an essay virtual reality

Virtual Reality: The Technology of the Future

Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that permits the user to maintain contact with a computer-simulated ambiance whether it is an actual or perceived one. Most of the contemporary virtual reality environments are fundamentally visual encounters, shown either on a computer screen or using particular or stereoscopic displays; however, some simulations encompass more sensory input like sound using speakers or headphones. Some improved versions include tactile feedback, recognized as force feedback. It is true in medical and gaming matters. Subscribers can interact with virtual mediums either using standard input tools or by multimodal devices.

The simulated environment may be just as it is the actual world or it may be at variance with reality. Pragmatically speaking, it is impossible to make a high fidelity virtual reality experience, overwhelmingly due to technical restrictions. It is being hoped that these shortcomings would be eventually fixed as processors; imaging and data communication sciences become more refined and less costly. There are unlimited uses of virtual technology.

The advantages of virtual reality are of diverse types and wide-ranging and engulf everything from games to assist in indoctrinating doctors the expertise of surgery or making pilots aware of the skill of flying aircraft safely. It can be exploited for traffic management, medicine, entertainment, workplace, and industrial layouts. However, along with the credit side, the debit side must also be mentioned which includes its use for the destructive objectives. It can easily be employed in the world of crime and the actual state of war.

The notion of virtual reality first came to the fore in the 30s, when scientists generated the first flight simulator for the preparation of pilots. They aspired to position the pilot in the actual; condition before he or she was capable of flying. Virtual reality has a bundle of positive implications. It provides the crippled people with the ability to do the works which otherwise could not be undertaken by them.

In the virtual world, people in wheelchairs have the maneuverability of freedom that is not found in the real world. “VR models of buildings can be used for several purposes; document management, interior design option analyses by end users, operations planning, evacuation simulations etc. Construction practitioners expect rather widely that vr model can be the user interface to complex data and models in near future. For example by pointing a particular object in the building model the user can obtain all documentation relevant to that object. This feature means that in the nearby future the instructions for service and use can take full advantage of virtual reality technology”. (Timothy Leary, Linda Leary, 2007).

Though currently, the technology is not accessible to every person due to the price factor, however, as has been the fate of every technology, it will evolve with time and its price will come within the range of all people. It is expected to enter the homes of everybody as limelight helmets and supercomputers are developed. Virtual reality has so many implications in the realm of all shapes of architecture and industrial layouts.

Computer-aided design has been a significant device since the middle of the 70s, as it permits the user to have three-dimensional images on the screen of the computer. However, till the time of having the VR helmet and glove to initiative the images onto, it would not be possible to be absorbed in the virtual world. Virtual reality has given a phenomenal uplift in the aviation business as it prevents the requirement to have many diverse prototypes.

Each time, an engineer thinks of fresh aircraft or helicopter a model has to be coined to guarantee that it works whether it will fly efficiently and it is beneficial for the personnel and the passengers. If the model is wrong, the designer has to return to the drawing, alter it and then have another one. This is a very costly and time taking process. By employing, virtual technology, designers can draw, construct and evaluate their aircraft in a virtual ambiance without having real aircraft. It also facilitates the designers to employ different ideas. All the details can be viewed in detail and they can pick up the most feasible one. NASA has exploited virtual reality to have a helicopter and Boeing has employed it to design their innovative aircraft.

By the use of virtual reality, doctors have access to the inside of the human body.

Doctors have even been able to make their way into the thorax and to ensure that radiation beams required to deal with the cancer were in the actual position. “Application of these technologies are being developed for health care in the following area: surgical procedures (remote surgery or telepresence, augmented or enhanced surgery; medical therapy; preventive medicine and patient education; medical education and training; visualization of the massive medical database; skill enhancement and rehabilitation; and architectural design for health care facilities” to date, such applications have improved the quality of health care and in future, they will result in substantial costs savings. Tools that respond to the needs of present virtual environment systems are being refined or developed.

However, additional large scale research is necessary for the following areas; user studies use of robots for telepresence procedures, enhanced system reality, and improved system functionality” (Giuseppe Riva, 1997).

Doctors will in the immediate future be capable of investigating and studying tumors very well and in three dimensions rather than from scans and X-rays. In America, an assassin who was killed on an electronic chair gave his body to science. His corpse was torn into small pieces and was exploited for the objective of using the virtual body for research. It is also hoped that in near future, students will be capable to instruct virtual bodies rather than real patients that would assist in overcoming so many medical problems.

On the minute level, it is being exploited in drug research. Scientists have remained successful in the making of molecules, envision and ‘feel’ how they interact with each other. Before the use of this technology, it was extremely slow and intricate.

Therefore there is a strong probability that virtual reality will influence the pace with which innovative drugs and cures are being coined and facilitate treatment in the future as far as their actualization in real life is concerned. “On a microscopic level, virtual reality is being used in drug research. Scientists at the University of North Carolina are able to create the molecules and then visualize and ‘feel’ how they react with each other. Before the use of virtual reality, this process was very slow and complicated. Therefore, it is likely that virtual reality will have a strong impact on the speed with which new drugs and remedies are developed and become available in the future” (Thinkquest, 2004).

Virtual reality is significant in that it has the potential to envision the unseen or the elusive which in other words is called unpredictable. This would lead to virtual reality executing the repairs in space with the assistance of a robot. In a technique, virtual puppetry a robot is managed by an expert operator and imitates all the movements of the operator.

The options for virtual technology are huge. Future inhabitants of the new towns will be capable of walking in the virtual streets, shops, and other places before even they have been built. There are hopes that big capital cities of the western world will be redesigned while exploiting this technology. Although virtual technology is still at the embryonic stage, its roots can be traced back to the invention of supercomputers.

Though the entertainment industry is renowned for the use of virtual technology, several other industries also exploit the same technology on a much bigger scale. Modern-day meteorologists use this technology to prophesize the weather conditions and help people hailing from different industries for the betterment of their outputs. Now the weather is being predicted in a way that was never available before, more and more precisions have resulted after the use of this legendary technology. The technology helps in foretelling the early warning for severe weather conditions.

Diverse intricate situations have been simulated. One of the biggest single simulations in use in the present times is that of the universe. Scientists are making their utmost endeavors to gauge the formulation of the universe. Chemical and molecular prototyping is being done with the assistance of virtual technology. More efficient car engines can be made with the help of this miraculous technology. The processes by which proteins interact with each other are being unearthed by biologists only after the employment of this technology.

The realm which is expected to benefit most from this technology in education. With the accession of computers, simple lessons can easily be delivered by the computers. More established topics were impossible owing to the incapacity of facilitating face-to-face experience. Currently, driving simulators are being used for the preparation of the drivers for driving automobiles. Many difficult academic subjects can be taught now and it is possible because of virtual technology.

The crippled people can co-exist with their environment. The motorized wheelchairs are being used in a better way by the paralyzed children after being versed with this usage of this technology. The children make progress as they accumulate skills with the aid of the virtual worlds. The kid faces great resistance in crossing the street exploiting the pedestrian signals and thus saving him or herself in the traffic. Completion of each world makes the child aware of the expertise and arms them with the contentment and confidence which they need the most.

The medical industry has substantially benefited from virtual technology. Doctors are employing it to the appropriate cure of some of the most intricate diseases. “They can study images of a cancer patient’s body structure to plan an effective radiation therapy technique. Doctors also commonly use surgical modeling to learn how an organ responds to a given surgical instrument. This allows doctors to master surgical procedures without having to endanger anyone by learning on-the-job.

Some doctors even use virtual reality to cure patients of certain phobias. For example, people with acrophobia (the fear of heights) are often treated with virtual reality. The patient is subjected to a virtual world that exercises their fear. In the acrophobia example, they could be looking over the side of a cliff in their simulation. The patient is usually able to overcome their fear due to the fact that they know the situation is only computer simulated and can not actually harm them” (Keith Mitchell, 1996).

Another domain in which it is getting appreciation is the Internet. Virtual reality can be made available to reinforce its interface to convert it into an actual ‘cyberspace’. The web revolution will be able to sustain its radicalism by multiplying the ability to add three-dimensional interactive graphics. This could be made practical only after the development of VRML. It is combined with java that permits the whole interactive world to be made from a single web page. It helps people to be interacting with others even from far-off places in the virtual world from the central website.

Though the fundamental parts of the technology have been present for two decades back, they were not combined and used with great intensity until recently. Currently, the use of this technology is in the expansionist mode. From scientific research to video games and the internet, everyone appears to have recourse to it. It is one of few genres of technologies that are limited by imagination. The variety of applications in different domains has immense promises and the future of virtual technology seems to be very bright.

Along with the aspirations, virtual technology has been attacked for being an inept method for spearheading nongeographical knowledge. Currently, the conception of ubiquitous computing is very renowned in user interface design and this may be considered as a reaction against virtual reality and its encumbrances. In actual practice, these two forms of interfaces have different objectives and are mutually reinforcing. The end of ubiquitous computing is to induct the computer in the world of the computer rather than impose on the user for entering the world of computer inside. The contemporary inclination in virtual reality is to combine the two user interfaces to generate an immersive and combined experience.

Giuseppe Riva (1997), Virtual Reality in Neuro-Psycho-Physiology. IOS Press. Page, 3.

