Virtual Reality

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Recommended: History of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

Being one of the new up and coming technologies of today, we hear about virtual reality all over but sometimes don’t even know what the term really means. Virtual reality is “a technology that allows the user to go beyond the computer screen and enter a three-dimensional, computer-generated world (Virtual Reality Resources).” In other words, virtual reality is the users interacting with the computer and actually becoming a part of what is happening in the imaginary world, bringing it to life. It is actually a simulation of some aspect of the real world that is basically interactive (Tate).

Taking a look at the history of virtual reality it actually began in the late 1950’s with the first supercomputers (Mitchell). The whole concept of virtual reality began with the realization that computer screen could be used instead of paper to view output (An explanation). At first, however, many people thought the computers as nothing more than adding machines. As virtual reality began to develop many individuals played a role in it. Three important men were Douglas Engelbart, Ivan Sutherland, and Myron Krueger. The contributions of these men were critical to the development of early virtual reality.

Douglas Engelbart, who was an electrical engineer and former naval radar technician, saw computers as more than number crunchers. “He knew from his days as a radar technician that screens could be used to display digital data, and therefore assumed it was possible to use a screen to display output from a computer (Mitchell).” It was a good ten years before Engelbart had the resources to build the devices that he had been thinking of for so long. Then invention that he knew would change the way computer w...

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...or in the future and wonder exactly how far it will go.

Bibliography

Tate, Scott. Virtual Reality: A Historical Perspective. Internet. http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Tate.VR.html. 2/25/01.

Mitchell, Keith. Virtual Reality. Internet. http://ei.cs.vt.edu/edu/~history/mitchell.VR.html. 2/25/01.

History of Virtual Reality. Internet. http://134.154.105.18/mm610198/antfarm/his.html. 2/25/01.

An explanation, The history, The applications, and the future of Virtual Reality. Internet. http://www.doane.edu/personal/student/jmchargu/final.htm. 2/25/01.

MediaMorphosis of Virtual Reality. Internet. http://134.154.105.18/mm610198/antfarm.mm.html. 2/25/01.

Virtual Reality Resources. Internet. http://ils.unc.edu/houseman/overview.html. 2/25/01.

The History of Virtual Reality. Internet. http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org. 2/25/01.

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