A

Seminar Report

On

VIRTUAL REALITY
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of
Bachelor of Technology
in
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Submitted by
Ambuj Verma (1784110012)
Under the supervision of

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

RAJKIYA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, SONBHADRA

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh, India
June 2020 - 2021
 Index

Sr.No. Topics Page No.

1 Abstract 3
2 Introduction 4
3 History of Virtual Reality 5
4 Type of Virtual reality 7
5 Technologies of VR System 12
6 Applications of VR 14
7 Current problems and Fulfil work 16
8 Summary 18
9 References 20
 ABSTRACT

Virtual reality or virtual realities (VR), which can be referred to

as immersive multimedia or computer simulated reality,
replicates an environment that simulates a physical presence in
places in the real world or an imagined world, allowing the user
to interact with that world. Virtual realities artificially create
sensory experience, which can include sight, touch, hearing, and
smell. Most up-to-date virtual realities are displayed either on a
computer screen or with an HD VR special stereoscopic displays,
and some simulations include additional sensory information and
focus on real sound through speakers or headphones targeted
towards VR users. Some advanced haptic systems now include
tactile information, generally known as force feedback in
medical, gaming and military applications. Furthermore, virtual
reality covers remote communication environments which
provide virtual presence of users with the concepts of
telepresence and telexistence or a virtual artifact (VA) either
through the use of standard input devices such as a keyboard and
mouse, or through multimodal devices such as a wired glove or
omnidirectional treadmills. The immersive environment can be
similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike experience—
for example, in simulations for pilot or combat training—or it can
differ significantly from reality, such as in VR games.
Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with
software and presented to the user in such a way that the user
suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. On a
computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of
the five senses: sight and sound.
The simplest form of virtual reality is a 3-D image that can be
explored interactively at a personal computer, usually by
manipulating keys or the mouse so that the content of the image
moves in some direction or zooms in or out. More sophisticated
efforts involve such approaches as wrap-around display screens,
actual rooms augmented with wearable computers, and haptic
devices that let you feel the display images.

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 INTROCTUCRION

The definition of virtual reality comes, naturally, from the

definitions for both ‘virtual’ and ‘reality’. The definition of
‘virtual’ is near and reality is what we experience as human
beings. So the term ‘virtual reality’ basically means ‘near-reality’.
This could, of course, mean anything but it usually refers to a
specific type of reality emulation.
We know the world through our senses and perception systems.
In school we all learned that we have five senses: taste, touch,
smell, sight and hearing. These are however only our most
obvious sense organs. The truth is that humans have many more
senses than this, such as a sense of balance for example. These
other sensory inputs, plus some special processing of sensory
information by our brains ensures that we have a rich flow of
information from the environment to our minds.
Everything that we know about our reality comes by way of our
senses. In other words, our entire experience of reality is simply a
combination of sensory information and our brains sense-making
mechanisms for that information. It stands to reason then, that if
you can present your senses with made-up information, your
perception of reality would also change in response to it. You
would be presented with a version of reality that isn’t really there,
but from your perspective it would be perceived as real.
Something we would refer to as a virtual reality.
Answering "what is virtual reality" in technical terms is straight-
forward. Virtual reality is the term used to describe a three-
dimensional, computer generated environment which can be
explored and interacted with by a person. That person becomes
part of this virtual world or is immersed within this environment
and whilst there, is able to manipulate objects or perform a series
of actions.
The concepts behind virtual reality are based upon theories about
a long held human desire to escape the boundaries of the ‘real
world’ by embracing cyberspace.

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 HISTORY OF VIRTUAL REALITY

In 1950, flight simulators were built by US Air Force to train

student pilots. In 1965, a research program for computer graphics
called “The Ultimate Display” was laid out. Until that time VR
was just a concept and was not very popular.in 1988, commercial
development of VR began. In 1991, first commercial
entertainment VR system was released.