Timothy Leary, Linda Leary (2007), Computing Essentials. Career Education.

Mitchell (1996), “ Virtual Reality ”. UNIX-guru. Web.

Thinkquest (2004), “virtual relaity”. Web.

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Virtual reality

by Chris Woodford . Last updated: August 14, 2023.

Y ou'll probably never go to Mars, swim with dolphins, run an Olympic 100 meters, or sing onstage with the Rolling Stones. But if virtual reality ever lives up to its promise, you might be able to do all these things—and many more—without even leaving your home. Unlike real reality (the actual world in which we live), virtual reality means simulating bits of our world (or completely imaginary worlds) using high-performance computers and sensory equipment, like headsets and gloves. Apart from games and entertainment, it's long been used for training airline pilots and surgeons and for helping scientists to figure out complex problems such as the structure of protein molecules. How does it work? Let's take a closer look! Photo: Virtual pilot. This US Air Force student is learning to fly a giant C-17 Globemaster plane using a virtual reality simulator. Picture by Trenton Jancze courtesy of US Air Force .

A believable, interactive 3D computer-created world that you can explore so you feel you really are there, both mentally and physically.

Photo: The view from inside. A typical HMD has two tiny screens that show different pictures to each of your eyes, so your brain produces a combined 3D (stereoscopic) image. Picture by courtesy of US Air Force.

Photos: EXOS datagloves produced by NASA in the 1990s had very intricate external sensors to detect finger movements with high precision. Picture courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center and Internet Archive .

Photo: This more elaborate EXOS glove had separate sensors on each finger segment, wired up to a single ribbon cable connected up to the main VR computer. Picture by Wade Sisler courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center .

Artwork: How a fiber-optic dataglove works. Each finger has a fiber-optic cable stretched along its length. (1) At one end of the finger, a light-emitting diode (LED) shines light into the cable. (2) Light rays shoot down the cable, bouncing off the sides. (3) There are tiny abrasions in the top of each fiber through which some of the rays escape. The more you flex your fingers, the more light escapes. (4) The amount of light arriving at a photocell at the end gives a rough indication of how much you're flexing your finger. (5) A cable carries this signal off to the VR computer. This is a simplified version of the kind of dataglove VPL patented in 1992, and you'll find the idea described in much more detail in US Patent 5,097,252 .

Photo: A typical handheld virtual reality controller (complete with elastic bands), looking not so different from a video game controller. Photo courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center and Internet Archive .

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• 3D-television
• Augmented reality
• Computer graphics

News and popular science

• Apple Is Stepping Into the Metaverse. Will Anyone Care? by Kellen Browning and Mike Isaac. The New York Times, June 2, 2023. Can Apple succeed with the Metaverse where Facebook has (so far) failed?
• Everybody Into the Metaverse! Virtual Reality Beckons Big Tech by Cade Metz. The New York Times, December 30, 2021. The Times welcomes the latest push to an ambitious new vision of the virtual world.
• Facebook gives a glimpse of metaverse, its planned virtual reality world by Mike Isaac. The Guardian, October 29, 2021. Facebook rebrands itself "Meta" as it announces ambitious plans to build a virtual metaverse.
• Military trials training for missions in virtual reality by Zoe Kleinman. BBC News, 1 March 2020. How Oculus Rift and Unreal Engine software are being deployed in military training.
• What went wrong with virtual reality? by Eleanor Lawrie. BBC News, 10 January 2020. Despite all the hype, VR still isn't a mainstream technology.
• FedEx Ground Uses Virtual Reality to Train and Retain Package Handlers by Michelle Rafter. IEEE Spectrum, 8 November 2019. How VR could help reduce staff turnover by weeding out unsuitable people before they start work.
• VR Therapy Makes Arachnophobes Braver Around Real Spiders by Emily Waltz. IEEE Spectrum, 24 January 2019. Can VR cure your fear of spiders?
• Touching the Virtual: How Microsoft Research is Making Virtual Reality Tangible : Microsoft Blog, 8 March 2018. A fascinating look at Microsoft's research into haptic (touch-based) VR controllers.
• Want to Know What Virtual Reality Might Become? Look to the Past by Steven Johnson. The New York Times, November 3, 2016. What can the history of 19th-century stereoscopic toys tell us about the likely future of VR?
• A Virtual Reality Revolution, Coming to a Headset Near You by Lorne Manly. The New York Times, November 19, 2015. Musicians, filmmakers, and games programmers try to second-guess the future of VR.
• Virtual Reality Pioneer Looks Beyond Entertainment by Jeremy Hsu. IEEE Spectrum, April 30, 2015. Where does Stanford VR guru Jeremy Bailenson see VR going in the future?
• Whatever happened to ... Virtual Reality? by Science@NASA, June 21, 2004. Why NASA decided to revisit virtual reality 20 years after the technology first drew attention in the 1980s.
• Virtual Reality: Oxymoron or Pleonasm? by Nicholas Negroponte, Wired, Issue 1.06, December 1993. Early thoughts on virtual worlds from the influential MIT Media Lab pioneer

Scholarly articles

• The Past, Present, and Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality Research: A Network and Cluster Analysis of the Literature by Pietro Cipresso et al, Front Psychol. 2018; 9: 2086.
• Virtual Reality as a Tool for Scientific Research by Jeremy Swan, NICHD Newsletter, September 2016.
• Virtual Heritage: Researching and Visualizing the Past in 3D by Donald H. Sanders, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2014), pp. 30–47.

For older readers

• Virtual Reality by Samuel Greengard. MIT Press, 2019. A short introduction that explains why VR and AR matter, looks at the different technologies available, considers social issues that they raise, and explores the likely shape of our virtual future.
• Virtual Reality Technology by Grigore Burdea and Philippe Coiffet. Wiley-IEEE, 2017/2024. Popular VR textbook covering history, programming, and applications.
• Learning Virtual Reality: Developing Immersive Experiences and Applications for Desktop, Web, and Mobile by Tony Parisi. O'Reilly, 2015. An up-to-date introduction for VR developers that covers everything from the basics of VR to cutting-edge products like the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.
• Developing Virtual Reality Applications by Alan B. Craig, William R. Sherman, and Jeffrey D. Will. Morgan Kaufmann, 2009. More detail of the applications of VR in science, education, medicine, the military, and elsewhere.
• Virtual Reality by Howard Rheingold. Secker & Warburg, 1991. The classic (though now somewhat dated) introduction to VR.

For younger readers

• All About Virtual Reality by Jack Challoner. DK, 2017. A 32-page introduction for ages 7–9.

Current research

• Advanced VR Research Centre, Loughborough University
• Virtual Reality and Visualization Research: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
• Institute of Software Technology and Interactive Systems: Vienna University of Technology
• Microsoft Research: Human-Computer Interaction
• MIT Media Lab
• Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) at Stanford University
• WO 1992009963: System for creating a virtual world by Dan D Browning, Ethan D Joffe, Jaron Z Lanier, VPL Research, Inc., published June 11, 1992. Outlines a method of creating and editing a virtual world using a pictorial database.
• US Patent 5,798,739: Virtual image display device by Michael A. Teitel, VPL Research, Inc., published August 25, 1998. A typical head-mounted display designed for VR systems.
• US Patent 5,798,739: Motion sensor which produces an asymmetrical signal in response to symmetrical movement by Young L. Harvill et al, VPL Research, Inc., published March 17, 1992. Describes a dataglove that users fiber-optic sensors to detect finger movements.

Text copyright © Chris Woodford 2007, 2023. All rights reserved. Full copyright notice and terms of use .

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The Past, Present, and Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality Research: A Network and Cluster Analysis of the Literature

Pietro cipresso.

1 Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

2 Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

Irene Alice Chicchi Giglioli

3 Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain

Mariano Alcañiz Raya

Giuseppe riva, associated data.

The recent appearance of low cost virtual reality (VR) technologies – like the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and the Sony PlayStation VR – and Mixed Reality Interfaces (MRITF) – like the Hololens – is attracting the attention of users and researchers suggesting it may be the next largest stepping stone in technological innovation. However, the history of VR technology is longer than it may seem: the concept of VR was formulated in the 1960s and the first commercial VR tools appeared in the late 1980s. For this reason, during the last 20 years, 100s of researchers explored the processes, effects, and applications of this technology producing 1000s of scientific papers. What is the outcome of this significant research work? This paper wants to provide an answer to this question by exploring, using advanced scientometric techniques, the existing research corpus in the field. We collected all the existent articles about VR in the Web of Science Core Collection scientific database, and the resultant dataset contained 21,667 records for VR and 9,944 for augmented reality (AR). The bibliographic record contained various fields, such as author, title, abstract, country, and all the references (needed for the citation analysis). The network and cluster analysis of the literature showed a composite panorama characterized by changes and evolutions over the time. Indeed, whether until 5 years ago, the main publication media on VR concerned both conference proceeding and journals, more recently journals constitute the main medium of communication. Similarly, if at first computer science was the leading research field, nowadays clinical areas have increased, as well as the number of countries involved in VR research. The present work discusses the evolution and changes over the time of the use of VR in the main areas of application with an emphasis on the future expected VR’s capacities, increases and challenges. We conclude considering the disruptive contribution that VR/AR/MRITF will be able to get in scientific fields, as well in human communication and interaction, as already happened with the advent of mobile phones by increasing the use and the development of scientific applications (e.g., in clinical areas) and by modifying the social communication and interaction among people.

