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virtual reality
Last modified: Wednesday, August 13, 2003
An artificial environment created with computer hardware and software and presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels like a real environment. To "enter" a virtual reality, a user dons special gloves, earphones, and goggles, all of which receive their input from the computer system. In this way, at least three of the five senses are controlled by the computer. In addition to feeding sensory input to the user, the devices also monitor the user's actions. The goggles, for example, track how the eyes move and respond accordingly by sending new video input.
To date, virtual reality systems require extremely expensive hardware and software and are confined mostly to research laboratories.
The term virtual reality is sometimes used more generally to refer to any virtual world represented in a computer, even if it's just a text-based or graphical representation.
Meme home page from Immersive Systems, Inc. This page highlights the Meme product, a software package for the development of virtual world applications. There are links to product and technical information, as well as a downloadable Meme viewer for Windows and a demo.
The Clock - online magazine Provides informative articles on flat panel display, projection display, virtual reality, and HDTV.
