Virtual Reality: Computer Generated Simulation

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“Virtual reality promises a kind of transcendence of the limits of physical reality” (Biocca, Kim, Levy 06). “Virtual Reality” is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment in a seemingly real way by a person using special electronic equipment. When most people hear this they think of movies like “The Matrix”. They think films are the only place virtual reality is seen and used. However they are sorely mistaken in that aspect. Virtual reality is used in other fields and can be used in real life. Some of the fields that virtual reality can is used in are military, healthcare, and on the consumer level. To begin with let’s get a feel of the history behind the subject known as “Virtual Reality”. Virtual reality has existed in many forms since the late 1960s. The concept of virtual reality started with Ivan Sutherland and his ultimate display in 1965. The ultimate display was a paper Sutherland wrote before the development of the personal desktop regarding the combination of computers to the design, construction, navigation and habitation of virtual worlds. "The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter...With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked."(Sutherland 1970). After Sutherland, about 12 yrs. later, a trio of researchers, Dan Sandin, Richard Sayre and Thomas Defanti, took the next step and invented the data glove. This step was important because it paved the way to interaction through body movement. “I consider technology an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics and therefore as natural as the birds and the bees.” (Krueger 2002). In 1983 Myron Krueger invented many forms of ... ... middle of paper ... ... people’s daily lives some things can be created to stop fighting. Works Cited • Biocca, Frank, Mark R. Levy. Communication in the age of Virtual Reality. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates, 1995. Google Book. Web. 25 Jan 2014. • Baumann, Jim. “Military applications of virtual reality” Human Interface Technology Laboratory. (2008) • Greenleaf, W. “Medical applications of virtual reality.” Overview February (2004) • Sutherland, Ivan E. “The ultimate display.” Multimedia: From Wagner to virtual reality (1965).. • “Virtual Reality:More Virtual than Real.” PCWorld. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.

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