Introduction

In the last 5 years, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have attracted the interest of investors and the general public, especially after Mark Zuckerberg bought Oculus for two billion dollars ( Luckerson, 2014 ; Castelvecchi, 2016 ). Currently, many other companies, such as Sony, Samsung, HTC, and Google are making huge investments in VR and AR ( Korolov, 2014 ; Ebert, 2015 ; Castelvecchi, 2016 ). However, if VR has been used in research for more than 25 years, and now there are 1000s of papers and many researchers in the field, comprising a strong, interdisciplinary community, AR has a more recent application history ( Burdea and Coiffet, 2003 ; Kim, 2005 ; Bohil et al., 2011 ; Cipresso and Serino, 2014 ; Wexelblat, 2014 ). The study of VR was initiated in the computer graphics field and has been extended to several disciplines ( Sutherland, 1965 , 1968 ; Mazuryk and Gervautz, 1996 ; Choi et al., 2015 ). Currently, videogames supported by VR tools are more popular than the past, and they represent valuables, work-related tools for neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, and other researchers as well. Indeed, for example, one of the main research purposes lies from navigation studies that include complex experiments that could be done in a laboratory by using VR, whereas, without VR, the researchers would have to go directly into the field, possibly with limited use of intervention. The importance of navigation studies for the functional understanding of human memory in dementia has been a topic of significant interest for a long time, and, in 2014, the Nobel Prize in “Physiology or Medicine” was awarded to John M. O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser for their discoveries of nerve cells in the brain that enable a sense of place and navigation. Journals and magazines have extended this knowledge by writing about “the brain GPS,” which gives a clear idea of the mechanism. A huge number of studies have been conducted in clinical settings by using VR ( Bohil et al., 2011 ; Serino et al., 2014 ), and Nobel Prize winner, Edvard I. Moser commented about the use of VR ( Minderer et al., 2016 ), highlighting its importance for research and clinical practice. Moreover, the availability of free tools for VR experimental and computational use has made it easy to access any field ( Riva et al., 2011 ; Cipresso, 2015 ; Brown and Green, 2016 ; Cipresso et al., 2016 ).

Augmented reality is a more recent technology than VR and shows an interdisciplinary application framework, in which, nowadays, education and learning seem to be the most field of research. Indeed, AR allows supporting learning, for example increasing-on content understanding and memory preservation, as well as on learning motivation. However, if VR benefits from clear and more definite fields of application and research areas, AR is still emerging in the scientific scenarios.

In this article, we present a systematic and computational analysis of the emerging interdisciplinary VR and AR fields in terms of various co-citation networks in order to explore the evolution of the intellectual structure of this knowledge domain over time.

Virtual Reality Concepts and Features

The concept of VR could be traced at the mid of 1960 when Ivan Sutherland in a pivotal manuscript attempted to describe VR as a window through which a user perceives the virtual world as if looked, felt, sounded real and in which the user could act realistically ( Sutherland, 1965 ).

Since that time and in accordance with the application area, several definitions have been formulated: for example, Fuchs and Bishop (1992) defined VR as “real-time interactive graphics with 3D models, combined with a display technology that gives the user the immersion in the model world and direct manipulation” ( Fuchs and Bishop, 1992 ); Gigante (1993) described VR as “The illusion of participation in a synthetic environment rather than external observation of such an environment. VR relies on a 3D, stereoscopic head-tracker displays, hand/body tracking and binaural sound. VR is an immersive, multi-sensory experience” ( Gigante, 1993 ); and “Virtual reality refers to immersive, interactive, multi-sensory, viewer-centered, 3D computer generated environments and the combination of technologies required building environments” ( Cruz-Neira, 1993 ).

As we can notice, these definitions, although different, highlight three common features of VR systems: immersion, perception to be present in an environment, and interaction with that environment ( Biocca, 1997 ; Lombard and Ditton, 1997 ; Loomis et al., 1999 ; Heeter, 2000 ; Biocca et al., 2001 ; Bailenson et al., 2006 ; Skalski and Tamborini, 2007 ; Andersen and Thorpe, 2009 ; Slater, 2009 ; Sundar et al., 2010 ). Specifically, immersion concerns the amount of senses stimulated, interactions, and the reality’s similarity of the stimuli used to simulate environments. This feature can depend on the properties of the technological system used to isolate user from reality ( Slater, 2009 ).

Higher or lower degrees of immersion can depend by three types of VR systems provided to the user:

• simple • Non-immersive systems are the simplest and cheapest type of VR applications that use desktops to reproduce images of the world.
• simple • Immersive systems provide a complete simulated experience due to the support of several sensory outputs devices such as head mounted displays (HMDs) for enhancing the stereoscopic view of the environment through the movement of the user’s head, as well as audio and haptic devices.
• simple • Semi-immersive systems such as Fish Tank VR are between the two above. They provide a stereo image of a three dimensional (3D) scene viewed on a monitor using a perspective projection coupled to the head position of the observer ( Ware et al., 1993 ). Higher technological immersive systems have showed a closest experience to reality, giving to the user the illusion of technological non-mediation and feeling him or her of “being in” or present in the virtual environment ( Lombard and Ditton, 1997 ). Furthermore, higher immersive systems, than the other two systems, can give the possibility to add several sensory outputs allowing that the interaction and actions were perceived as real ( Loomis et al., 1999 ; Heeter, 2000 ; Biocca et al., 2001 ).

Finally, the user’s VR experience could be disclosed by measuring presence, realism, and reality’s levels. Presence is a complex psychological feeling of “being there” in VR that involves the sensation and perception of physical presence, as well as the possibility to interact and react as if the user was in the real world ( Heeter, 1992 ). Similarly, the realism’s level corresponds to the degree of expectation that the user has about of the stimuli and experience ( Baños et al., 2000 , 2009 ). If the presented stimuli are similar to reality, VR user’s expectation will be congruent with reality expectation, enhancing VR experience. In the same way, higher is the degree of reality in interaction with the virtual stimuli, higher would be the level of realism of the user’s behaviors ( Baños et al., 2000 , 2009 ).

From Virtual to Augmented Reality

Looking chronologically on VR and AR developments, we can trace the first 3D immersive simulator in 1962, when Morton Heilig created Sensorama, a simulated experience of a motorcycle running through Brooklyn characterized by several sensory impressions, such as audio, olfactory, and haptic stimuli, including also wind to provide a realist experience ( Heilig, 1962 ). In the same years, Ivan Sutherland developed The Ultimate Display that, more than sound, smell, and haptic feedback, included interactive graphics that Sensorama didn’t provide. Furthermore, Philco developed the first HMD that together with The Sword of Damocles of Sutherland was able to update the virtual images by tracking user’s head position and orientation ( Sutherland, 1965 ). In the 70s, the University of North Carolina realized GROPE, the first system of force-feedback and Myron Krueger created VIDEOPLACE an Artificial Reality in which the users’ body figures were captured by cameras and projected on a screen ( Krueger et al., 1985 ). In this way two or more users could interact in the 2D-virtual space. In 1982, the US’ Air Force created the first flight simulator [Visually Coupled Airbone System Simulator (VCASS)] in which the pilot through an HMD could control the pathway and the targets. Generally, the 80’s were the years in which the first commercial devices began to emerge: for example, in 1985 the VPL company commercialized the DataGlove, glove sensors’ equipped able to measure the flexion of fingers, orientation and position, and identify hand gestures. Another example is the Eyephone, created in 1988 by the VPL Company, an HMD system for completely immerging the user in a virtual world. At the end of 80’s, Fake Space Labs created a Binocular-Omni-Orientational Monitor (BOOM), a complex system composed by a stereoscopic-displaying device, providing a moving and broad virtual environment, and a mechanical arm tracking. Furthermore, BOOM offered a more stable image and giving more quickly responses to movements than the HMD devices. Thanks to BOOM and DataGlove, the NASA Ames Research Center developed the Virtual Wind Tunnel in order to research and manipulate airflow in a virtual airplane or space ship. In 1992, the Electronic Visualization Laboratory of the University of Illinois created the CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment, an immersive VR system composed by projectors directed on three or more walls of a room.

More recently, many videogames companies have improved the development and quality of VR devices, like Oculus Rift, or HTC Vive that provide a wider field of view and lower latency. In addition, the actual HMD’s devices can be now combined with other tracker system as eye-tracking systems (FOVE), and motion and orientation sensors (e.g., Razer Hydra, Oculus Touch, or HTC Vive).

