Virtual Reality and its prospect
No matter you are a video game player, a movie lover or an industrial designer, you
must have learned a lot about the VR (virtual reality). Many media reports 2016 as the
first year of VR. At present, the Steam VR platform has been able to experience the
virtual reality game through Vive HTC. Google has invested $0.54 billion in the
virtual reality company Magic Leap. It is said that Apple and Facebook also formed a
large team composed of virtual reality and augmented reality experts to compete with
the other companies in this new, high tech field[2]. Even famous director Spielberg
declared that he would produce a film about family cooperating with VRC company.
VR (virtual reality) technology can be widely used in urban planning, interior
design, industrial simulation, monuments restoration, road and bridge design, real
estate sales, tourism, education, water conservancy and electric power, geological
disasters, education and training and many other fields, to provide feasible
solutions[2]. And the video game is the most eagerly awaited application now. Not
long ago, a video game company, Valve, released a promotional video of its VR:
Steam VR. In this footage, players are invited to wear VR equipment and experience
all kinds of games, and other people can see their experience in "another world" in a
variety of events on the screen. Everyone no matter player or viewer say it’s really
awesome.
So what is VR? How does it work? Virtual reality, multi-media and network
technology are known as the three computer technology with best major prospects.
This technology is the use of computer simulation to generate a three-dimensional
virtual world, to provide users with visual, auditory, tactile and other simulation, so
that users can be in an immersive unlimited observation of things within three
dimensional space[3]. When the user moves the position, the computer carries on the
complex computation, maintaining the spot feeling. In a word, VR technology can
bring the user's perception into the virtual world it creates, and let users believe that it
is true.
In general, a normal VR equipment consists of one helmet which have a micro
processer and a special optic system to produce parallax and make the stereoscopic
there dimensional pictures, two handles for operating and getting sensation like
touching and two speakers to produce the three dimensional sounds. And it also needs
to connect to a computer which deals with the information, runs program and help the
CPU and special optic system produce scene.
It’s really obvious that the most important thing for VR equipment is to make the
virtuality like reality. The following are several key technologies to achieve that[4]. First is the real time computer picture simulation. In a virtual simulation system,
image refresh is very important. While the image quality requirements are very high,
coupled with a very complex virtual environment, the problem becomes quite difficult.
Second the images are generated respectively differently in the user’s two eyes,
displayed on different monitors. Parallax will bring a sense of three-dimensional then.
Third, tracking. When we play computers the mouse and keyboard record our track,
but the helmet and handles are in charge of it. Last is two important steps of the user
feedback. One is interaction. In the scene of VR, not only the player and player,
player and environment but environment and environment all have interaction. It
makes the world more real. Another is muti-sensation. Not only the sound and the
sight is three- dimensional ,but you can get touching even smelling by the handles.
They both make the scene more real.
However Virtual reality experience refers to still exist many defects now. Some
analysts pointed out that the VR technology is not yet mature, experience still exists
many blemishes, and equipment costs are too high. It will take time that VR
technology comes into public view from “niche toys”. The main problems are
significant discomfort, a sense of vertigo when wearing, obvious hardware content
and so on. For instance, the requirements of the VR equipment image is relatively
high. The movie is a second and 24 frames, but 100 frames a second of VR device in
order to achieve high quality[5]. That will greatly increase the computational burden
of the hardware, which is difficult to achieve a comprehensive in the industry. Besides
the helmet and the handles are a little heavy and the price is still high for ordinary
people now.
But there is one word, one flaw cannot obscure the splendor of the jade. Most
specialists and forecasters think the prospect of virtual reality is optimistic beyond a
doubt. For example, the GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corp) forecasts
that in 2018, global VR equipment shipments will grow 173% and increase to 0.388
billion from 0.027 in 2015. Another forecaster Enfodesk even predicts that the virtual
reality revenues in China will reach to 2160.0 million of Chinese yuan although the
increment speed in 2017 is slower than before.