Virtual reality in the 21st century:

The first fifteen years of the 21st century has seen major, rapid
advancement in the development of virtual reality. Computer
technology, especially small and powerful mobile technologies,
have exploded while prices are constantly driven down. The rise
of smartphones with high-density displays and 3D graphics
capabilities has enabled a generation of lightweight and practical
virtual reality devices. The video game industry has continued to
drive the development of consumer virtual reality unabated.
Depth sensing cameras sensor suites, motion controllers and
natural human interfaces are already a part of daily human
computing tasks.
Recently companies like Google have released interim virtual
reality products such as the Google Cardboard, a DIY headset
that uses a smartphone to drive it. Companies like Samsung have
taken this concept further with products such as the Galaxy Gear,
which is mass produced and contains “smart” features such as
gesture control. Developer versions of final consumer products
have also been available for a few years, so there has been a
steady stream of software projects creating content for the
immanent market entrance of modern virtual reality.

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I
t

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e
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c
Fig 1

It seems clear that 2016 will be a key year in the virtual reality
industry. Multiple consumer devices that seem to finally answer
the unfulfilled promises made by virtual reality in the 1990s will
come to market at that time. These include the pioneering Oculus
Rift, which was purchased by social media giant Facebook in
2014 for the staggering sum of $2BN. An incredible vote of
confidence in where the industry is set to go. When the Oculus
Rift releases in 2016 it will be competing with products from
Valve Corporation and HTC, Microsoft as well as Sony
Computer Entertainment. These heavyweights are sure to be
followed by many other enterprises, should the market take off as
expected.

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 TYPE OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Windows on World (WoW): With this kind of system, also known

as "desktop VR" the user sees the 3-D world through the 'window' of
the computer screen and navigates through the space with a control
device such as a mouse. Like immersive virtual reality, this provides a
first-person experience. One low-cost example of a 'Through the
window' virtual reality system is the 3-D architectural design planning
tool Virtus Walk Through that makes it possible to explore virtual
reality on a Macintosh or IBM computer. Developed as a computer
visualization tool to help plan complex high-tech filmmaking for the
movie The Abyss, Virtus Walk Through is now used as a set design
and planning tool for many Hollywood movies and advertisements as
well as architectural planning and educational applications. A similar,
less expensive and less sophisticated program that is starting to find
use in elementary and secondary schools is Virtus VR (Law, 1994;
Pantelidis, nd).

Immersive VR: Usually when we think of virtual reality, we think of

immersive systems involving computer interface devices such as a
head-mounted display (HMD), fiber-optic wired gloves, position
tracking devices, and audio systems providing 3-D (binaural) sound.
Immersive virtual reality provides an immediate, first-person
experience. With some applications, there is a treadmill interface to
simulate the experience of walking through virtual space. And in
place of the head-mounted display, there is the BOOM viewer from
Fake Space Labs which hangs suspended in front of the viewer's face,
not on it, so it is not as heavy and tiring to wear as the head-mounted
display. In immersive VR, the user is placed inside the image; the
generated image is assigned properties which make it look and act
real in terms of visual perception and in some cases aural and tactile
perception (Brooks, 1988; Trubitt, 1990; Begault, 1991; Markoff,
1991; Minsky, 1991; Gehring, 1992). There is even research on
creating virtual smells; an application to patent such a product has

7
been submitted by researchers at the Southwest Research Institute
(Varner, 1993).

Telepresence: The concept of cyberspace is linked to the notion of

telepresence, the feeling of being in a location other than where you
actually are. Related to this, 10 teleoperation means that you can
control a robot or another device at a distance. In the Jason Project,
children at different sites across the U.S. have the opportunity to
teleoperate the unmanned submarine Jason, the namesake for this
innovative science education project directed by Robert Ballard, a
scientist as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (EDS, 1991;
Ulman, 1993; McLellan, 1995).

Augmented VR: A variation of immersive virtual reality is

Augmented Reality where a see-through layer of computer graphics is
superimposed over the real world to highlight certain features and
enhance understanding. One application of augmented reality is in
aviation, where certain controls can be highlighted, for example the
controls needed to land an airplane. And many medical applications
are under development (Taubes, 1994b). Recently, for the first time, a
surgeon conducted surgery to remove a brain tumor using an
augmented reality system; a video image superimposed with 3-D

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graphics helped the doctor to see the site of the operation more
effectively (Satava, 1993).