Simultaneously, at the beginning of 90’, the Boing Corporation created the first prototype of AR system for showing to employees how set up a wiring tool ( Carmigniani et al., 2011 ). At the same time, Rosenberg and Feiner developed an AR fixture for maintenance assistance, showing that the operator performance enhanced by added virtual information on the fixture to repair ( Rosenberg, 1993 ). In 1993 Loomis and colleagues produced an AR GPS-based system for helping the blind in the assisted navigation through adding spatial audio information ( Loomis et al., 1998 ). Always in the 1993 Julie Martin developed “Dancing in Cyberspace,” an AR theater in which actors interacted with virtual object in real time ( Cathy, 2011 ). Few years later, Feiner et al. (1997) developed the first Mobile AR System (MARS) able to add virtual information about touristic buildings ( Feiner et al., 1997 ). Since then, several applications have been developed: in Thomas et al. (2000) , created ARQuake, a mobile AR video game; in 2008 was created Wikitude that through the mobile camera, internet, and GPS could add information about the user’s environments ( Perry, 2008 ). In 2009 others AR applications, like AR Toolkit and SiteLens have been developed in order to add virtual information to the physical user’s surroundings. In 2011, Total Immersion developed D’Fusion, and AR system for designing projects ( Maurugeon, 2011 ). Finally, in 2013 and 2015, Google developed Google Glass and Google HoloLens, and their usability have begun to test in several field of application.

Virtual Reality Technologies

Technologically, the devices used in the virtual environments play an important role in the creation of successful virtual experiences. According to the literature, can be distinguished input and output devices ( Burdea et al., 1996 ; Burdea and Coiffet, 2003 ). Input devices are the ones that allow the user to communicate with the virtual environment, which can range from a simple joystick or keyboard to a glove allowing capturing finger movements or a tracker able to capture postures. More in detail, keyboard, mouse, trackball, and joystick represent the desktop input devices easy to use, which allow the user to launch continuous and discrete commands or movements to the environment. Other input devices can be represented by tracking devices as bend-sensing gloves that capture hand movements, postures and gestures, or pinch gloves that detect the fingers movements, and trackers able to follow the user’s movements in the physical world and translate them in the virtual environment.

On the contrary, the output devices allow the user to see, hear, smell, or touch everything that happens in the virtual environment. As mentioned above, among the visual devices can be found a wide range of possibilities, from the simplest or least immersive (monitor of a computer) to the most immersive one such as VR glasses or helmets or HMD or CAVE systems.

Furthermore, auditory, speakers, as well as haptic output devices are able to stimulate body senses providing a more real virtual experience. For example, haptic devices can stimulate the touch feeling and force models in the user.

Virtual Reality Applications

Since its appearance, VR has been used in different fields, as for gaming ( Zyda, 2005 ; Meldrum et al., 2012 ), military training ( Alexander et al., 2017 ), architectural design ( Song et al., 2017 ), education ( Englund et al., 2017 ), learning and social skills training ( Schmidt et al., 2017 ), simulations of surgical procedures ( Gallagher et al., 2005 ), assistance to the elderly or psychological treatments are other fields in which VR is bursting strongly ( Freeman et al., 2017 ; Neri et al., 2017 ). A recent and extensive review of Slater and Sanchez-Vives (2016) reported the main VR application evidences, including weakness and advantages, in several research areas, such as science, education, training, physical training, as well as social phenomena, moral behaviors, and could be used in other fields, like travel, meetings, collaboration, industry, news, and entertainment. Furthermore, another review published this year by Freeman et al. (2017) focused on VR in mental health, showing the efficacy of VR in assessing and treating different psychological disorders as anxiety, schizophrenia, depression, and eating disorders.

There are many possibilities that allow the use of VR as a stimulus, replacing real stimuli, recreating experiences, which in the real world would be impossible, with a high realism. This is why VR is widely used in research on new ways of applying psychological treatment or training, for example, to problems arising from phobias (agoraphobia, phobia to fly, etc.) ( Botella et al., 2017 ). Or, simply, it is used like improvement of the traditional systems of motor rehabilitation ( Llorens et al., 2014 ; Borrego et al., 2016 ), developing games that ameliorate the tasks. More in detail, in psychological treatment, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) has showed its efficacy, allowing to patients to gradually face fear stimuli or stressed situations in a safe environment where the psychological and physiological reactions can be controlled by the therapist ( Botella et al., 2017 ).

Augmented Reality Concept

Milgram and Kishino (1994) , conceptualized the Virtual-Reality Continuum that takes into consideration four systems: real environment, augmented reality (AR), augmented virtuality, and virtual environment. AR can be defined a newer technological system in which virtual objects are added to the real world in real-time during the user’s experience. Per Azuma et al. (2001) an AR system should: (1) combine real and virtual objects in a real environment; (2) run interactively and in real-time; (3) register real and virtual objects with each other. Furthermore, even if the AR experiences could seem different from VRs, the quality of AR experience could be considered similarly. Indeed, like in VR, feeling of presence, level of realism, and the degree of reality represent the main features that can be considered the indicators of the quality of AR experiences. Higher the experience is perceived as realistic, and there is congruence between the user’s expectation and the interaction inside the AR environments, higher would be the perception of “being there” physically, and at cognitive and emotional level. The feeling of presence, both in AR and VR environments, is important in acting behaviors like the real ones ( Botella et al., 2005 ; Juan et al., 2005 ; Bretón-López et al., 2010 ; Wrzesien et al., 2013 ).

Augmented Reality Technologies

Technologically, the AR systems, however various, present three common components, such as a geospatial datum for the virtual object, like a visual marker, a surface to project virtual elements to the user, and an adequate processing power for graphics, animation, and merging of images, like a pc and a monitor ( Carmigniani et al., 2011 ). To run, an AR system must also include a camera able to track the user movement for merging the virtual objects, and a visual display, like glasses through that the user can see the virtual objects overlaying to the physical world. To date, two-display systems exist, a video see-through (VST) and an optical see-though (OST) AR systems ( Botella et al., 2005 ; Juan et al., 2005 , 2007 ). The first one, disclosures virtual objects to the user by capturing the real objects/scenes with a camera and overlaying virtual objects, projecting them on a video or a monitor, while the second one, merges the virtual object on a transparent surface, like glasses, through the user see the added elements. The main difference between the two systems is the latency: an OST system could require more time to display the virtual objects than a VST system, generating a time lag between user’s action and performance and the detection of them by the system.

Augmented Reality Applications

Although AR is a more recent technology than VR, it has been investigated and used in several research areas such as architecture ( Lin and Hsu, 2017 ), maintenance ( Schwald and De Laval, 2003 ), entertainment ( Ozbek et al., 2004 ), education ( Nincarean et al., 2013 ; Bacca et al., 2014 ; Akçayır and Akçayır, 2017 ), medicine ( De Buck et al., 2005 ), and psychological treatments ( Juan et al., 2005 ; Botella et al., 2005 , 2010 ; Bretón-López et al., 2010 ; Wrzesien et al., 2011a , b , 2013 ; see the review Chicchi Giglioli et al., 2015 ). More in detail, in education several AR applications have been developed in the last few years showing the positive effects of this technology in supporting learning, such as an increased-on content understanding and memory preservation, as well as on learning motivation ( Radu, 2012 , 2014 ). For example, Ibáñez et al. (2014) developed a AR application on electromagnetism concepts’ learning, in which students could use AR batteries, magnets, cables on real superficies, and the system gave a real-time feedback to students about the correctness of the performance, improving in this way the academic success and motivation ( Di Serio et al., 2013 ). Deeply, AR system allows the possibility to learn visualizing and acting on composite phenomena that traditionally students study theoretically, without the possibility to see and test in real world ( Chien et al., 2010 ; Chen et al., 2011 ).

As well in psychological health, the number of research about AR is increasing, showing its efficacy above all in the treatment of psychological disorder (see the reviews Baus and Bouchard, 2014 ; Chicchi Giglioli et al., 2015 ). For example, in the treatment of anxiety disorders, like phobias, AR exposure therapy (ARET) showed its efficacy in one-session treatment, maintaining the positive impact in a follow-up at 1 or 3 month after. As VRET, ARET provides a safety and an ecological environment where any kind of stimulus is possible, allowing to keep control over the situation experienced by the patients, gradually generating situations of fear or stress. Indeed, in situations of fear, like the phobias for small animals, AR applications allow, in accordance with the patient’s anxiety, to gradually expose patient to fear animals, adding new animals during the session or enlarging their or increasing the speed. The various studies showed that AR is able, at the beginning of the session, to activate patient’s anxiety, for reducing after 1 h of exposition. After the session, patients even more than to better manage animal’s fear and anxiety, ware able to approach, interact, and kill real feared animals.

Materials and Methods

Data collection.

The input data for the analyses were retrieved from the scientific database Web of Science Core Collection ( Falagas et al., 2008 ) and the search terms used were “Virtual Reality” and “Augmented Reality” regarding papers published during the whole timespan covered.

Web of science core collection is composed of: Citation Indexes, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) –1970-present, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) –1970-present, Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) –1975-present, Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) –1990-present, Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH) –1990-present, Book Citation Index– Science (BKCI-S) –2009-present, Book Citation Index– Social Sciences & Humanities (BKCI-SSH) –2009-present, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) –2015-present, Chemical Indexes, Current Chemical Reactions (CCR-EXPANDED) –2009-present (Includes Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle structure data back to 1840), Index Chemicus (IC) –2009-present.

The resultant dataset contained a total of 21,667 records for VR and 9,944 records for AR. The bibliographic record contained various fields, such as author, title, abstract, and all of the references (needed for the citation analysis). The research tool to visualize the networks was Cite space v.4.0.R5 SE (32 bit) ( Chen, 2006 ) under Java Runtime v.8 update 91 (build 1.8.0_91-b15). Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata MP-Parallel Edition, Release 14.0, StataCorp LP. Additional information can be found in Supplementary Data Sheet 1 .

