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118-431: Virtual reality ( VR ) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games ), education (such as medical, safety or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings). VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum . As such, it

236-532: A " diagnostic " instrument, allowing women to consult male physicians while maintaining social laws of modesty. Models are used today to help students learn the anatomy of the musculoskeletal system and organ systems. VR positional tracking Pose tracking is sometimes referred to as positional tracking, but the two are separate. Pose tracking is different from positional tracking because pose tracking includes orientation whereas and positional tracking does not. In some consumer GPS systems, orientation data

354-451: A 3D virtual world, a binaural audio system, positional and rotational real-time head tracking for six degrees of movement. Options include motion controls with haptic feedback for physically interacting within the virtual world in an intuitive way with little to no abstraction and an omnidirectional treadmill for more freedom of physical movement allowing the user to perform locomotive motion in any direction. Augmented reality (AR)

472-451: A 90-degree field of vision that was previously unseen in the consumer market at the time. Luckey eliminated distortion issues arising from the type of lens used to create the wide field of vision using software that pre-distorted the rendered image in real-time. This initial design would later serve as a basis from which the later designs came. In 2012, the Rift is presented for the first time at

590-562: A National Agenda for Simulation-Based Medical Education (Eder-Van Hook, Jackie, 2004), "a health care provider's ability to react prudently in an unexpected situation is one of the most critical factors in creating a positive outcome in medical emergency, regardless of whether it occurs on the battlefield, freeway, or hospital emergency room." Eder-Van Hook (2004) also noted that medical errors kill up to 98,000 with an estimated cost between $ 37 and $ 50 million and $ 17 to $ 29 billion for preventable adverse events dollars per year. Simulation

708-413: A PC-powered virtual reality headset that same year. In 1999, entrepreneur Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab with an initial focus on the development of VR hardware. In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of "The Rig", which was realized in prototype form as a clunky steel contraption with several computer monitors that users could wear on their shoulders. The concept

826-495: A computer connected to a plastic simulation of the relevant anatomy. Sophisticated simulators of this type employ a life-size mannequin that responds to injected drugs and can be programmed to create simulations of life-threatening emergencies. In other simulations, visual components of the procedure are reproduced by computer graphics techniques, while touch-based components are reproduced by haptic feedback devices combined with physical simulation routines computed in response to

944-416: A device's orientation (i.e. its degree of rotation in all directions) requires at least three noncollinear points on the tracked object to be known, mandating the number of ultrasonic transmitters to be at least three per device tracked in addition to the three aforementioned receivers. The transmitters emit ultrasonic waves in sequence toward the three receivers, which can then be used to derive spatial data on

1062-472: A great deal of promise for virtual simulations. Systems such as brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) offer the ability to further increase the level of immersion for virtual simulation users. Lee, Keinrath, Scherer, Bischof, Pfurtscheller proved that naïve subjects could be trained to use a BCI to navigate a virtual apartment with relative ease. Using the BCI, the authors found that subjects were able to freely navigate

1180-667: A head-mounted display, which are frequently used in virtual reality, it is often the tracking system used in fully immersive virtual reality displays. Conventional equipment like head-mounted displays are obtrusive to the user in fully enclosed virtual reality experiences, so alternative equipment such as that used in magnetic tracking is favored. Magnetic tracking has been implemented by Polhemus and in Razer Hydra by Sixense . The system works poorly near any electrically conductive material, such as metal objects and devices, that can affect an electromagnetic field. Magnetic tracking worsens as

1298-497: A model in which a complete enumeration of all possible states would be prohibitive or impossible. Several software packages exist for running computer-based simulation modeling (e.g. Monte Carlo simulation, stochastic modeling, multimethod modeling) that makes all the modeling almost effortless. Modern usage of the term "computer simulation" may encompass virtually any computer-based representation. In computer science , simulation has some specialized meanings: Alan Turing used

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1416-399: A more systematic view of the concept. Physical simulation refers to simulation in which physical objects are substituted for the real thing (some circles use the term for computer simulations modelling selected laws of physics, but this article does not). These physical objects are often chosen because they are smaller or cheaper than the actual object or system. Interactive simulation

1534-409: A person looks at an object using binocular vision, they are able to define approximately at what distance the object is placed due to the difference in perspective between the two eyes. In optical tracking, cameras are calibrated to determine the distance to the object and its position in space. Optical systems are reliable and relatively inexpensive, but they can be difficult to calibrate. Furthermore,

1652-411: A precision of under 100 mm. By using sensor fusion and high speed algorithms, the tracking precision can reach 5 mm level with update speeds of 200 Hz or 5 ms latency . Pros : Cons : Optical tracking uses cameras placed on or around the headset to determine position and orientation based on computer vision algorithms . This method is based on the same principle as stereoscopic human vision . When

1770-449: A prior reference signal, such that one can determine the relative change in position of transmitters from the last measurement. Because this method operates only on observed changes in position values, and not on absolute measurements, any errors in measurement tend to compound over more observations. Consequently, this method has lost popularity with developers over time. Pros : Cons : In summary, implementation of acoustic tracking

