Virtual Reality

Immersion 2014 will be showing the cultural impact that digital technologies have on our lives today. In Immersion 2014, it will feature many new and exciting module based conference format. It will include things like Entertainment, Arts and Culture, and even Human-Computer Interaction.

I will be addressed Virtual Reality in this blog post today. It is a form immersion that can be found at the conference. We will be exploring the technologies that come with Virtual Reality and what it can bring to this new type of education that we are looking at today. It is new and exciting and will change the way we can bring education to the masses.

Lets go over what Virtual Reality is. Virtual Reality is a computer simulates scenario or environment that can simulate the real world or imagined worlds. Most Virtual Reality environments are shown through computers or stereoscopic displays. Many people relate Virtual Reality with head mounted displays because of the immersion experience a person can achieve through the technology. 



Some of the hardware that uses Virtual Reality are HMD's or head mounted displays. Since VR uses graphics, sound and input technologies to give the user the full experience, HMD's are a great way to experience Virtual Reality. Right now, one of the most popular technology coming out for video gaming is called Oculus Rift. It gives users the ability to move while being in a stationary position. It also has a 110 degree field of view and surround sound in the system. 

Furthermore, VR plays a huge role in training people. Not only for flight simulations for pilots but also military personel. With VR, you are able to create an environment very close to a combat zone and it is very useful in creating scenarios similar to real life combat. They also use a HMD for this because it is able to give them an experience similar to being out there in the real world. Even people in medicine use VR to practice training for surgery through software created to simulate a procedure. 

One of the challenges that virtual reality technology faces is the motion sickness that people face when they see their environment or are playing in one. People may just look at the screen and feel woozy from the shifting environments or just the lag of the simulations. However, people are trying to develop technologies that will make virtual reality less hard on the body and mind, hoping to please everyone. Engineers are saying that there will be great new devices for VR systems in 2015 and that we all should be on the lookout for it.