The betweenness centrality of a node in a network measures the extent to which the node is part of paths that connect an arbitrary pair of nodes in the network ( Freeman, 1977 ; Brandes, 2001 ; Chen, 2006 ).

Structural metrics include betweenness centrality, modularity, and silhouette. Temporal and hybrid metrics include citation burstness and novelty. All the algorithms are detailed ( Chen et al., 2010 ).

The analysis of the literature on VR shows a complex panorama. At first sight, according to the document-type statistics from the Web of Science (WoS), proceedings papers were used extensively as outcomes of research, comprising almost 48% of the total (10,392 proceedings), with a similar number of articles on the subject amounting to about 47% of the total of 10, 199 articles. However, if we consider only the last 5 years (7,755 articles representing about 36% of the total), the situation changes with about 57% for articles (4,445) and about 33% for proceedings (2,578). Thus, it is clear that VR field has changed in areas other than at the technological level.

About the subject category, nodes and edges are computed as co-occurring subject categories from the Web of Science “Category” field in all the articles.

According to the subject category statistics from the WoS, computer science is the leading category, followed by engineering, and, together, they account for 15,341 articles, which make up about 71% of the total production. However, if we consider just the last 5 years, these categories reach only about 55%, with a total of 4,284 articles (Table ​ (Table1 1 and Figure ​ Figure1 1 ).

Category statistics from the WoS for the entire period and the last 5 years.

Category from the WoS: network for the last 5 years.

The evidence is very interesting since it highlights that VR is doing very well as new technology with huge interest in hardware and software components. However, with respect to the past, we are witnessing increasing numbers of applications, especially in the medical area. In particular, note its inclusion in the top 10 list of rehabilitation and clinical neurology categories (about 10% of the total production in the last 5 years). It also is interesting that neuroscience and neurology, considered together, have shown an increase from about 12% to about 18.6% over the last 5 years. However, historic areas, such as automation and control systems, imaging science and photographic technology, and robotics, which had accounted for about 14.5% of the total articles ever produced were not even in the top 10 for the last 5 years, with each one accounting for less than 4%.

About the countries, nodes and edges are computed as networks of co-authors countries. Multiple occurrency of a country in the same paper are counted once.

The countries that were very involved in VR research have published for about 47% of the total (10,200 articles altogether). Of the 10,200 articles, the United States, China, England, and Germany published 4921, 2384, 1497, and 1398, respectively. The situation remains the same if we look at the articles published over the last 5 years. However, VR contributions also came from all over the globe, with Japan, Canada, Italy, France, Spain, South Korea, and Netherlands taking positions of prominence, as shown in Figure ​ Figure2 2 .

Country network (node dimension represents centrality).

Network analysis was conducted to calculate and to represent the centrality index ( Freeman, 1977 ; Brandes, 2001 ), i.e., the dimension of the node in Figure ​ Figure2. 2 . The top-ranked country, with a centrality index of 0.26, was the United States (2011), and England was second, with a centrality index of 0.25. The third, fourth, and fifth countries were Germany, Italy, and Australia, with centrality indices of 0.15, 0.15, and 0.14, respectively.

About the Institutions, nodes and edges are computed as networks of co-authors Institutions (Figure ​ (Figure3 3 ).

Network of institutions: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality.

The top-level institutions in VR were in the United States, where three universities were ranked as the top three in the world for published articles; these universities were the University of Illinois (159), the University of South California (147), and the University of Washington (146). The United States also had the eighth-ranked university, which was Iowa State University (116). The second country in the ranking was Canada, with the University of Toronto, which was ranked fifth with 125 articles and McGill University, ranked 10 th with 103 articles.

Other countries in the top-ten list were Netherlands, with the Delft University of Technology ranked fourth with 129 articles; Italy, with IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, ranked sixth (with the same number of publication of the institution ranked fifth) with 125 published articles; England, which was ranked seventh with 125 articles from the University of London’s Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine; and China with 104 publications, with the Chinese Academy of Science, ranked ninth. Italy’s Istituto Auxologico Italiano, which was ranked fifth, was the only non-university institution ranked in the top-10 list for VR research (Figure ​ (Figure3 3 ).

About the Journals, nodes, and edges are computed as journal co-citation networks among each journals in the corresponding field.

The top-ranked Journals for citations in VR are Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments with 2689 citations and CyberPsychology & Behavior (Cyberpsychol BEHAV) with 1884 citations; however, looking at the last 5 years, the former had increased the citations, but the latter had a far more significant increase, from about 70% to about 90%, i.e., an increase from 1029 to 1147.

Following the top two journals, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications ( IEEE Comput Graph) and Advanced Health Telematics and Telemedicine ( St HEAL T) were both left out of the top-10 list based on the last 5 years. The data for the last 5 years also resulted in the inclusion of Experimental Brain Research ( Exp BRAIN RES) (625 citations), Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ( Arch PHYS MED REHAB) (622 citations), and Plos ONE (619 citations) in the top-10 list of three journals, which highlighted the categories of rehabilitation and clinical neurology and neuroscience and neurology. Journal co-citation analysis is reported in Figure ​ Figure4, 4 , which clearly shows four distinct clusters.

Co-citation network of journals: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality. Full list of official abbreviations of WoS journals can be found here: https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html .

Network analysis was conducted to calculate and to represent the centrality index, i.e., the dimensions of the nodes in Figure ​ Figure4. 4 . The top-ranked item by centrality was Cyberpsychol BEHAV, with a centrality index of 0.29. The second-ranked item was Arch PHYS MED REHAB, with a centrality index of 0.23. The third was Behaviour Research and Therapy (Behav RES THER), with a centrality index of 0.15. The fourth was BRAIN, with a centrality index of 0.14. The fifth was Exp BRAIN RES, with a centrality index of 0.11.

Who’s Who in VR Research

Authors are the heart and brain of research, and their roles in a field are to define the past, present, and future of disciplines and to make significant breakthroughs to make new ideas arise (Figure ​ (Figure5 5 ).

Network of authors’ numbers of publications: the dimensions of the nodes represent the centrality index, and the dimensions of the characters represent the author’s rank.

Virtual reality research is very young and changing with time, but the top-10 authors in this field have made fundamentally significant contributions as pioneers in VR and taking it beyond a mere technological development. The purpose of the following highlights is not to rank researchers; rather, the purpose is to identify the most active researchers in order to understand where the field is going and how they plan for it to get there.

The top-ranked author is Riva G, with 180 publications. The second-ranked author is Rizzo A, with 101 publications. The third is Darzi A, with 97 publications. The forth is Aggarwal R, with 94 publications. The six authors following these three are Slater M, Alcaniz M, Botella C, Wiederhold BK, Kim SI, and Gutierrez-Maldonado J with 90, 90, 85, 75, 59, and 54 publications, respectively (Figure ​ (Figure6 6 ).

Authors’ co-citation network: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality index, and the dimensions of the characters represent the author’s rank. The 10 authors that appear on the top-10 list are considered to be the pioneers of VR research.

Considering the last 5 years, the situation remains similar, with three new entries in the top-10 list, i.e., Muhlberger A, Cipresso P, and Ahmed K ranked 7th, 8th, and 10th, respectively.

The authors’ publications number network shows the most active authors in VR research. Another relevant analysis for our focus on VR research is to identify the most cited authors in the field.

For this purpose, the authors’ co-citation analysis highlights the authors in term of their impact on the literature considering the entire time span of the field ( White and Griffith, 1981 ; González-Teruel et al., 2015 ; Bu et al., 2016 ). The idea is to focus on the dynamic nature of the community of authors who contribute to the research.

Normally, authors with higher numbers of citations tend to be the scholars who drive the fundamental research and who make the most meaningful impacts on the evolution and development of the field. In the following, we identified the most-cited pioneers in the field of VR Research.

The top-ranked author by citation count is Gallagher (2001), with 694 citations. Second is Seymour (2004), with 668 citations. Third is Slater (1999), with 649 citations. Fourth is Grantcharov (2003), with 563 citations. Fifth is Riva (1999), with 546 citations. Sixth is Aggarwal (2006), with 505 citations. Seventh is Satava (1994), with 477 citations. Eighth is Witmer (2002), with 454 citations. Ninth is Rothbaum (1996), with 448 citations. Tenth is Cruz-neira (1995), with 416 citations.

Citation Network and Cluster Analyses for VR

Another analysis that can be used is the analysis of document co-citation, which allows us to focus on the highly-cited documents that generally are also the most influential in the domain ( Small, 1973 ; González-Teruel et al., 2015 ; Orosz et al., 2016 ).

The top-ranked article by citation counts is Seymour (2002) in Cluster #0, with 317 citations. The second article is Grantcharov (2004) in Cluster #0, with 286 citations. The third is Holden (2005) in Cluster #2, with 179 citations. The 4th is Gallagher et al. (2005) in Cluster #0, with 171 citations. The 5th is Ahlberg (2007) in Cluster #0, with 142 citations. The 6th is Parsons (2008) in Cluster #4, with 136 citations. The 7th is Powers (2008) in Cluster #4, with 134 citations. The 8th is Aggarwal (2007) in Cluster #0, with 121 citations. The 9th is Reznick (2006) in Cluster #0, with 121 citations. The 10th is Munz (2004) in Cluster #0, with 117 citations.

