Visualizing a New Reality-Virtual Reality

Praxis Business School

A Term Paper

On

Visualizing a New Reality-Virtual Reality

Submitted to

Dr. PrithwisMukherjee

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Business Information System

On

07/11/10

By

Siddhartha Goutam(B10030)

ABSTRACT

One of the primary desires that drives a man is the need to create and control. It was this desire that lead to the creation of a computer stimulated reality called Virtual Reality. Today virtual reality is a powerful tool that touches almost all spheres of life be it social, economic or political. Not only does it touch upon them but slowly with the development of technology it has started to influence them in its own way. Virtual reality in the future is going to be so immense and all consuming that life without it will become impossible.

INTRODUCTION

From time immemorial Man has always dreamt of playing GOD be it its desire to control the mighty oceans of the planet or its need to purge the various diseases that inflict us, mankind has always wanted to be in control of its own fate. Virtual Reality(VR) was the answer to this quest of mankind as like GOD this reality is created and controlled by Man. Virtual Reality from its first conception in mid 1800’s through 360 degree panoramic murals to Second Life of 21st Century has given computer programmers and innovators a platform in which they can be for all intent and purpose be gods. The origin of the term Virtual Reality can be traced back to the French playwright AntoninArtaud who first used this term in his book The Theater and Its Double (1938), there Artaud describes theater as “la realitevirtuelle” a virtual reality ‘in which characters, objects and images take on the phantasmagoric force of alchemy’s visionary internal dramas’1. In the words of P.A Mayer ‘Virtual Reality is just not a tool; it is at once technology, medium and engine of social relation. It not only structures social relations, it is the space within which relations occur and the tool that individuals use to enter that space. It is more than the context within which social relations occur, for it is commented on and imaginatively constructed by symbolic processes initiated and maintained by individuals and groups’2.

Image-1: Photo Safari into the world of war by Maurice Benayon

Image Courtesy:

In simple words Virtual Reality is a computer simulated environment that can simulate places in real as well as in imaginary worlds. This artificial environment is primarily experienced by the user with the help of two of the five senses i.e. sight and sound. Under the influence of the stimulation the users starts accepting that what they are experiencing is the real world.

IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Today the Web 2.0 revolution is sweeping the globe with social media gaining more and more importance in the lives of people all over the planet. Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and the lot have all gained large number of followers but they are all operating under one huge restriction- interaction amongst the users is limited to the two dimensional this is where Second Life comes in with its virtual reality enabled environment where users known as residents can not only interact with each other through avatars but also explore, socialize and participate in group as well as individual activity. Thus it can be said that virtual reality enabled social media is the next big thing on the horizon. The potential of this concept is so huge, that even part of Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign was on Second life.

Even if we don’t integrate virtual reality with social networking and view the concept of virtual reality as a standalone entity then also the facilities and the functions offered by it are staggering. One of the most revolutionaryuses of virtual reality environment has been undertaken by the US military forces where some of the more hazardous training sessions like parachute training are done with the help of virtual reality environment. One of the other things which they have done is stimulate different battle terrains and battle field scenarios to make their armed personnel familiar with different kinds of hostile environment.

Airports all over the world are using flight stimulators to make the pilots accustomed to various dangerous scenarios like artificial decompressions, hijack situation, storms etc. this has enabled the pilots not only be familiar to the these type of situation but also know how to react to them to maximize the safety of the passengers. Thanks to these virtual environment enabled stimulators air travel is the safest way to travel these days.Even doctors are using the virtual environment to stimulate high risk operations to practice before doing the actual thing.

One of the biggest money spinners to arise out of the entire concept of virtual reality are the high definition games like World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Battle for the Middle Earth etc where players can create and play as actual characters in the game. The gaming industry is predicted to hit around $ 68 billion dollars by 2012 and this has been possible only due to the large scale integration of the virtual reality in games by the game developers. Virtual environments through various online portals like Second life have started their own system of economy where people can do business and earn virtual as well as real world profit. As per the latest statistics 64,000 people on Second life earned real world profits by selling virtual goods, renting lands and offering a host of services.

Virtual reality enables the reconstruction of heritage sites with extreme accuracy so that these recreated images can be used in various media.

Sam Bourne in his book The Last Testament showed how sensitive political negotiations can be done through the neutral platform offered by a virtual environment. Political leaders or at least the negotiators of various countries should use this platform to solve various issues that need a truly neutral ground to be breached.