1888-400: A safety-critical system. Simulations in education are somewhat like training simulations. They focus on specific tasks. The term 'microworld' is used to refer to educational simulations which model some abstract concept rather than simulating a realistic object or environment, or in some cases model a real-world environment in a simplistic way so as to help a learner develop an understanding of

2006-538: A service is where simulation is accessed as a service over the web. Modeling, interoperable simulation and serious games is where serious game approaches (e.g. game engines and engagement methods) are integrated with interoperable simulation. Simulation fidelity is used to describe the accuracy of a simulation and how closely it imitates the real-life counterpart. Fidelity is broadly classified as one of three categories: low, medium, and high. Specific descriptions of fidelity levels are subject to interpretation, but

2124-460: A service that shows panoramic views of an increasing number of worldwide positions such as roads, indoor buildings and rural areas. It also features a stereoscopic 3D mode, introduced in 2010. In 2010, Palmer Luckey designed the first prototype of the Oculus Rift . This prototype, built on a shell of another virtual reality headset, was only capable of rotational tracking. However, it boasted

2242-405: A set of anchors that are placed around the perimeter of the tracking space and one or more tags that are tracked. This system is similar in concept to GPS, but works both indoors and outdoors. Sometimes referred to as indoor GPS. The tags triangulate their 3D position using the anchors placed around the perimeter. A wireless technology called Ultra Wideband has enabled the position tracking to reach

2360-449: A simulation of an epidemic could change the number of infected people at time instants when susceptible individuals get infected or when infected individuals recover. Stochastic simulation is a simulation where some variable or process is subject to random variations and is projected using Monte Carlo techniques using pseudo-random numbers. Thus replicated runs with the same boundary conditions will each produce different results within

2478-404: A simulator—although, perhaps, denoting a slightly different meaning of simulator —is the use of a placebo drug, a formulation that simulates the active drug in trials of drug efficacy. Patient safety is a concern in the medical industry. Patients have been known to suffer injuries and even death due to management error, and lack of using best standards of care and training. According to Building

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2596-405: A specific confidence band. Deterministic simulation is a simulation which is not stochastic: thus the variables are regulated by deterministic algorithms. So replicated runs from the same boundary conditions always produce identical results. Hybrid simulation (or combined simulation) corresponds to a mix between continuous and discrete event simulation and results in integrating numerically

2714-502: A stereoscopic image with a field-of-view wide enough to create a convincing sense of space. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth ( field of view ) in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned for NASA's Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation) by Scott Fisher . The LEEP system provides

2832-631: A user moves their head too fast. Microelectrical magnetic systems advancements have made magnetic/electric tracking more common due to their small size and low cost. Acoustic tracking systems use techniques for identifying an object or device's position similar to those found naturally in animals that use echolocation . Analogous to bats locating objects using differences in soundwave return times to their two ears, acoustic tracking systems in VR may use sets of at least three ultrasonic sensors and at least three ultrasonic transmitters on devices in order to calculate

2950-634: A virtual environment. This addresses a key risk area in rotorcraft operations, where statistics show that around 20% of accidents occur during training flights. In 2022, Meta released the Meta Quest Pro . This device utilised a thinner, visor-like design that was not fully enclosed, and was the first headset by Meta to target mixed reality applications using high-resolution colour video passthrough. It also included integrated face and eye tracking , pancake lenses , and updated Touch Pro controllers with on-board motion tracking. In 2023, Sony released

3068-622: A virtual reality system affect the user experience, but there is no consensus on best practices as many different techniques have been used. It is hard to rely only on inertial tracking to determine the precise position because dead reckoning leads to drift, so this type of tracking is not used in isolation in virtual reality. A lag between the user's movement and virtual reality display of more than 100ms has been found to cause nausea. Inertial sensors are not only capable of tracking rotational movement (roll, pitch, yaw), but also translational movement. These two types of movement together are known as

3186-466: A year later) initially required users to log in with a Facebook account in order to use the new headset. In 2021 the Oculus Quest 2 accounted for 80% of all VR headsets sold. In 2021, EASA approved the first Virtual Reality-based Flight Simulation Training Device. The device, made by Loft Dynamics for rotorcraft pilots, enhances safety by opening up the possibility of practicing risky maneuvers in

3304-438: Is Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS). Parallel simulation speeds up a simulation's execution by concurrently distributing its workload over multiple processors, as in high-performance computing . Interoperable simulation is where multiple models, simulators (often defined as federates) interoperate locally, distributed over a network; a classical example is High-Level Architecture . Modeling and simulation as

3422-512: Is a special kind of physical simulation, often referred to as a human-in-the-loop simulation, in which physical simulations include human operators, such as in a flight simulator , sailing simulator , or driving simulator . Continuous simulation is a simulation based on continuous-time rather than discrete-time steps, using numerical integration of differential equations . Discrete-event simulation studies systems whose states change their values only at discrete times. For example,

3540-408: Is a type of virtual reality technology that blends what the user sees in their real surroundings with digital content generated by computer software. The additional software-generated images with the virtual scene typically enhance how the real surroundings look in some way. AR systems layer virtual information over a camera live feed into a headset or smartglasses or through a mobile device giving