The network of document co-citations is visually complex (Figure ​ (Figure7) 7 ) because it includes 1000s of articles and the links among them. However, this analysis is very important because can be used to identify the possible conglomerate of knowledge in the area, and this is essential for a deep understanding of the area. Thus, for this purpose, a cluster analysis was conducted ( Chen et al., 2010 ; González-Teruel et al., 2015 ; Klavans and Boyack, 2015 ). Figure ​ Figure8 8 shows the clusters, which are identified with the two algorithms in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Network of document co-citations: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality, the dimensions of the characters represent the rank of the article rank, and the numbers represent the strengths of the links. It is possible to identify four historical phases (colors: blue, green, yellow, and red) from the past VR research to the current research.

Document co-citation network by cluster: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality, the dimensions of the characters represent the rank of the article rank and the red writing reports the name of the cluster with a short description that was produced with the mutual information algorithm; the clusters are identified with colored polygons.

Cluster ID and silhouettes as identified with two algorithms ( Chen et al., 2010 ).

The identified clusters highlight clear parts of the literature of VR research, making clear and visible the interdisciplinary nature of this field. However, the dynamics to identify the past, present, and future of VR research cannot be clear yet. We analysed the relationships between these clusters and the temporal dimensions of each article. The results are synthesized in Figure ​ Figure9. 9 . It is clear that cluster #0 (laparoscopic skill), cluster #2 (gaming and rehabilitation), cluster #4 (therapy), and cluster #14 (surgery) are the most popular areas of VR research. (See Figure ​ Figure9 9 and Table ​ Table2 2 to identify the clusters.) From Figure ​ Figure9, 9 , it also is possible to identify the first phase of laparoscopic skill (cluster #6) and therapy (cluster #7). More generally, it is possible to identify four historical phases (colors: blue, green, yellow, and red) from the past VR research to the current research.

Network of document co-citation: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality, the dimensions of the characters represent the rank of the article rank and the red writing on the right hand side reports the number of the cluster, such as in Table ​ Table2, 2 , with a short description that was extracted accordingly.

We were able to identify the top 486 references that had the most citations by using burst citations algorithm. Citation burst is an indicator of a most active area of research. Citation burst is a detection of a burst event, which can last for multiple years as well as a single year. A citation burst provides evidence that a particular publication is associated with a surge of citations. The burst detection was based on Kleinberg’s algorithm ( Kleinberg, 2002 , 2003 ). The top-ranked document by bursts is Seymour (2002) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 88.93. The second is Grantcharov (2004) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 51.40. The third is Saposnik (2010) in Cluster #2, with bursts of 40.84. The fourth is Rothbaum (1995) in Cluster #7, with bursts of 38.94. The fifth is Holden (2005) in Cluster #2, with bursts of 37.52. The sixth is Scott (2000) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 33.39. The seventh is Saposnik (2011) in Cluster #2, with bursts of 33.33. The eighth is Burdea et al. (1996) in Cluster #3, with bursts of 32.42. The ninth is Burdea and Coiffet (2003) in Cluster #22, with bursts of 31.30. The 10th is Taffinder (1998) in Cluster #6, with bursts of 30.96 (Table ​ (Table3 3 ).

Cluster ID and references of burst article.

Citation Network and Cluster Analyses for AR

Looking at Augmented Reality scenario, the top ranked item by citation counts is Azuma (1997) in Cluster #0, with citation counts of 231. The second one is Azuma et al. (2001) in Cluster #0, with citation counts of 220. The third is Van Krevelen (2010) in Cluster #5, with citation counts of 207. The 4th is Lowe (2004) in Cluster #1, with citation counts of 157. The 5th is Wu (2013) in Cluster #4, with citation counts of 144. The 6th is Dunleavy (2009) in Cluster #4, with citation counts of 122. The 7th is Zhou (2008) in Cluster #5, with citation counts of 118. The 8th is Bay (2008) in Cluster #1, with citation counts of 117. The 9th is Newcombe (2011) in Cluster #1, with citation counts of 109. The 10th is Carmigniani et al. (2011) in Cluster #5, with citation counts of 104.

The network of document co-citations is visually complex (Figure ​ (Figure10) 10 ) because it includes 1000s of articles and the links among them. However, this analysis is very important because can be used to identify the possible conglomerate of knowledge in the area, and this is essential for a deep understanding of the area. Thus, for this purpose, a cluster analysis was conducted ( Chen et al., 2010 ; González-Teruel et al., 2015 ; Klavans and Boyack, 2015 ). Figure ​ Figure11 11 shows the clusters, which are identified with the two algorithms in Table ​ Table3 3 .

Network of document co-citations: the dimensions of the nodes represent centrality, the dimensions of the characters represent the rank of the article rank, and the numbers represent the strengths of the links. It is possible to identify four historical phases (colors: blue, green, yellow, and red) from the past AR research to the current research.

The identified clusters highlight clear parts of the literature of AR research, making clear and visible the interdisciplinary nature of this field. However, the dynamics to identify the past, present, and future of AR research cannot be clear yet. We analysed the relationships between these clusters and the temporal dimensions of each article. The results are synthesized in Figure ​ Figure12. 12 . It is clear that cluster #1 (tracking), cluster #4 (education), and cluster #5 (virtual city environment) are the current areas of AR research. (See Figure ​ Figure12 12 and Table ​ Table3 3 to identify the clusters.) It is possible to identify four historical phases (colors: blue, green, yellow, and red) from the past AR research to the current research.

We were able to identify the top 394 references that had the most citations by using burst citations algorithm. Citation burst is an indicator of a most active area of research. Citation burst is a detection of a burst event, which can last for multiple years as well as a single year. A citation burst provides evidence that a particular publication is associated with a surge of citations. The burst detection was based on Kleinberg’s algorithm ( Kleinberg, 2002 , 2003 ). The top ranked document by bursts is Azuma (1997) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 101.64. The second one is Azuma et al. (2001) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 84.23. The third is Lowe (2004) in Cluster #1, with bursts of 64.07. The 4th is Van Krevelen (2010) in Cluster #5, with bursts of 50.99. The 5th is Wu (2013) in Cluster #4, with bursts of 47.23. The 6th is Hartley (2000) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 37.71. The 7th is Dunleavy (2009) in Cluster #4, with bursts of 33.22. The 8th is Kato (1999) in Cluster #0, with bursts of 32.16. The 9th is Newcombe (2011) in Cluster #1, with bursts of 29.72. The 10th is Feiner (1993) in Cluster #8, with bursts of 29.46 (Table ​ (Table4 4 ).

Our findings have profound implications for two reasons. At first the present work highlighted the evolution and development of VR and AR research and provided a clear perspective based on solid data and computational analyses. Secondly our findings on VR made it profoundly clear that the clinical dimension is one of the most investigated ever and seems to increase in quantitative and qualitative aspects, but also include technological development and article in computer science, engineer, and allied sciences.

Figure ​ Figure9 9 clarifies the past, present, and future of VR research. The outset of VR research brought a clearly-identifiable development in interfaces for children and medicine, routine use and behavioral-assessment, special effects, systems perspectives, and tutorials. This pioneering era evolved in the period that we can identify as the development era, because it was the period in which VR was used in experiments associated with new technological impulses. Not surprisingly, this was exactly concomitant with the new economy era in which significant investments were made in information technology, and it also was the era of the so-called ‘dot-com bubble’ in the late 1990s. The confluence of pioneering techniques into ergonomic studies within this development era was used to develop the first effective clinical systems for surgery, telemedicine, human spatial navigation, and the first phase of the development of therapy and laparoscopic skills. With the new millennium, VR research switched strongly toward what we can call the clinical-VR era, with its strong emphasis on rehabilitation, neurosurgery, and a new phase of therapy and laparoscopic skills. The number of applications and articles that have been published in the last 5 years are in line with the new technological development that we are experiencing at the hardware level, for example, with so many new, HMDs, and at the software level with an increasing number of independent programmers and VR communities.

Finally, Figure ​ Figure12 12 identifies clusters of the literature of AR research, making clear and visible the interdisciplinary nature of this field. The dynamics to identify the past, present, and future of AR research cannot be clear yet, but analyzing the relationships between these clusters and the temporal dimensions of each article tracking, education, and virtual city environment are the current areas of AR research. AR is a new technology that is showing its efficacy in different research fields, and providing a novel way to gather behavioral data and support learning, training, and clinical treatments.

Looking at scientific literature conducted in the last few years, it might appear that most developments in VR and AR studies have focused on clinical aspects. However, the reality is more complex; thus, this perception should be clarified. Although researchers publish studies on the use of VR in clinical settings, each study depends on the technologies available. Industrial development in VR and AR changed a lot in the last 10 years. In the past, the development involved mainly hardware solutions while nowadays, the main efforts pertain to the software when developing virtual solutions. Hardware became a commodity that is often available at low cost. On the other hand, software needs to be customized each time, per each experiment, and this requires huge efforts in term of development. Researchers in AR and VR today need to be able to adapt software in their labs.

