Research Brief – Group 5
Virtual reality, known as VR, simulates reality by placing two small screens directly in front of a person’s eyes. By wearing this specially designed video headset, people can experience virtual worlds in simulated 3D.
Many people consider the stereoscope to be the primitive beginnings of virtual reality. It was the first time that a 3D image could be produced. Later in 1957, Morton Heilig invented the sensorama. The beginnings of an altered experience, the sensorama was a simulator with 3D images along with smell, wind, and sound(Dimitrova, 2017). Could he have imagined what virtual reality could be 60 years later? For a long time virtual reality has been an idea just out of reach. There was a promise of an idea, but lacked the technology to make it happen. Now at the pinnacle of virtual reality, there almost seems to be an endless list of applications for the technology.
Obviously the gaming and entertainment fields will and have been greatly impacted by the furthering of virtual reality, but they are not the only fields that the new technology is changing the face of. To name a few, military, healthcare, fashion, business, science, construction, education, and engineering are all industries that are utilizing virtual reality to further possibilities.
The military has been using virtual reality for years to help train soldiers. They use flight simulators, battlefield simulation, virtual bootcamp, and medic training in battlefield situations. virtual reality allows these soldiers to train in non dangerous situations, but also get a feel of what it would actually be like to be in those situations without the possibility of injury. The military has also been using VR to combat the ever growing problem of PTSD. Which leads us into the medical uses of VR.
The USC Institute for Creative Technologies is funded by the US Army. The army has a plethora of different research labs around the world, yet this particular one has a focus on VR and innovative technologies.Their work on mental health and rehabilitation is undisputed, and known worldwide for being state-of-the-art content (Editorial Team, 2017). This is a list of some of the projects that they are working on;
- Disaster Relief Simulation
- Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention
- Healthcare Support
- Post-Traumatic Stress Treatment
- Counter-Terrorism Preparedness
Other companies are using virtual reality for cancer treatment, anxiety management, surgical training and patient care. Businesses are using VR to train new personnel, give virtual tours, and 360° product views. Similarly the fashion industry has started to use VR to view designs, view portfolios and even have virtual fashion shows. Along the lines of design, construction and engineering companies are using VR for 3D modeling, visual design, testing viability, and quality control. From an education standpoint VR can be used for virtual field trips, exploring moments in history by actually being there, and even experiencing careerers first hand.
The virtual reality industry, which originally targeted a niche gaming audience now has broadened to many sub-sets of industries. To name a few, the medical, automotive, space, and film industries are all being influenced by virtual reality as a platform. These different uses bring the market a wide range of users, from those seeking entertainment and leisure, to those who use this technology to increase their business’s productivity.
This is only the tip of the iceberg for the uses of virtual reality. In the coming months and years as VR technology becomes more sophisticated and more people have it in their homes, more everyday uses will present themselves. Recent developments in VR software have been very exciting, and promise to bring virtual reality closer to mainstream use.
Software is getting more complex thanks to rapid increases in computing power especially in graphics processing. More and more game titles are adding VR content with some titles being developed exclusively for VR systems. New VR headsets will incorporate more advanced tracking algorithms for a more natural feel. Graphics will continue to improve at a rapid pace. It won’t be long before virtual reality images are nearly indistinguishable from reality itself.
The majority of software content will continue to be in the gaming category. Our proposed product is a VR Quidditch Game. Similar to Madden NFL or FIFA soccer, this will be a player v. player game in virtual reality. The game takes place in the world of Harry Potter. Players can choose which house to belong to and create a unique character.
We are specifically going to target the users inclined towards gaming with our virtual reality “FIFA Harry Potter” game pitch. The game will be targeted towards kids and adults from ages 8+. In 2018 the market share of gaming within the virtual reality industry will be 48%, (KZero, 2017) so there is a good amount of demand for our proposed VR game.
Right now, virtual reality normally now consists of headsets, usually with a speaker system. But, this only engages 2 of our senses; sight and sound, while the other senses haven’t been engaged, leaving the true idea of virtual idea unfulfilled. Taste is a little strange to try to integrate with virtual reality, but perhaps in time we will get there, but the next easiest to try to implement would be touch. Steps have already been made into the area of haptic feedback gloves. The advantage of these are 2 fold; these are are a more realistic and engaging form of interacting with the immersive virtual reality world and these haptic feedback gloves can help simulate the sense of touch when interacting with these gloves. One company has gone above and beyond, not just giving you the feeling of touching an object but to give sensation to glove user. The PowerClaw VR glove(Virtual Reality Pulse, 2017) recently went to market where these gloves can also give burning, freezing and shock sensation in the gloves to further the immersion in virtual reality.
More in the way of further increasing the potential of we can do with virtual reality and add to its potential applications is the SnapDragon(VR World, 2017) camera module. The module adds several tools to cameras to help overcome the shortcomings of cameras for virtual reality applications, with the biggest and most important one being depth mapping. The camera is not only able to take in the normal imagine, but the camera is able to simulate a digital model of the objects shown within the image. Now, with things like 3-dimensional cameras, and this camera module combined with be able to quickly duplicate real world 3-d environments and translate them in accessible virtual areas. Imagine, a virtual European tour visiting places like the Eiffel Tower, or the Vatican or London without leaving your house? Or adding the ability to virtually visit these places for people who are unable to visit themselves or at least be able to ever afford to go?
Dimitrova, M. (2017, January 10). The 12 Milestones in the History of Virtual Reality. Retrieved from https://versus.com/en/news/the-12-milestones-in-the-history-of-virtual-reality
Editorial Team. (2017, June 03). Top 6 Incredible Uses of Medical Virtual Reality. from https://vrtodaymagazine.com/medical-virtual-reality/
2017, Haptic and Hardware – Virtual Reality Pulse. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/2017/haptic/hardware/?open-article-id=545528
KZero. (n.d.). Number of active virtual reality users worldwide from 2014 to 2018 (in millions). In Statista – The Statistics Portal. from https://www.statista.com/statistics/426469/active-virtual-reality-users-worldwide/.
Qualcomm Unveils Depth Sensing Spectra Module Camera – VR World. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://vrworld.com/2017/08/15/qualcomm-spectra-depth-sensing-camera/
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