TECHNOLOGIES OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Head-Mounted Display (HMD): Head-mounted displays or HMDs

are probably the most instantly recognizable objects associated with
virtual reality. They are sometimes referred to as Virtual Reality
headsets or VR glasses. As we might have guessed from the name,
these are display devices that are attached to our head and present
visuals directly to our eyes. At a minimum, if a device conforms to
those two criteria we may consider it an HMD in the broadest sense.
HMDs are not the sole purview of virtual reality, they have been used
in military, medical and engineering contexts to name but a few.
Some HMDs allow the user to see through them, allowing digital
information to be projected onto the real world. Something which is
commonly referred to as augmented reality. When we look at the
diversity of HMDs that exist today within the context of virtual
reality, it becomes apparent that there’s much more to these devices
than strapping two screens to our eyes. In order to allow for an
immersive experience either as a personal media device or as a full-on
virtual reality interface, there are a number of technologies that can be
incorporated in an HMD.

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Data Glove: A data glove is an interactive device, resembling a glove
worn on the hand, which facilitates tactile sensing and fine-motion
control in robotics and virtual reality. 12 Data gloves are one of
several types of electromechanical devices used in haptics
applications. Tactile sensing involves simulation of the sense of
human touch and includes the ability to perceive pressure, linear
force, torque, temperature, and surface texture. Fine-motion control
involves the use of sensors to detect the movements of the user's hand
and fingers, and the translation of these motions into signals that can
be used by a virtual hand (for example, in gaming ) or a robotic hand
(for example, in remote-control surgery).

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CAVE: A CAVE is typically a video theater sited within a larger
room. The walls of a CAVE are typically made up of rear-projection
screens, however flat panel displays are becoming more common. The
floor can be a downward-projection screen, a bottom projected screen
or a flat panel display. The projection systems are very high-
resolution due to the near distance viewing which requires very small
pixel sizes to retain the illusion of reality. The user wears 3D glasses
inside the CAVE to see 3D graphics generated by the CAVE. People
using the CAVE can see objects apparently floating in the air, and can
walk around them, getting a proper view of what they would look like
in reality. This was initially made possible by electromagnetic
sensors, but has converted to infrared cameras. The frame of early
CAVEs had to be built from non-magnetic materials such as wood to
minimize interference with the electromagnetic sensors, obviously the
change to infrared tracking has removed that limitation. A CAVE
user's movements are tracked by the sensors typically attached to the
3D glasses and the video continually adjusts to retain the viewer’s
perspective. Computers control both this aspect of the CAVE and the
audio aspect. There 13 are typically multiple speakers placed at
multiple angles in the CAVE, providing 3D sound to complement the
3D video.

Software Packages: There are many software packages available in

the market. Most of them are paid software like virtual reality studio
(100$ approx.), Autodesk Cyberspace Development kit (over 1000$)
but there are also some free software like multiverse.

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 ARCHITECTURE OF VR SYSTEM

Architecture of virtual system consists of input processor, simulation

processor, rendering processor and world database.

Input Processor: It controls the devices used to input information to

the computer. The main objective of input processor is to get the
coordinate data to the rest of the system with minimal lag time. The
main components of input processor include keyboard, mouse, 3D
position trackers, a voice recognition system, etc.

Simulation Processor: The process of imitating real things virtually

is called simulation. This is the core of the virtual reality system. It
takes the user inputs along with any tasks programmed into the world
and determine the actions that will take place in the virtual world.

Rendering Processor: Simulation processor imitates the real things

but sensation are not produced to produce this sensation we use
rendering processor. It creates the sensation that are output to the user.
Separate rendering processes are used for visual, auditory, haptic and
other sensory systems. Each renderer take a description of the world
stat from the simulation process or derive it directly from the world
database for each time step.