Virtual reality and AR developments in this new clinical era rely on computer science and vice versa. The future of VR and AR is becoming more technological than before, and each day, new solutions and products are coming to the market. Both from software and hardware perspectives, the future of AR and VR depends on huge innovations in all fields. The gap between the past and the future of AR and VR research is about the “realism” that was the key aspect in the past versus the “interaction” that is the key aspect now. First 30 years of VR and AR consisted of a continuous research on better resolution and improved perception. Now, researchers already achieved a great resolution and need to focus on making the VR as realistic as possible, which is not simple. In fact, a real experience implies a realistic interaction and not just great resolution. Interactions can be improved in infinite ways through new developments at hardware and software levels.

Interaction in AR and VR is going to be “embodied,” with implication for neuroscientists that are thinking about new solutions to be implemented into the current systems ( Blanke et al., 2015 ; Riva, 2018 ; Riva et al., 2018 ). For example, the use of hands with contactless device (i.e., without gloves) makes the interaction in virtual environments more natural. The Leap Motion device 1 allows one to use of hands in VR without the use of gloves or markers. This simple and low-cost device allows the VR users to interact with virtual objects and related environments in a naturalistic way. When technology is able to be transparent, users can experience increased sense of being in the virtual environments (the so-called sense of presence).

Other forms of interactions are possible and have been developing continuously. For example, tactile and haptic device able to provide a continuous feedback to the users, intensifying their experience also by adding components, such as the feeling of touch and the physical weight of virtual objects, by using force feedback. Another technology available at low cost that facilitates interaction is the motion tracking system, such as Microsoft Kinect, for example. Such technology allows one to track the users’ bodies, allowing them to interact with the virtual environments using body movements, gestures, and interactions. Most HMDs use an embedded system to track HMD position and rotation as well as controllers that are generally placed into the user’s hands. This tracking allows a great degree of interaction and improves the overall virtual experience.

A final emerging approach is the use of digital technologies to simulate not only the external world but also the internal bodily signals ( Azevedo et al., 2017 ; Riva et al., 2017 ): interoception, proprioception and vestibular input. For example, Riva et al. (2017) recently introduced the concept of “sonoception” ( www.sonoception.com ), a novel non-invasive technological paradigm based on wearable acoustic and vibrotactile transducers able to alter internal bodily signals. This approach allowed the development of an interoceptive stimulator that is both able to assess interoceptive time perception in clinical patients ( Di Lernia et al., 2018b ) and to enhance heart rate variability (the short-term vagally mediated component—rMSSD) through the modulation of the subjects’ parasympathetic system ( Di Lernia et al., 2018a ).

In this scenario, it is clear that the future of VR and AR research is not just in clinical applications, although the implications for the patients are huge. The continuous development of VR and AR technologies is the result of research in computer science, engineering, and allied sciences. The reasons for which from our analyses emerged a “clinical era” are threefold. First, all clinical research on VR and AR includes also technological developments, and new technological discoveries are being published in clinical or technological journals but with clinical samples as main subject. As noted in our research, main journals that publish numerous articles on technological developments tested with both healthy and patients include Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, Cyberpsychology & Behavior (Cyberpsychol BEHAV), and IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE Comput Graph). It is clear that researchers in psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and behavioral sciences in general have been investigating whether the technological developments of VR and AR are effective for users, indicating that clinical behavioral research has been incorporating large parts of computer science and engineering. A second aspect to consider is the industrial development. In fact, once a new technology is envisioned and created it goes for a patent application. Once the patent is sent for registration the new technology may be made available for the market, and eventually for journal submission and publication. Moreover, most VR and AR research that that proposes the development of a technology moves directly from the presenting prototype to receiving the patent and introducing it to the market without publishing the findings in scientific paper. Hence, it is clear that if a new technology has been developed for industrial market or consumer, but not for clinical purpose, the research conducted to develop such technology may never be published in a scientific paper. Although our manuscript considered published researches, we have to acknowledge the existence of several researches that have not been published at all. The third reason for which our analyses highlighted a “clinical era” is that several articles on VR and AR have been considered within the Web of Knowledge database, that is our source of references. In this article, we referred to “research” as the one in the database considered. Of course, this is a limitation of our study, since there are several other databases that are of big value in the scientific community, such as IEEE Xplore Digital Library, ACM Digital Library, and many others. Generally, the most important articles in journals published in these databases are also included in the Web of Knowledge database; hence, we are convinced that our study considered the top-level publications in computer science or engineering. Accordingly, we believe that this limitation can be overcome by considering the large number of articles referenced in our research.

Considering all these aspects, it is clear that clinical applications, behavioral aspects, and technological developments in VR and AR research are parts of a more complex situation compared to the old platforms used before the huge diffusion of HMD and solutions. We think that this work might provide a clearer vision for stakeholders, providing evidence of the current research frontiers and the challenges that are expected in the future, highlighting all the connections and implications of the research in several fields, such as clinical, behavioral, industrial, entertainment, educational, and many others.

Author Contributions

PC and GR conceived the idea. PC made data extraction and the computational analyses and wrote the first draft of the article. IG revised the introduction adding important information for the article. PC, IG, MR, and GR revised the article and approved the last version of the article after important input to the article rationale.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer GC declared a shared affiliation, with no collaboration, with the authors PC and GR to the handling Editor at the time of the review.

1 https://www.leapmotion.com/

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02086/full#supplementary-material

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The Good and the Bad of Escaping to Virtual Reality

Researchers believe new immersive technology could lead to isolation, but maybe when social needs are met online, people won't need in-person interaction as much.

In Silicon Valley, in 1985, a ragtag band of programmers began exploring the concept of virtual reality from a tiny cottage in Palo Alto. Spearheaded by the 24-year-old Jaron Lanier, VPL Research helped make VR a buzzword in the mid-to-late 80s and earned substantial investment, before filing for bankruptcy at the decade’s end. Despite mass media interest from publications like Scientific American and Wired , the technology wasn’t there—or it was too expensive—and the audience was a tad too niche. Save for some fruits of its early research, purchased in sum by Sun Microsystems , VPL’s sole legacy has been its popularization of the term “virtual reality.”

Thirty years have passed since then, and the landscape has finally shifted in virtual reality’s favor. Last month, Microsoft revealed Project HoloLens , a headset that creates high-definition holograms, which has been secretly under development since around 2010, according to Wired . Its thick, black lenses use an advanced depth camera, sensors, and several processing units to process thousands of bouncing light particles, in order to project holographic models on the kitchen counter, or take the wearer on a hyperrealistic trip to Mars. Google has invested $542 million in the augmented-reality startup Magic Leap, while Sony and Samsung are both developing virtual-reality headsets, according to The Verge . Much was made of Facebook's $2 billion purchase of VR Kickstarter darling Oculus Rift last March, as Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that the company was playing the long game: “One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.”

All signs point to a future filled with virtual reality, and according to Zuckerberg et al, the potential applications are beyond count: One could have breakfast at the Louvre beside the Winged Victory of Samothrace , followed by a lunchtime spelunk through Thailand’s water caves. Of course there are deeply immersive video games–the linchpin of the modern VR movement—and various movies in production for these devices, while Barcelona's BeAnotherLab has created an empathy application for the Oculus Rift that allows users to swap genders. (Inevitably, a sex toy company is also developing a way to have virtual robot sex, according to Motherboard . )

If virtual reality becomes a part of people’s day-to-day lives, more and more people may prefer to spend a majority of their time in virtual spaces. As the futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted, somewhat hyperbolically, in 2003 , “By the 2030s, virtual reality will be totally realistic and compelling and we will spend most of our time in virtual environments ... We will all become virtual humans.” In theory, such escapism is nothing new—as critics of increased TV, Internet, and smartphone usage will tell you—but as VR technology continues to blossom, the worlds that they generate will become increasingly realistic, as Kurzweil explained, creating a greater potential for overuse. This technological paradigm shift brings a level of immersion unlike any that has come before it, and the handwringing has already begun . Early doomsday predictions aside, can virtual escapism can ever be used for good?

The oldest documented research on escapism reportedly dates back to the 40s and 50s, when researchers first began examining the connection between media consumption and life satisfaction. In 1996, Peter Vorderer, a professor at the University of Mannheim, attempted to define the term. “In its core,” he wrote, “escapism means that most people have, due to unsatisfying life circumstances, again and again cause to ‘leave’ the reality in which they live in a cognitive and emotional way.”

While discussing this concept in her book Choice and Preference in Media Use , Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick noted that “as people cannot truly ‘leave’ reality, the concept of escapism appears to lack precision.” By that definition, virtual reality is a game changer. With VR, it is possible that instead of simply escaping reality by focusing on a TV show, for example, people may choose to replace an unhappy reality with a better, virtual one.

The idea of a life lived online, or outside of regular society, is largely seen as dangerous and unhealthy. There have been some reports of self-imposed social isolation that illustrate the negative side of withdrawal. Since the 1990s, the term hikikomori has been used to describe the estimated 500,000 to one million Japanese citizens who refuse to leave their homes. According to Dr. Takahiro Kato , a psychiatrist working at a hikikomori support center in Fukuoka, Japan, many hikikomori display depressive and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, while a minority “appear addicted to the Internet.” Then there are the infamous World of Warcraft players who lose themselves in their massive online universe. In 2004, Zhang Xiaoyi, a 13-year-old from China, reportedly committed suicide after playing WoW for 36 consecutive hours, in order to “join the heroes of the game he worshipped.” In 2009, a three-year-old girl from New Mexico tragically passed away from malnutrition and dehydration; on the day of her death, her mother was said to have spent 15 hours playing the game.  Former Warcraft player Ryan van Cleave explained to The Guardian in 2011 that “living inside World of Warcraft seemed preferable to the drudgery of everyday life” when he had played 60 hours a week. Groups like WOWaholics Anonymous have been created to help former players like van Cleave who became too invested in the game.

