Virtual Reality Technologies (ENTRY 3)

How Virtual Reality (VR) Technology Help People Connect to Real Environment

According to See H. Rheingold, Virtual Reality(VR) is computer-generated environment with and within which people can interact. The advantage of Virtual reality is that it can immerse people in an environment that would normally be unavailable due to cost, safety, or perception restrictions. A successful Virtual reality environment offers users immersion, navigation, and manipulation. Virtual reality encompasses a range of interactive computer environments, from text-oriented on-line forums and multiplayer games to complex simulations that combine audio and video, animation, or three-dimensional graphics and scent. 

Virtual Reality is used in some electronic games, in amusement-park attractions, in military exercises, and to simulate construction designs. Experimental and envisioned uses include education, industrial design, surgical training, and art.

How These Human Sense Have Allowed The Interaction  Between Human and Virtual Reality Technologies?

My opinion is Virtual Reality had been used by many organisation to create and help people to connect environment just by using machine that mean cost effective during the training session.

Below is the examples of VR technology:

Healthcare

Virtual Reality in healthcare is one of the reason why Virtual Reality is important nowadays.Healthcare is one of the biggest adopters of virtual reality which encompasses surgery simulation, phobia treatment, robotic surgery and skills training.

One of the advantages of this technology is that it allows healthcare professionals to learn new skills as well as refreshing existing ones in a safe environment. Moreover it allows this without causing any danger to the patients.

One example of this is the system which enables doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to interact with others in an interactive environment. They engage in training scenarios in which they have to interact with a patient but within a 3D environment only. For me,it is a huge part in weathering an immersive experience which measures the participant’s emotions via a series of sensors.

Military/headset

Specialized Virtual Reality tools have been around for a while now, training soldiers to shoot, pilots to fly, and disabled people to conquer their handicaps. 

Virtual Reality Pilot simulates radio-control flying in eye-popping 3D. We can hold a controller which has features and functions that are just like a professional-quality R/C transmitter. It's connected by an included cable to your PC's game port. Using the controller, we become the pilot of five strikingly rendered model aircraft that "fly" out of your computer screen.

Likewise,the flying fields you'll see on screen are also remarkably lifelike. They're created from actual photographs using a unique process called Photo Field technology.

Video games are being used by the military not just to recruit and train soldiers for conventional skills, but also to help soldiers to learn cultural sensitivity and to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Education

Education is another area which has adopted virtual reality for teaching and learning situations. The advantage of this is that it enables large groups of students to interact with each other as well as within a three dimensional environment.

For example, astronomy students can learn about the solar system and how it works by physical engagement with the objects within. They can move planets, see around stars and track the progress of a comet. This also enables them to see how abstract concepts work in a three dimensional environment which makes them easier to understand and retain.

However,this is useful for students who have a particular learning style,for example creative or those who find it easier to learn using symbols, colours and textures.

we live in a technological society. So it makes sense to implement virtual reality as one of several forms of technology in order to educate tomorrow‘s technological elite. Education has moved on from books, pencils and pens to the use of interactive technologies to help impart knowledge and understanding.

Sports

Virtual Reality in sports also is one of the reason why Virtual Reality is important nowadays.Virtual reality is used as a training aid in many sports such as golf, athletics, skiing, cycling etc. It is used as an aid to measuring athletic performance as well as analysing technique and is designed to help with both of these. Sometime,It also used in clothing/equipment design and as part of the drive to improve the audience’s experience.Other that that, there are virtual reality games with a sports theme which allow the player to become part of the competition. One example is an interactive football game which projects this match onto a real world surface.

Reference:

http://www.answers.com/topic/virtual-reality
http://www.mddionline.com/article/oculus-rift-%E2%80%93-changing-virtual-reality-healthcare
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/scivw/EVE/II.G.Military.html
http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-education/index.html
http://www.motekmedical.com/solutions/sports/