The VR Project! Imagine that your job is to monitor the operation of a vast telecommunications network. Cables snake underground and underwater. Data flows between communication satellites and earth and across wiring inside building walls. Now imagine that a graphic image of this vast grid and its data flows could be laid out below, as you float above, an "infonaut" looking for the kink that is blocking service to millions of customers. Far below you see a pulsing light. There's the problem. With a gestured command, you fix it - without leaving your office. That's the promise of virtual reality, and it's moving from computer fantasy to computer fact. In fact, US West and a number of other telecommunications firms are experimenting with such systems. Seeing on a virtual environment Virtual reality (VR), a term coined in 1970 by Myron Krueger, combines computer graphics with special hardware to immerse users in cyberspace, an artificial three-dimensional world. Instead of passively viewing data or graphics on a screen, users can move about, handle "virtual" representations of data and objects, and get visual aural, and tactile feedback. In the world of computers, the term virtual refers to an environment that is simulated by hardware and software (for example, virtual memory, virtual department store). And what about marriage in cyberspace? A bride, a groom and their minister entered cyberspace by entering pods at the CyberMind Virtual Reality Center in San Francisco. They said their vows amid a virtual recreation of the lost city of Atlantis. The scene included palaces, chariots, carousels, and even doves. DRESSING FOR CYBERSPACE To enter cyberspace, users don special hardware for the feeling of total immersion in a three - dimensional world. Headpiece. The googles-like head-mounted display (HMD) block out visual sensations from the real world and substitutes images presented on two small video screens - one for each eye, creating a three dimensional effect. The headpiece also contains motion, or balance, sensors; move your head and the computer will shift the view presented on the video screens. Just flip up the visor on your headpiece to see what is going on in the real world. Or, flip it down to enter the virtual world. Data glove. The ensemble is completed by a data glove outlined with fiber-optic sensors and cables. The glove can be used, like a floating mouse, to "gesture" a command or to grasp and move virtual objects about. The data set is viewed with a HMD. The user experiences the flow field as if he is within the flow field. The user navigates within the data set with a data glove. Headphones. Headphones block out room noise and subsitute three-dimensional holophonic sounds. Generally the headphones are built into the helmet. Each piece of hardware is tethered to a power pack and to one more powerful computers via two-way data transfer cables that record the user's movements and provide real-time feedback. WILL THE PROMISE BE KEPT? Virtual reality is still in its infancy, but the breadth and success of existing VR applications have shown us that VR will play an important role in the future. Already, architects can "walkthrough" proposed buildings. Researchers are exploring life forms on a VR version of an Antarctic lake bottom. A Japanese department store uses a "virtual kitchen" for planning custom-designed remodeling projects. Exercise bikes can cycle through a virtual town. Virtual reality arcades (VRcades) let players be a part of the game. Acrophobics don VR headsets to overcome their fear of heights. Although some VR applications can be run on powerful PCs, the most realistic experiences are created with sophisticated systems that cost as much as a new Mercedes. Moreover, the equipment is cumbersome and the graphics are often fairly crude. Still, many experts predict that hardware costs will continue to drop and software will become more refined. If so, virtual reality will emerge as the user interface of the future.

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