the power of thought alone.
Augmented reality to help astronauts make sense of space
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 22, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Life aboard the International Space Station is hard work. Crewmembers have a multiplicity of complex tasks, potentially involving thousands of tools, components and other items. But ESA astronaut ...
Robot Floor Tiles Move Beneath Your Feet
Sep 22, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (10) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a stroke of odd creativity, Japanese researchers have created robotic blocks that automatically detect where you're walking and position themselves in front of you before you take your ...
Child's play may revolutionize video gaming, police work
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Aug 28, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- What do hide-and-seek, police searches and video games such as Half-Life 2 have in common? More than you would think, say two University of Alberta researchers.
Modified HDTV screens used for 3-D technology (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Aug 18, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (12) |
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Surround 3-D TV is poised to take over your living room. For the first time, a team of researchers at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) at the University of ...
Virtual Worlds May Be the Future Setting of Scientific Collaboration
Aug 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (17) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Normally, virtual worlds are the setting of many online games and entertainment applications, but now they’re becoming a place for scientific collaboration and outreach, as well. A team of ...
'Last Lecture' prof's program to be updated
Technology / Computer Sciences
Jul 31, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(AP) -- Carnegie Mellon University will release an updated version of the animation-based software developed by late "last lecture" professor Randy Pausch to teach computer programming.
Screens replace greens for South Korean golfers
Jul 13, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Park Joong-Soon raised his putter triumphantly after sinking a five-metre birdie on the final hole and pocketed his winnings from friends -- all without leaving the comfort of his local cafe.
