Virtual Reality. Like reality. But virtual.
In 2019 Virtual Reality is something we see every day.
But at its early days, although people were fascinated by the idea, they soon lose interest, dismissing it as a fad.
Once upon a time…
Back in 1968, the computer scientist Ivan Sutherland from the University of Utah developed what is widely considered the first virtual reality system with a head-mounted display, known as the “Sword of Damocles” because of the way it hung above the user.
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Sutherland and his colleague David Evans worked in computer graphics making them VR pioneers. They were also the people behind the famous CT5 flight simulator used to train pilots in a safe environment (meaning, on land).
What about 2019?
If you’re not familiar with the term, virtual reality is a joint work of hardware and software devices that create a virtual environment a user can freely walk and interact with.
This makes it different than Augmented Reality, which is an interactive experience where the objects in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated information (think of Minority Report. Or your face app filter.)
Inside the Virtual Reality, a user can step into fantastic worlds thanks to VR visors and all the accessories (joypad, gloves, shoes and so on) specifically created to interact with it. Exactly like in real life, this virtual world can be explored in every direction. The user simply needs to turn her head to see what’s going on behind her or look up to see the sky.
The visor and the software it uses, track the head movements so as to adapt the user’s visual perspective to her position inside the world.
Virtual Reality (VR) Headers are not extremely expensive nowadays, although, of course, they come in different price ranges.
If you want to give an (affordable) go at the VR, you can check Google Cardboards.
They are small VR platforms developed by Google, that can be used in conjunction with your mobile phone, as described below in this straightforward image.
It’s a simple device made of, you guessed it, cardboard. You fold it, insert your mobile in the slot, slap them to your face and enjoy the Virtual Reality.
What to watch?
To browse the catalog of movies/games/concerts/whatsnot that you can enjoy with the Google Cardboard, simply download the app Cardboard, choose your favourite show and enjoy.
Another reality
As you can imagine, the Google experience is fun but the real virtual reality (please excuse the pun) is an entirely different matter.
Two names to check are Oculus Rift and the SONY PlayStation VR, currently offered at a reasonable price although not as affordable as the aforementioned Cardboard.
Both offer a headset that can be connected to a console and have control systems to track head and eyes movements, as well as the voice and the sound, thus offering a full-immersion experience.
Six Degrees of Freedom
Head-tracking is fundamental to track head movements, so when the user turns around or looks up or down, what he sees changes accordingly.
This is called Six Degrees of Freedom (6DOF). For the head-tracking to work, the VR visor needs a gyroscope (used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity), an accelerometer (which measures the speed of acceleration of a body from resting position), and a magnetometer (used to detect magnetic field strength and is used as compasses).
These instruments are also included in your mobile and laptop.
These higher-range visors, unlike the more affordable versions, offer an experience without blind spots, since their screen cover every possible eyes/head movement.
The video is sent to the computer via a high-speed HDMI cable. Some models have a LED screen per eyes, while others allow the user to adjust the distance between the screens and the eyes for a better experience.
The bigger the better
If having the ability to walk around in a fantasy world and interact with it is still not enough, you’ll be pleased to know that some visors come with a bigger visual field. By increasing the size of images/videos and implementing a visual field of 100/110 degrees, the user will feel in the middle of the action. From every angle he looks at it.
Moreover, in order to offer the user a more realistic experience, some visors can pinpoint the user position, which will help to provide more realistic images, including showing things far from the user out of focus, like they are in reality.
Have you ever tried one of these visors?
What’s your opinion?
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