World Database: This is also known as World Description Files. It

stores the object that inhabit the world, scripts that describes actions
of those objects. This database contains all the objects which we are

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going to experience virtually. For instance if we want to experience
the space virtually then the world database must have all the objects
that are in space like the sun, the moon, stars, planets, etc.

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 APPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY

1.Virtual reality in Military:

Virtual reality has been adopted by the military – this includes all
three services (army, navy and air force) – where it is used for
training purposes. This is particularly useful for training soldiers for
combat situations or other dangerous settings where they have to learn
how to react in an appropriate manner. A virtual reality simulation
enables them to do so but without the risk of death or a serious injury.
They can re-enact a particular scenario, for example engagement with
an enemy in an environment in which they experience this but without
the real-world risks. This has proven to be safer and less costly than
traditional training methods.

2. Virtual Reality and Education: Education is another area which

has adopted virtual reality for teaching and learning situations. The
advantage of this is that it enables large groups of students to interact
with each other as well as within a 3-dimensional environment. It is
able to present complex data in an accessible way to students which is
both fun and easy to learn. Plus these students can interact with the
objects in that environment in order to discover more about them.

3. Virtual Reality in Healthcare: 17 Healthcare is one of the biggest

adopters of virtual reality which encompasses surgery simulation,
phobia treatment, robotic surgery and skills training. One of the

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advantages of this technology is that it allows healthcare professionals
to learn new skills as well as refreshing existing ones in a safe
environment. Plus it allows this without causing any danger to the
patients. A popular use of this technology is in robotic surgery. This is
where surgery is performed by means of a robotic device – controlled
by a human surgeon, which reduces time and risk of complications.
Virtual reality has been also been used for training purposes and, in
the field of remote telesurgery in which surgery is performed by the
surgeon at a separate location to the patient.

4. Virtual Reality in Engineering: Virtual reality engineering

includes the use of 3D modelling tools and visualization techniques as
part of the design process. This technology enables engineers to view
their project in 3D and gain a greater understanding of how it works.
Plus they can spot any flaws or potential risks before implementation.
This also allows the design team to observe their project within a safe
environment and make changes as and where necessary. This saves
both time and money. What is important is the ability of virtual reality
to depict fine grained details of an engineering product to maintain the
illusion. This means high end graphics, video with a fast refresh rate
and realistic sound and movement.

5. Virtual Reality in Entertainment: Virtual reality games are

becoming very popular with many teenagers who love the graphics,
animations and best of all, being able to talk to others. After all, what
could be better than the chance to interact with top end technology
and without any adults to get in the way?
These games are available for Xbox 360, PS2 and 3 as well as the
Mac and PC so whatever console you use there is a VR game for that.
This is pretty cool when you think about it.

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 CURRENT PROBLEM & FUTUE WORK

Problems:

Simulator Sickness Symptoms: Simulator sickness is by no means a

new phenomenon. It is similar to motion sickness, which has existed
for as long as humans have used additional modes of transportation,
but can occur without any actual motion of the subject. The first
documented case of simulator sickness occurred in 1957 and was
reported by Havron and Butler in a US Navy helicopter trainer. The
most common identifiable symptoms are general discomfort, nausea,
drowsiness, headache and in some cases vomiting.

Expensive: Virtual reality technology is expensive. Common people

can hardly manage to have such technologies. It requires additional
hardware which are also very expensive. A big problem with virtual
reality is cost: a fully immersive set up such as a CAVE where
someone is able to interact with objects in an enclosed space is
expensive. In fact it’s that expensive that only university research
departments and companies with a research and development (R & D)
section are able to afford this type of set up.

Lack of Integration Between application packages: Integrating the

virtual reality hardware with the application package is a major issue.
It requires very precise and expertise hands to integrate the
application package with the hardware.

Future works:

High Fidelity systems: Researches are being done to enhance the

fidelity of virtual reality systems. To take a better experience and
making VR systems more and more reliable scientists are trying hard
and are developing new tools.

Cost-Saving: Virtual reality technology is not within the reach of

common people because of its high cost and additional hardware

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requirement. Developments are going on to make low cost VR
technology. Scientists are trying to develop such tools that require less
hardware and can generate output with great reliability and accuracy.