3658-505: Is able to look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display with a small screen in front of the eyes, but can also be created through specially designed rooms with multiple large screens. Virtual reality typically incorporates auditory and video feedback , but may also allow other types of sensory and force feedback through haptic technology . " Virtual " has had

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3776-539: Is added additionally using magnetometers , which give partial orientation information, but not the full orientation that pose tracking provides. In VR, it is paramount that pose tracking is both accurate and precise so as not to break the illusion of a being in virtual world. Several methods of tracking the position and orientation (pitch, yaw and roll) of the display and any associated objects or devices have been developed to achieve this. Many methods utilize sensors which repeatedly record signals from transmitters on or near

3894-464: Is also good evidence that procedural simulation improves actual operational performance in clinical settings." However, there is a need to have improved evidence to show that crew resource management training through simulation. One of the largest challenges is showing that team simulation improves team operational performance at the bedside. Although evidence that simulation-based training actually improves patient outcome has been slow to accrue, today

4012-458: Is also used when the real system cannot be engaged, because it may not be accessible, or it may be dangerous or unacceptable to engage, or it is being designed but not yet built, or it may simply not exist. Key issues in modeling and simulation include the acquisition of valid sources of information about the relevant selection of key characteristics and behaviors used to build the model, the use of simplifying approximations and assumptions within

4130-568: Is an attempt to model a real-life or hypothetical situation on a computer so that it can be studied to see how the system works. By changing variables in the simulation, predictions may be made about the behaviour of the system. It is a tool to virtually investigate the behaviour of the system under study. Computer simulation has become a useful part of modeling many natural systems in physics , chemistry and biology , and human systems in economics and social science (e.g., computational sociology ) as well as in engineering to gain insight into

4248-404: Is being used to study patient safety, as well as train medical professionals. Studying patient safety and safety interventions in healthcare is challenging, because there is a lack of experimental control (i.e., patient complexity, system/process variances) to see if an intervention made a meaningful difference (Groves & Manges, 2017). An example of innovative simulation to study patient safety

4366-399: Is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality . Currently, standard virtual reality systems use either virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments to generate some realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual environment. A person using virtual reality equipment

4484-466: Is directly available to the programmer, and the speed and execution of the simulation can be varied at will. Simulators may also be used to interpret fault trees , or test VLSI logic designs before they are constructed. Symbolic simulation uses variables to stand for unknown values. In the field of optimization , simulations of physical processes are often used in conjunction with evolutionary computation to optimize control strategies. Simulation

4602-454: Is essential to accurately register acquired 3D data; usually, a camera is used for modeling small objects at a short distance. Desktop-based virtual reality involves displaying a 3D virtual world on a regular desktop display without use of any specialized VR positional tracking equipment. Many modern first-person video games can be used as an example, using various triggers, responsive characters, and other such interactive devices to make

4720-414: Is extensively used for educational purposes. It is used for cases where it is prohibitively expensive or simply too dangerous to allow trainees to use the real equipment in the real world. In such situations they will spend time learning valuable lessons in a "safe" virtual environment yet living a lifelike experience (or at least it is the goal). Often the convenience is to permit mistakes during training for

4838-428: Is from nursing research. Groves et al. (2016) used a high-fidelity simulation to examine nursing safety-oriented behaviors during times such as change-of-shift report . However, the value of simulation interventions to translating to clinical practice are is still debatable. As Nishisaki states, "there is good evidence that simulation training improves provider and team self-efficacy and competence on manikins. There

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4956-435: Is given a complete sensation of reality, i.e. moving three dimensional images which may be in colour, with 100% peripheral vision, binaural sound, scents and air breezes." In 1968, Harvard Professor Ivan Sutherland , with the help of his students including Bob Sproull , created what was widely considered to be the first head-mounted display system for use in immersive simulation applications, called The Sword of Damocles . It

5074-408: Is increasingly used to combine several high-resolution photographs for the creation of detailed 3D objects and environments in VR applications. Simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model . Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms

5192-857: Is instead branded as a “ spatial computer ”. In 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration approved its first virtual reality flight simulation training device: Loft Dynamics' virtual reality Airbus Helicopters H125 FSTD —the same device EASA qualified. As of September 2024, Loft Dynamics remains the only VR FSTD qualified by EASA and the FAA. Modern virtual reality headset displays are based on technology developed for smartphones including: gyroscopes and motion sensors for tracking head, body, and hand positions ; small HD screens for stereoscopic displays; and small, lightweight and fast computer processors. These components led to relative affordability for independent VR developers, and led to

5310-432: Is made, in which simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the simulation represents the evolution of the model over time. Another way to distinguish between the terms is to define simulation as experimentation with the help of a model. This definition includes time-independent simulations. Often, computers are used to execute

5428-413: Is no longer available), or in a tightly controlled testing environment (see Computer architecture simulator and Platform virtualization ). For example, simulators have been used to debug a microprogram or sometimes commercial application programs, before the program is downloaded to the target machine. Since the operation of the computer is simulated, all of the information about the computer's operation

5546-423: Is optimal in cases where one has total control over the ambient environment that the VR or AR system resides in, such as a flight simulator. Magnetic tracking relies on measuring the intensity of inhomogenous magnetic fields with electromagnetic sensors. A base station , often referred to as the system's transmitter or field generator, generates an alternating or a static electromagnetic field, depending on

