How VR Systems Create an Immersive World
Virtual reality is arguably the biggest technology to emerge
in 2015 and 2016. With the introduction of devices like oculus rift, HTC Vive,
play station VR, and several others, virtual reality is becoming a mainstream
technology. The way these systems work is with headsets, which we wear like
goggles, that project an image to give the illusion of a three dimensional
world. These virtual reality systems need several
a photo of Googles "Daydream" VR headset which
uses a cellphone to do its processing
things to work: the headset,
a form of input, and a computing device. Similar to how a normal computer
processes information, these systems take an input, use a computer to process
that input, and then output the change to the virtual world by changing the
perspective in the image. Most if not all virtual reality headsets have
gyroscopes and accelerometer build in which monitor any head movements you
might make. This is where the computing device matters most. When you turn your
head for example, the headset uses these sensors to detect how far you turned
your head. This information is sent to the computer which maps and then outputs
the change in perspective to the headset-giving the illusion that the virtual
world around you moved with your head. One of the keys to making this illusion
work is having low latency, or lag. The illusion only works if the delay
between when you move your head and when the world around you moves is kept to
a minimum. If the latency is any higher than 50 milliseconds we notice the lag
and it removes us from the immersion. In order to have lower latency you need
more processing power, which is why minimum system requirements for virtual
reality systems are very high. However as virtual reality becomes more and more
mainstream we will undoubtedly see more accessible virtual reality. Cell phones
are a promising use for virtual reality and already there are several basic vr
systems that use cell phones.
Sources:
http://www.wareable.com/vr/how-does-vr-work-explained
http://time.com/3987022/why-virtual-reality-is-about-to-change-the-world/?pcd=hp-magmod
https://canaltech.com.br/noticia/google/google-apresenta-seu-oculos-de-realidade-virtual-daydream-view-81513/
It's kind of funny--I almost did *my* blog post on virtual reality this week. Instead I wrote on how Fitbit tracks calories and steps. When I first saw the title of this post, I immediately wondered if VR headsets use the same sort of technology I recently learned Fitbit utilizes--the accelerometer. Turns out it does! Not only that, but the accelerometer is also the most integral part of the technology. There's a big difference between counting how many steps you take and the subtle movements of your head, though, which makes me curious as to how different the accelerometers used in VR headsets and Fitbit must be.
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