Collaborative: Integrating application packages with the hardware of

the VR system was quite difficult in the early stage of VR technology
but now with the efforts and development of new applications
integration problem has been minimized to a great extent and the
developers are trying hard to develop the applications which can be
easily collaborated with the virtual reality hardware.

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 SUMMARY

Everything we experience in life can be reduced to electrical activity

stimulating our brains as our sensory organs deliver information about
the external world. This interpretation is what we consider to be
"reality." In this sense, the brain is reality. Everything you see, hear,
feel, taste and smell is an interpretation of what's outside, and created
entirely inside your head. We tend to believe that this interpretation
matches very closely to the external world. Nothing could be further
from the truth. It is the brain that "sees", and in some important ways
what it sees does not reflect the information it derives from sensory
input. For this reason, we are all living in our own reality simulations
- abstractions - that we construct as a result of both what we perceive
with our senses and how our brains modify this perception. Such
things as color, smell and taste, for example are not properties of the
outside world itself, but rather a category created by the process of
perception. In order to experience the world in a meaningful way, the
brain must act as a filter/interference between us and the "real" world.

Words have always been a crude method of relaying intent. VR holds

out the promise of allowing us to literally show one another what we
mean rather than merely describing it with crude verbal
approximations. The limitation of words is that the meaning they
convey is only as detailed as the definitions the reader or listener
attaches to them. For this reason VR offers the possibility of evolving
our communication into a kind of telepathy, ultimately bridging the
gap between our discrete imaginations. "This is what virtual reality
holds out to us - the possibility of walking into the constructs of the
imagination." - Terence McKenna.

VR is the ultimate medium of syntactical intent; the only way to

figuratively "show" someone exactly what you mean is to literally
show them. Words are exceptionally ineffective at conveying
meaning, as they are a low-bandwidth, lossy medium of knowledge
transference. VR will let us remove the ambiguity that is the
discrepancy between our internal dictionaries and bypass

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communication through symbolism altogether. The result will be
perfect understanding, as all parties behold the same information. The
term Virtual Reality (VR) is used by many different people with many
meanings. There are some people to whom VR is a specific collection
of technologies that is a Head 21 Mounted Display, Glove Input
Device and Audio. Some other people stretch the term to include
conventional books, movies or pure fantasy and imagination. The
NSF taxonomy mentioned in the introduction can cover these as well.
However, my personal preference, and for purposes of this paper, we
restrict VR to computer mediated systems.

"Virtual Reality is a way for humans to visualize, manipulate and

interact with computers and extremely complex data"

The visualization part refers to the computer generating visual,

auditory or other sensual outputs to the user of a world within the
computer. This world may be a CAD model, a scientific simulation,
or a view into a database. The user can interact with the world and
directly manipulate objects within the world. Some worlds are
animated by other processes, perhaps physical simulations, or simple
animation scripts. Interaction with the virtual world, at least with near
real time control of the viewpoint, in my opinion, is a critical test for a
'virtual reality'.
Some people object to the term "Virtual Reality", saying it is an
oxymoron. Other terms that have been used are Synthetic
Environments, Cyberspace, Artificial Reality, Simulator Technology,
etc. VR is the most common and sexiest. It has caught the attention of
the media.

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 REFERENCES

[1] HTTP://VR.ISDALE.COM/WHATISVR/FRAMES/WHATISVR4.1.HTML

[2] HTTP://VRESOURCES.JUMP-
GATE.COM/APPLICATIONS/APPLICATIONS.SHTML

[3] HTTP://WWW-VRL.UMICH.EDU/INTRO/

[4] HTTP://WWW.MIC.ATR.CO.JP/~POUP/RESEARCH/AR/

[5] HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/VIRTUAL_REALITY

[6] HTTP://WWW.VRS.ORG.UK/VIRTUAL-REALITY/WHAT-IS-VIRTUAL-
REALITY.HTML

[7] FRANCHI, J. VERTUAL REALITY: AN OVERVIEW. ERIC DIGEST, JUNE

1995

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