5664-466: Is patient care to deliver just-in-time service or/and just-in-place. This training consists of 20  minutes of simulated training just before workers report to shift. One study found that just in time training improved the transition to the bedside. The conclusion as reported in Nishisaki (2008) work, was that the simulation training improved resident participation in real cases; but did not sacrifice

5782-496: Is the earliest published use of the term "virtual reality". The term " artificial reality ", coined by Myron Krueger , has been in use since the 1970s. The term "virtual reality" was first used in a science fiction context in The Judas Mandala , a 1982 novel by Damien Broderick . Widespread adoption of the term "virtual reality" in the popular media is attributed to Jaron Lanier , who in the late 1980s designed some of

5900-548: The E3 video game trade show by John Carmack . In 2014, Facebook (later Meta) purchased Oculus VR for what at the time was stated as $ 2 billion but later revealed that the more accurate figure was $ 3 billion. This purchase occurred after the first development kits ordered through Oculus' 2012 Kickstarter had shipped in 2013 but before the shipping of their second development kits in 2014. ZeniMax , Carmack's former employer, sued Oculus and Facebook for taking company secrets to Facebook;

6018-532: The HTC Vive is an example of active markers. Each external Lighthouse module contains IR LEDs as well as a laser array that sweeps in horizontal and vertical directions, and sensors on the headset and controllers can detect these sweeps and use the timings to determine position. Markerless tracking, such as on the Oculus Quest , does not require anything mounted in the outside environment. It uses cameras on

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6136-727: The Meta Quest 3 , the successor to the Quest 2. It features the pancake lenses and mixed reality features of the Quest Pro, as well as an increased field of view and resolution compared to Quest 2. In 2024, Apple released the Apple Vision Pro . The device is a fully enclosed mixed reality headset that strongly utilises video passthrough. While some VR experiences are available on the device, it lacks standard VR headset features such as external controllers or support for OpenXR and

6254-629: The PlayStation VR ), a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 video game console. The Chinese headset AntVR was released in late 2014; it was briefly competitive in the Chinese market but ultimately unable to compete with the larger technology companies. In 2015, Google announced Cardboard , a do-it-yourself stereoscopic viewer: the user places their smartphone in the cardboard holder, which they wear on their head. Michael Naimark

6372-466: The PlayStation VR2 , a follow-up to their 2016 headset. The device includes inside-out tracking, eye-tracked foveated rendering , higher-resolution OLED displays, controllers with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, 3D audio , and a wider field of view. While initially exclusive for use with the PlayStation 5 console, a PC adapter is scheduled for August 2024. Later in 2023, Meta released

6490-496: The Power Glove , an early affordable VR device, released in 1989. That same year Broderbund 's U-Force was released. Atari, Inc. founded a research lab for virtual reality in 1982, but the lab was closed after two years due to the video game crash of 1983 . However, its hired employees, such as Scott Fisher , Michael Naimark , and Brenda Laurel , kept their research and development on VR-related technologies. In 1988,

6608-672: The Sega VR headset for the Mega Drive home console. It used LCD screens in the visor, stereo headphones, and inertial sensors that allowed the system to track and react to the movements of the user's head. In the same year, Virtuality launched and went on to become the first mass-produced, networked, multiplayer VR entertainment system that was released in many countries, including a dedicated VR arcade at Embarcadero Center . Costing up to $ 73,000 per multi-pod Virtuality system, they featured headsets and exoskeleton gloves that gave one of

6726-527: The Sensorama in 1962, along with five short films to be displayed in it while engaging multiple senses (sight, sound, smell, and touch). Predating digital computing, the Sensorama was a mechanical device . Heilig also developed what he referred to as the "Telesphere Mask" (patented in 1960). The patent application described the device as "a telescopic television apparatus for individual use... The spectator

6844-549: The Six degrees of freedom . Many applications of virtual reality need to not only track the users’ head rotations, but also how their bodies move with them (left/right, back/forth, up/down). Six degrees of freedom capability is not necessary for all virtual reality experiences, but it is useful when the user needs to move things other than their head. Pros : Cons : Sensor fusion combines data from several tracking algorithms and can yield better outputs than only one technology. One of

6962-708: The VR-1 motion simulator ride attraction in Joypolis indoor theme parks, as well as the Dennou Senki Net Merc arcade game . Both used an advanced head-mounted display dubbed the "Mega Visor Display" developed in conjunction with Virtuality; it was able to track head movement in a 360-degree stereoscopic 3D environment, and in its Net Merc incarnation was powered by the Sega Model 1 arcade system board . Apple released QuickTime VR , which, despite using

7080-566: The Valve Index . Notable features include a 130° field of view, off-ear headphones for immersion and comfort, open-handed controllers which allow for individual finger tracking, front facing cameras, and a front expansion slot meant for extensibility. In 2020, Oculus released the Oculus Quest 2 , later renamed the Meta Quest 2. Some new features include a sharper screen, reduced price, and increased performance. Facebook (which became Meta