The impact that virtual reality has on various facets of our society is so huge, that today we stand on the cusp of a world that in the days to come is all set to embrace virtual reality in all its glory.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

For many of us born during the mind 1980’s the first thing that strikes us when we hear the term VR is Jonny Quest and Quest world. Quest world was the digital world that could be accessed through a computer program and a special headset. It was a move on the part of Hanna-Barbera productions to introduce the concept of VR to children. So how does VR really work? Quest world captured its essence beautifully but there is much more to it. Today there is a lot of argument on what exactly constitutes a VR experience with many people coming up with their own points but the in general it includes-

• Three dimensional images that appear life size from the perspective of the viewer
• The ability to track a user’s movement especially his/her eyes and head movement and adjust the image on the display to reflect the change in perspective

Now the question arises how does virtual reality work for this we have to trace its origin to the person who opened the Pandora’s Box- Ivan Sutherland. In the year 1968 Sutherland and his student Bob Sprull created the first ever virtual reality head mounted display (HMD) system. This piece of machinery was known as the Sword of Damocles given its formidable appearance. Following closely on the heels of the first ever HMD came the the world’s first ever data glove which was invented by Dan Sandin, Richard Sayfre and Thomas Defanti which allowed interaction through body movement in the year 1977. Finally in the year 1983 Myron Krueger came up with the first ever virtual environment called the video space. Image-2: The Sword of Damocles

Image Courtesy:

The 1990’s experienced a huge boom in VR technology development and those are the research that has given us the three primary models of virtual reality systems used today-

• Desktop Virtual Reality: This is the simplest of the lot. It works on the principle of a viewer viewing a virtual world through one or more computer screens. The user can interact with the environment but is not completely immersed in it.
• Video Mapping Virtual Reality: In this method cameras are used to project an image of the user into the computer program creating a 2D computer character. The user is fully immersed in the environment but finds it difficult to interact with its surroundings
• Immersive Virtual Reality: This model uses a HMD to project a video directly in front of the user’s eyes and play audio directly into the user’s ear. The HMD can track the user’s movement and compensate accordingly. It also uses a Data Glove or to track the user’s movement and duplicate them in the virtual world. In this type of virtual reality the user experiences complete immersion- the feeling that the user is inside and a part of the world. He/She is also able to interact with the environment in meaningful ways. This sense of immersion and interactivity is called telepresence. If the user is unable to distinguish between the real and virtual environment then the immersion has succeeded.

The basic requirements of a virtual reality system:

• One or more powerful computers:Computers are the means through which a virtual environment can be stimulated. Today’s computers are so powerful that a PC can run the software required to create a virtual environment. The graphics card created keeping in mind the video game industry are today one of the primary tools from creating advanced and sophisticated virtual environment.

• Input or Sensory devices: Input devices play a vital role in the virtual environment they are the device with which the user interacts with its surroundings. Today sensory devices include data glove, body suit, joysticks and voice recognition. Research is still going on to enable the input devices to be as natural as possible to increase the experience of telepresence.

Image-3 Data Glove Image-4: Body Suit

Image-3 Courtesy:

Image-4 Courtesy:

• Output or Display devices: The most common of all display devices in the virtual environment is the HMD. HMD’s are headsets which consist of two monitors one for each eye. The two monitors give a stereoscopic effect which gives the feeling of depth. There are some virtual environment system which projects images on the wall, floors and ceiling of the room and are known as Cave Automatic Virtual Environments(CAVE). Users can move around a CAVE display wearing special goggles which complete the illusion of moving through a virtual environment. CAVE also gives a wider view which helps in the feeling of immersion. Also many people can have the experience together.

Image-4:HMDImage-5:CAVE

Image-5 Courtesy:

Image-6 Courtesy:

• Tracking System: Tracking systems are closely related to the display techniques if display techniques are the eyes then the tracking system is the mind in a virtual environment. Tracking systems track the movement of the body and send the right image to the display units so that the experience of telepresence is maximized. The development of tracking system lags behind other virtual reality enabled technology as the tracking system is only virtual reality focused.

• Virtual Reality Software: The HMD, the tracking systems and the computers all need to interact with each other to give the user the complete virtual environment. Also the computer needs an interface to create a virtual world which can interact with the user. This need can be fulfilled by various virtual reality enabling software. This software is the connecting link between the hardware and also allows the user to interface with the virtual reality system. Some of the popular virtual reality software available today are: panaroma2 flash, tourweaver, panoweaver, world of warcraft etc.