7198-413: The stereoscope invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone were both precursors to virtual reality. The first references to the more modern-day concept of virtual reality came from science fiction . Morton Heilig wrote in the 1950s of an "Experience Theatre" that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He built a prototype of his vision dubbed

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7316-411: The virtual fixtures system at the U.S. Air Force 's Armstrong Labs using a full upper-body exoskeleton , enabling a physically realistic mixed reality in 3D. The system enabled the overlay of physically real 3D virtual objects registered with a user's direct view of the real world, producing the first true augmented reality experience enabling sight, sound, and touch. By July 1994, Sega had released

7434-464: The 2012 Oculus Rift Kickstarter offering the first independently developed VR headset. Independent production of VR images and video has increased alongside the development of affordable omnidirectional cameras , also known as 360-degree cameras or VR cameras, that have the ability to record 360 interactive photography , although at relatively low resolutions or in highly compressed formats for online streaming of 360 video . In contrast, photogrammetry

7552-676: The Cyberspace Project at Autodesk was the first to implement VR on a low-cost personal computer. The project leader Eric Gullichsen left in 1990 to found Sense8 Corporation and develop the WorldToolKit virtual reality SDK, which offered the first real time graphics with Texture mapping on a PC, and was widely used throughout industry and academia. The 1990s saw the first widespread commercial releases of consumer headsets. In 1992, for instance, Computer Gaming World predicted "affordable VR by 1994". In 1991, Sega announced

7670-512: The Past series of historical educational games. The National Science Foundation has also supported the creation of reacting games that address science and math education. In social media simulations, participants train communication with critics and other stakeholders in a private environment. In recent years, there has been increasing use of social simulations for staff training in aid and development agencies. The Carana simulation, for example,

7788-415: The ability of simulation to provide hands-on experience that translates to the operating room is no longer in doubt. One of the largest factors that might impact the ability to have training impact the work of practitioners at the bedside is the ability to empower frontline staff (Stewart, Manges, Ward, 2015). Another example of an attempt to improve patient safety through the use of simulations training

7906-424: The art and science of project management. Using simulation for project management training improves learning retention and enhances the learning process. Social simulations may be used in social science classrooms to illustrate social and political processes in anthropology, economics, history, political science, or sociology courses, typically at the high school or university level. These may, for example, take

8024-748: The basis for most of the modern virtual reality headsets. By the late 1980s, the term "virtual reality" was popularized by Jaron Lanier , one of the modern pioneers of the field. Lanier had founded the company VPL Research in 1984. VPL Research has developed several VR devices like the DataGlove , the EyePhone, the Reality Built For Two (RB2), and the AudioSphere. VPL licensed the DataGlove technology to Mattel , which used it to make

8142-480: The camera, making it easier to block out other IR lights in the tracking area. Passive implementations are retroreflectors which reflect the IR light back towards the source with little scattering. Markerless tracking does not require any pre-placed targets, instead using the natural features of the surrounding environment to determine position and orientation. In this method, cameras are placed in stationary locations in

8260-441: The consumer headsets including separate 1K displays per eye, low persistence, positional tracking over a large area, and Fresnel lenses . HTC and Valve announced the virtual reality headset HTC Vive and controllers in 2015. The set included tracking technology called Lighthouse, which utilized wall-mounted "base stations" for positional tracking using infrared light. In 2014, Sony announced Project Morpheus (its code name for

8378-418: The differential equations between two sequential events to reduce the number of discontinuities. A stand-alone simulation is a simulation running on a single workstation by itself. A distributed simulation is one which uses more than one computer simultaneously, to guarantee access from/to different resources (e.g. multi-users operating different systems, or distributed data sets); a classical example

8496-406: The distance from the transmitter to each of the three receivers, calculated based on the travel time of the ultrasonic wave using the equation l = ct us . The constant c denotes the speed of sound, which is equal to 343.2 m/s in dry air at temperature 20°C. Because at least three receivers are required, these calculations are commonly known as triangulation . Beyond its position, determining

8614-439: The door for cheaper mobile headsets without the need of tethering to external computers or sensors. Pros: Cons: Inertial tracking use data from accelerometers and gyroscopes , and sometimes magnetometers . Accelerometers measure linear acceleration. Since the derivative of position with respect to time is velocity and the derivative of velocity is acceleration, the output of the accelerometer could be integrated to find

8732-595: The environment to read their positions. This method is the most mature, having applications not only in VR but also in motion capture technology for film. However, this solution is space-limited, needing external sensors in constant view of the device. Pros: Cons: In this method, the camera is placed on the tracked device and looks outward to determine its location in the environment. Headsets that use this tech have multiple cameras facing different directions to get views of its entire surroundings. This method can work with or without markers. The Lighthouse system used by

8850-408: The environment to track the position of markers on the tracked device, such as a head mounted display or controllers. Having multiple cameras allows for different views of the same markers, and this overlap allows for accurate readings of the device position. The original Oculus Rift utilizes this technique, placing a constellation of IR LEDs on its headset and controllers to allow external cameras in

8968-571: The first "immersive" VR experiences. That same year, Carolina Cruz-Neira , Daniel J. Sandin and Thomas A. DeFanti from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory created the first cubic immersive room, the Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Developed as Cruz-Neira's PhD thesis, it involved a multi-projected environment, similar to the holodeck , allowing people to see their own bodies in relation to others in

9086-491: The first artist to produce navigable virtual worlds at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1977 to 1984. The Aspen Movie Map , a crude virtual tour in which users could wander the streets of Aspen in one of the three modes (summer, winter, and polygons ), was created at MIT in 1978. In 1979, Eric Howlett developed the Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system. The combined system created

9204-526: The first business-grade virtual reality hardware under his firm VPL Research , and the 1992 film Lawnmower Man , which features use of virtual reality systems. One method of realizing virtual reality is through simulation -based virtual reality. For example, driving simulators give the driver the impression of actually driving a vehicle by predicting vehicular motion based on the driver's input and providing corresponding visual, motion, and audio cues. With avatar image -based virtual reality, people can join

9322-615: The first major commercial release of sensor-based tracking, allowing for free movement of users within a defined space. A patent filed by Sony in 2017 showed they were developing a similar location tracking technology to the Vive for PlayStation VR, with the potential for the development of a wireless headset. In 2019, Oculus released the Oculus Rift S and a standalone headset, the Oculus Quest . These headsets utilized inside-out tracking compared to external outside-in tracking seen in previous generations of headsets. Later in 2019, Valve released

9440-399: The following generalizations can be made: A synthetic environment is a computer simulation that can be included in human-in-the-loop simulations. Simulation in failure analysis refers to simulation in which we create environment/conditions to identify the cause of equipment failure. This can be the best and fastest method to identify the failure cause. A computer simulation (or "sim")

9558-412: The form of civics simulations, in which participants assume roles in a simulated society, or international relations simulations in which participants engage in negotiations, alliance formation, trade, diplomacy, and the use of force. Such simulations might be based on fictitious political systems, or be based on current or historical events. An example of the latter would be Barnard College 's Reacting to

9676-483: The headset for a process called SLAM , or simultaneous localization and mapping, where a 3D map of the environment is generated in real time. Machine learning algorithms then determine where the headset is positioned within that 3D map, using feature detection to reconstruct and analyze its surroundings. This tech allows high-end headsets like the Microsoft HoloLens to be self-contained, but it also opens

9794-429: The health professions. Simulators have been developed for training procedures ranging from the basics such as blood draw , to laparoscopic surgery and trauma care. They are also important to help on prototyping new devices for biomedical engineering problems. Currently, simulators are applied to research and develop tools for new therapies, treatments and early diagnosis in medicine. Many medical simulators involve

9912-485: The key concepts. Normally, a user can create some sort of construction within the microworld that will behave in a way consistent with the concepts being modeled. Seymour Papert was one of the first to advocate the value of microworlds, and the Logo programming environment developed by Papert is one of the most well-known microworlds. Project management simulation is increasingly used to train students and professionals in

10030-476: The main tracking method, but when an occlusion occurs inertial tracking estimates the position until the objects are visible to the optical camera again. Inertial tracking could also generate position data in-between optical tracking position data because inertial tracking has higher update rate . Optical tracking also helps to cope with a drift of inertial tracking. Combining optical and inertial tracking has shown to reduce misalignment errors that commonly occur when

10148-593: The meaning of "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact" since the mid-1400s. The term "virtual" has been used in the computer sense of "not physically existing but made to appear by software " since 1959. In 1938, French avant-garde playwright Antonin Artaud described the illusory nature of characters and objects in the theatre as "la réalité virtuelle" in a collection of essays, Le Théâtre et son double . The English translation of this book, published in 1958 as The Theater and its Double ,

10266-541: The model, and fidelity and validity of the simulation outcomes. Procedures and protocols for model verification and validation are an ongoing field of academic study, refinement, research and development in simulations technology or practice, particularly in the work of computer simulation. Historically, simulations used in different fields developed largely independently, but 20th-century studies of systems theory and cybernetics combined with spreading use of computers across all those fields have led to some unification and

10384-441: The norm in most military training processes and there is a significant amount of data to suggest this is a useful tool for armed professionals. A virtual simulation is a category of simulation that uses simulation equipment to create a simulated world for the user. Virtual simulations allow users to interact with a virtual world . Virtual worlds operate on platforms of integrated software and hardware components. In this manner,

10502-435: The operation of those systems. A good example of the usefulness of using computers to simulate can be found in the field of network traffic simulation . In such simulations, the model behaviour will change each simulation according to the set of initial parameters assumed for the environment. Traditionally, the formal modeling of systems has been via a mathematical model , which attempts to find analytical solutions enabling

10620-457: The orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) in space with high update rates and minimal latency. Gyroscopes are always used for rotational tracking, but different techniques are used for positional tracking based on factors like cost, ease of setup, and tracking volume. Dead reckoning is used to track positional data, which alters the virtual environment by updating motion changes of the user. The dead reckoning update rate and prediction algorithm used in

10738-414: The position and orientation of an object (e.g. a handheld controller). There are two ways to determine the position of the object: to measure time-of-flight of the sound wave from the transmitter to the receivers or the phase coherence of the sinusoidal sound wave by receiving the transfer. Given a set of three noncollinear sensors (or receivers) with distances between them d 1 and d 2 , as well as