Image-6: A complete VR system with limited movement facility

Image Courtesy:

Since the days of Sutherland till today all the development that have occurred have been limited to the realm of sight and sound as under the present technology they are only two senses which can be best used to stimulate reality. In the nearby future development will reach such a level that visual realism in HMDs will be achieved and in the realm of audio three dimensional sounds will be the next big thing as this will add to the virtual reality experience. Currently research is going on to stimulate smell and use it in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by exposing combat veterans to stimulated combat environment complete with smell. With virtual reality technology reaching smell the other two senses that are left over are taste and touch. In order to stimulate them also the brain must be manipulated directly, if and when it is achieved it will the entire concept of virtual reality will give way to simulated reality in many a way similar to the brain interface port shown in The Matrix. But even before stimulated reality can be achieved there is a lot of work to be done in the arena of virtual reality like development of better tracking systems, more powerful processing systems to minimize the total lag time etc. Thus in the present day scenario virtual reality is not only a socio-economic tool of immense importance but it is a technology that will be instrumental in changing the future.

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual reality has been for a long time a darling of the entertainment, aviation and military industries but with the advent of the 21st century many other industries are slowly waking up to realize the potential that virtual space holds for them. Some of the potential economic uses of virtual reality can be listed as follows:

• A Houston energy company is going to use seismic data to sink virtual probes through a virtual crust looking for salt domes which will be an indication of where oil can be found. This will save the company millions of dollars in drilling costs.

• Architects are using virtual reality to create virtual models of their designs which clients can view, inspect and even suggest alterations to the design. A virtual model gives a higher clarity than a miniature model. This leads to huge cost savings for the client as they know exactly how their house will look like once completed and any changes that are required will have taken place even before the foundation has been laid. Thus cost to correct any flaw in the design will be minimized.

• Automobile manufacturers are using virtual prototypes in place of physical prototype to perfect the design and rectify any flaws before producing a single physical part. The development process is becoming more & more efficient and reduce development costs as prototypes no longer need to be scrapped once a flaw is detected.

• In recent years virtual reality has taken the medical world by a storm as these days medical staff is being trained in everything from diagnostics to surgery through virtual worlds. Surgeons are using virtual reality to train for high risk surgical procedures and gain confidence before operating on a real patient where the slightest mistake can cause death. This not only helps the patients but also provides the doctor a shield against lawsuits as with practice the margin of error decreases.

• Virtual environment is also used for psychological therapy. It is used basically as a means of exposure therapy to treat phobias. Patients are exposed to the condition that causes them distress in a controlled environment. It has two main advantages: (i) it is more convenient and (ii) the patients are more willing to try it as they know it isn’t the real world. This has opened up a new field of treatment in Psychiatry.

• The US military has been using simulators to provide training to its staff since World War II. These stimulators and the virtual environment under which they work have been providing the US military with tangible results they are expanding the use of virtual reality training and investing more in the virtual reality research so that even more sophisticated systems can be developed which will stimulate war scenarios in even greater detail.

• Virtual reality’s greatest money making ability are the development of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). In these users are able to create and interact with other avatars. This phenomenon is known as shared virtual environment(SVE). With computer hardware getting cheaper and gaming industry all set to hit a phenomenal $68 billion by 2012. Virtual reality’s economic potential is no longer in doubt.

• Liden labs developed a social environment known as the Second Life and companies like IBM saw the immense potential that a social networking site with virtual reality as its basic platform can deliver and started using it for business purposes. The primary forms of revenue generated by Liden is virtual advertisements and conversion of real world money into Liden dollars which then can be used to buy land, building and start your own business in the virtual world of Second Life.

• Forterra Systems Inc. is developing SVE’s tailored to specific requirements of various organizations, Forterra’s product Online Interactive Virtual Environment (OLIVETM) provides private virtual worlds for employees to train in and make mistakes so that they can avoid them in the real world.

• Virtual reality also creates an effective mediated communication platform with a high degree of social presence which increases the efficiency of virtual teams. The higher media richness creates a viable communication tool to efficiently collaborate and accomplish tasks without face-to-face contact.

With the fall in hardware costs, decrease in the size of virtual reality tools and the movement of the world towards the next phase of social networking companies have realized that if they have to retain the competitive advantage in the future they have to start their adventure in the world of Virtual Reality as soon as possible.