10856-411: The prediction of the behaviour of the system from a set of parameters and initial conditions. Computer simulation is often used as an adjunct to, or substitution for, modeling systems for which simple closed form analytic solutions are not possible. There are many different types of computer simulation, the common feature they all share is the attempt to generate a sample of representative scenarios for

10974-572: The quality of service. It could be therefore hypothesized that by increasing the number of highly trained residents through the use of simulation training, that the simulation training does, in fact, increase patient safety. The first medical simulators were simple models of human patients. Since antiquity, these representations in clay and stone were used to demonstrate clinical features of disease states and their effects on humans. Models have been found in many cultures and continents. These models have been used in some cultures (e.g., Chinese culture) as

11092-428: The room. Antonio Medina, a MIT graduate and NASA scientist, designed a virtual reality system to "drive" Mars rovers from Earth in apparent real time despite the substantial delay of Mars-Earth-Mars signals. In 1992, Nicole Stenger created Angels , the first real-time interactive immersive movie where the interaction was facilitated with a dataglove and high-resolution goggles. That same year, Louis Rosenberg created

11210-460: The simulation . Simulation is used in many contexts, such as simulation of technology for performance tuning or optimizing, safety engineering , testing, training, education, and video games. Simulation is also used with scientific modelling of natural systems or human systems to gain insight into their functioning, as in economics. Simulation can be used to show the eventual real effects of alternative conditions and courses of action. Simulation

11328-420: The study of operational semantics . Less theoretically, an interesting application of computer simulation is to simulate computers using computers. In computer architecture , a type of simulator, typically called an emulator , is often used to execute a program that has to run on some inconvenient type of computer (for example, a newly designed computer that has not yet been built or an obsolete computer that

11446-505: The system can accept input from the user (e.g., body tracking, voice/sound recognition, physical controllers) and produce output to the user (e.g., visual display, aural display, haptic display) . Virtual simulations use the aforementioned modes of interaction to produce a sense of immersion for the user. There is a wide variety of input hardware available to accept user input for virtual simulations. The following list briefly describes several of them: Research in future input systems holds

11564-683: The system requires a direct line of light without occlusions, otherwise it will receive wrong data. Optical tracking can be done either with or without markers. Tracking with markers involves targets with known patterns to serve as reference points, and cameras constantly seek these markers and then use various algorithms (for example, POSIT algorithm ) to extract the position of the object. Markers can be visible, such as printed QR codes , but many use infrared (IR) light that can only be picked up by cameras. Active implementations feature markers with built-in IR LED lights which can turn on and off to sync with

11682-547: The system's architecture. To cover all directions in the three dimensional space, three magnetic fields are generated sequentially. The magnetic fields are generated by three electromagnetic coils which are perpendicular to each other. These coils should be put in a small housing mounted on a moving target which position is necessary to track. Current, sequentially passing through the coils, turns them into electromagnets, which allows them to determine their position and orientation in space. Because magnetic tracking does not require

11800-428: The term simulation to refer to what happens when a universal machine executes a state transition table (in modern terminology, a computer runs a program) that describes the state transitions, inputs and outputs of a subject discrete-state machine. The computer simulates the subject machine. Accordingly, in theoretical computer science the term simulation is a relation between state transition systems , useful in

11918-585: The term "VR", was unable to represent virtual reality, and instead displayed 360-degree interactive panoramas . Nintendo 's Virtual Boy console was released in 1995. A group in Seattle created public demonstrations of a "CAVE-like" 270 degree immersive projection room called the Virtual Environment Theater, produced by entrepreneurs Chet Dagit and Bob Jacobson. Forte released the VFX1 ,

12036-437: The three transmitters using the methods described above. The device's orientation can then be derived based on the known positioning of the transmitters upon the device and their spatial locations relative to one another. As opposed to TOF methods, phase-coherent (PC) tracking methods have also been used to locate object acoustically. PC tracking involves comparing the phase of the current soundwave received by sensors to that of

12154-547: The tracked object(s), and then send that data to the computer in order to maintain an approximation of their physical locations. A popular tracking method is Lighthouse tracking . By and large, these physical locations are identified and defined using one or more of three coordinate systems: the Cartesian rectilinear system, the spherical polar system, and the cylindrical system. Many interfaces have also been designed to monitor and control one's movement within and interaction with

12272-975: The travel times of an ultrasonic soundwave (a wave with frequency greater than 20 kHz) from a transmitter to those three receivers, the relative Cartesian position of the transmitter can be calculated as follows: x 0 = l 1 2 + d 1 2 − l 2 2 2 d 1 {\displaystyle x_{0}={l_{1}^{2}+d_{1}^{2}-l_{2}^{2} \over 2d_{1}}} y 0 = l 1 2 + d 2 2 − l 3 2 2 d 2 {\displaystyle y_{0}={l_{1}^{2}+d_{2}^{2}-l_{3}^{2} \over 2d_{2}}} z 0 = l 1 2 − x 0 2 − y 0 2 {\displaystyle z_{0}={\sqrt {l_{1}^{2}-x_{0}^{2}-y_{0}^{2}}}} Here, each l i represents

12390-475: The user feel as though they are in a virtual world. A common criticism of this form of immersion is that there is no sense of peripheral vision , limiting the user's ability to know what is happening around them. A head-mounted display (HMD) more fully immerses the user in a virtual world. A virtual reality headset typically includes two small high resolution OLED or LCD monitors which provide separate images for each eye for stereoscopic graphics rendering

12508-624: The user the ability to view three-dimensional images. Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of the real world and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. A cyberspace is sometimes defined as a networked virtual reality. Simulated reality is a hypothetical virtual reality as truly immersive as the actual reality , enabling an advanced lifelike experience or even virtual eternity. The development of perspective in Renaissance European art and

12626-435: The user's actions. Medical simulations of this sort will often use 3D CT or MRI scans of patient data to enhance realism. Some medical simulations are developed to be widely distributed (such as web-enabled simulations and procedural simulations that can be viewed via standard web browsers) and can be interacted with using standard computer interfaces, such as the keyboard and mouse . An important medical application of

12744-423: The variants of sensor fusion is to merge inertial and optical tracking. These two techniques are often used together because while inertial sensors are optimal for tracking fast movements they also accumulate errors quickly, and optical sensors offer absolute references to compensate for inertial weaknesses. Further, inertial tracking can offset some shortfalls of optical tracking. For example, optical tracking can be

12862-542: The velocity and then integrated again to find the position relative to some initial point. Gyroscopes measure angular velocity . Angular velocity can be integrated as well to determine angular position relatively to the initial point. Magnetometers measure magnetic fields and magnetic dipole moments. The direction of Earth's magnetic field can be integrated to have an absolute orientation reference and to compensate for gyroscopic drifts. Modern inertial measurement units systems (IMU) are based on MEMS technology allows to track

12980-443: The verdict was in favour of ZeniMax, settled out of court later. In 2013, Valve discovered and freely shared the breakthrough of low-persistence displays which make lag-free and smear-free display of VR content possible. This was adopted by Oculus and was used in all their future headsets. In early 2014, Valve showed off their SteamSight prototype, the precursor to both consumer headsets released in 2016. It shared major features with

13098-435: The virtual 3D space; such interfaces must work closely with positional tracking systems to provide a seamless user experience. Another type of pose tracking used more often in newer systems is referred to as inside-out tracking, including Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) or Visual-inertial odometry (VIO). One example of a device that uses inside-out pose tracking is the Oculus Quest 2 . Wireless tracking uses

13216-642: The virtual environment in the form of real video as well as an avatar. One can participate in the 3D distributed virtual environment in the form of either a conventional avatar or a real video. Users can select their own type of participation based on the system capability. In projector-based virtual reality, modeling of the real environment plays a vital role in various virtual reality applications, including robot navigation, construction modeling, and airplane simulation. Image-based virtual reality systems have been gaining popularity in computer graphics and computer vision communities. In generating realistic models, it

13334-530: The virtual environment with relatively minimal effort. It is possible that these types of systems will become standard input modalities in future virtual simulation systems. There is a wide variety of output hardware available to deliver a stimulus to users in virtual simulations. The following list briefly describes several of them: Clinical healthcare simulators are increasingly being developed and deployed to teach therapeutic and diagnostic procedures as well as medical concepts and decision making to personnel in

13452-512: Was appointed Google's first-ever 'resident artist' in their new VR division. The Kickstarter campaign for Gloveone, a pair of gloves providing motion tracking and haptic feedback, was successfully funded, with over $ 150,000 in contributions. Also in 2015, Razer unveiled its open source project OSVR . By 2016, there were at least 230 companies developing VR-related products. Amazon , Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft , Sony and Samsung all had dedicated AR and VR groups. Dynamic binaural audio

13570-468: Was common to most headsets released that year. However, haptic interfaces were not well developed, and most hardware packages incorporated button-operated handsets for touch-based interactivity. Visually, displays were still of a low-enough resolution and frame rate that images were still identifiable as virtual. In 2016, HTC shipped its first units of the HTC Vive SteamVR headset. This marked

13688-550: Was first developed by the United Nations Development Programme , and is now used in a very revised form by the World Bank for training staff to deal with fragile and conflict-affected countries. Military uses for simulation often involve aircraft or armoured fighting vehicles, but can also target small arms and other weapon systems training. Specifically, virtual firearms ranges have become

13806-535: Was later adapted into the personal computer-based, 3D virtual world program Second Life . The 2000s were a period of relative public and investment indifference to commercially available VR technologies. In 2001, SAS Cube (SAS3) became the first PC-based cubic room, developed by Z-A Production ( Maurice Benayoun , David Nahon), Barco, and Clarté. It was installed in Laval , France. The SAS library gave birth to Virtools VRPack. In 2007, Google introduced Street View ,

13924-637: Was primitive both in terms of user interface and visual realism, and the HMD to be worn by the user was so heavy that it had to be suspended from the ceiling, which gave the device a formidable appearance and inspired its name. Technically, the device was an augmented reality device due to optical passthrough. The graphics comprising the virtual environment were simple wire-frame model rooms. The virtual reality industry mainly provided VR devices for medical, flight simulation, automobile industry design, and military training purposes from 1970 to 1990. David Em became

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