Although these are extreme examples, they share a common root with lesser forms of negative escapism, according to psychologist Andrew Evans. “Another definition of unhealthy escapism—escapism gone too far—is the effects it has on the essential fabric of living,” he wrote in This Virtual Life , “the individual in the context of family, friends, and social commitments.” Evans connects his definition to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which ranks love and a sense of belonging just after basic physiological and safety needs. Critics like Sherry Turkle often point to how screen-saturation has negatively affected the way we fulfill those needs, while others like David Carr have explored how virtual reality might only exacerbate the problem. Ignoring the fact that VR’s future applications also include the potential to connect with real human beings around the world—“this is really a new communication platform,” Zuckerberg noted—it is not impossible to find love and belonging online, let alone on an immersive 3-D platform. According to Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailensen, “The Internet and virtual realities easily satisfy such social needs and drives—sometimes [they are] so satisfying that addicted users will withdraw physically from society.”

Blascovich, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Bailensen, of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, examined the consequences of a VR-centric future in their 2011 book Infinite Reality , noting that as virtual-reality platforms become mainstream and affordable, the pull of spending more time in virtual reality may prove hard to resist. “We did predict this might happen,” Blascovich says. “The proliferation of affordable [VR] will dramatically increase the size of the population for whom more highly immersive perceptual and psychological experiences are available.” Blascovich is careful to note, however, that these immersive escapes are not necessarily a bad thing. “A virtual second life can replace the ‘real life’ of some individuals, but this can be good or bad,” he says. “Who is to say that a virtual life that is better than one’s physical life is a bad thing?” If someone is able to fulfill their basic human needs in an immersive virtual world, who is to say that they shouldn’t?

According to Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, a Stanford psychiatrist and author of Virtually You, The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality , immersive 3-D will only be the latest manifestation of technology’s heavy role in our social lives and well-being. “To some degree, this has already happened with the Internet and social media,” Aboujaoude says, “where we can have a ‘full life’ [online] that can be quite removed from our own.” It is possible, however, that virtual reality may drastically change a person’s social and emotional needs over time. “We may stop ‘needing’ or craving real social interactions because they may become foreign to us,” Aboujaoude explains. “It doesn’t mean that they can’t make our lives better; it means that we, as a culture, are no longer aware of them and of their positive effects on our lives, because we are so immersed in virtual life and have been for some time.” He compares this change to the one experienced by digital natives, whose perception of a healthy social life has been shaped by platforms like Facebook and Gchat.

VR’s advanced, immersive capabilities might bring more severe cases of social isolation to the public’s attention. Aboujaoude notes that people who report much more fulfillment from virtual scenarios often have underlying conditions, such as untreated social anxiety, and those cases should not be taken lightly. It is not, however, the reason why all people choose to immerse themselves in other worlds—whether it’s through a book, a TV show, or a 3-D video game.

In Escapism , Yi-Fu Tuan writes about society’s feelings on the titular subject: “Escapism has a somewhat negative meaning in our society and perhaps in all societies. It suggests an inability to face facts—the real world.” Nevertheless, all people do it. As Evans noted, “As escapism appears to be a natural mechanism, the mind must have need for it.” Those dissatisfied with the banality of their day-to-day life may find pleasure in the immersion of a fantasy world; others unable to find fulfilling relationships may seek solace in Japan’s otome games, first-person visual novels that simulate romantic relationships. The more life-like virtual environments become, Aboujaoude says, the more attractive they will be. “The appeal of these environments is not so much that they help us totally escape reality. Rather, it is that they make us believe that we can recreate and change our own.” In that way, rather than forcing a mass rejection of society, virtual worlds may open new ways of examining our own.

As with all things, virtual reality can be taken to unhealthy extremes, and the idea of such a drastic shift—one that may entirely redefine social needs—may cause unease. But amid all the warnings, for many bored and lonely souls, the promise of a virtual escape is not unsettling, but exciting. For any who have longed to spend any amount of time in their favorite fantastical world—from Middle Earth to Westeros, Hyrule to Kanto—VR offers the opportunity. “VR is a rapidly developing technology,” Evans concludes, “both functional and escapist, and potentially offers a wondrous parallel universe of unlimited possibilities.”

Essay on Virtual Reality

Students are often asked to write an essay on Virtual Reality in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Virtual Reality

Introduction to virtual reality.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that transports us to a simulated world. It uses a headset to provide a 3D, computer-generated environment.

VR in Entertainment

VR is popular in entertainment. It is used in games and movies to give a realistic and immersive experience.

VR in Education

In education, VR is used to create interactive lessons. It helps students understand complex concepts easily.

VR in Training

VR is also used in training, like pilot training or medical simulations. It provides a risk-free learning environment.

VR is a revolutionary technology, making our experiences more immersive and learning more effective.

250 Words Essay on Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a simulated experience that can be similar or completely different from the real world. It is a technology that creates an immersive, three-dimensional environment, providing a sense of presence and the ability to interact with the environment.

The Science Behind VR

Virtual Reality operates on the premise of creating a sensory experience for the user. It achieves this through stereoscopic display, parallax, and tracking movements. The display is split between the eyes, creating a 3D perspective. Parallax provides depth cues, and tracking movements adjust the user’s view in real-time.

Applications of VR

The potential applications of VR are vast and varied. In gaming, VR creates immersive experiences that transport players into the game’s world. In medicine, VR is used for therapeutic purposes and surgical training. In education, it provides an interactive learning environment, enabling students to understand complex concepts more easily.

The Future of VR

The future of VR is promising. With advancements in technology, the line between the virtual and real world will blur. It could lead to a new era of communication, with VR meetings and conferences becoming commonplace. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence with VR could result in even more immersive and personalized experiences.

Virtual Reality is a groundbreaking technology that has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives. As the technology continues to evolve, the possibilities are limitless. It is an exciting field that holds immense promise for the future.

500 Words Essay on Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-based technology that provides an immersive, interactive experience taking place within a simulated environment. It is an artificial realm, constructed by software, which can either replicate the real world or create an entirely new one.

The Mechanics of Virtual Reality

VR operates by stimulating our senses in such a way that we are deceived into believing that we are in a different setting. This is achieved through a VR headset that provides a stereoscopic display, creating a 3D world by presenting slightly different images to each eye. Additionally, head-tracking sensors monitor the user’s movements and adjust the images accordingly, maintaining the illusion of reality.

Applications of Virtual Reality

The applications of VR are vast and extend beyond entertainment and gaming. In the medical field, VR is used for therapy and rehabilitation, surgical training, and to visualize complex medical data. In education, VR provides immersive learning experiences, making abstract concepts tangible. In the realm of architecture, VR allows for the exploration of virtual building designs before their physical construction.

The Impact of Virtual Reality on Society

VR has the potential to profoundly impact society. It alters the way we interact with digital media, transforming it from a passive experience to an active, immersive one. However, it also raises ethical considerations. As VR becomes more immersive, the line between virtual and physical reality could blur, leading to potential issues around cyber addiction and the devaluation of real-world experiences.

The Future of Virtual Reality

The future of VR is promising, with advancements in technology continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Future VR systems may include additional sensory feedback, like touch or smell, to further enhance the immersive experience. Also, the integration of AI with VR could lead to more personalized and adaptive virtual experiences.

In conclusion, VR is a powerful technology with the potential to revolutionize many sectors. Its immersive nature offers unique opportunities for learning, exploration, and experiences. However, as with any technology, it comes with its own set of challenges and ethical considerations. As we continue to develop and integrate VR into our lives, it is crucial to navigate these issues responsibly to harness its benefits fully.

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Essay on Virtual Reality

• Post author: admin
• Post published: September 24, 2020
• Post category: Essays

Introduction

For the past few years, there has been a huge advancement in the field of computer and visualization (Niehorster and Lappe, 2017). The engineers keep discovering and introducing advanced and more effective ways to use technology. After 8K TV screens, the technology of VR has been introduced. The simulations which are generated by the computer are known as Virtual reality (Christensen, Annau, Van Hoff, Verizon Patent and Licensing, 2020). In VR an individual can interact with what is playing in the device. VR provides the user with a 3-dimensional environment, and the media playing in the VR looks almost like a real world. There are different gadgets in a VR set (Lorenzo, Lledó, Pomares and Roig, 2016).  These gadgets are special eyewear with screens, controllers, or hand gloves with sensors. The technology of VR is growing in almost every part of the world.

Description

In the past few years, there has been an incensement in the applications of VR (Bhagat, Liou and Chang, 2016). VR users can experience a whole new world and also interact with it. The main purpose or feature if VR is to show the high-resolution data. The environment that individual experiences in a VR device are so realistic. But, there are different types of VR with different types of results (Osumi, Ichinose, Sumitani, Wake, Sano, Yozu, Kumagaya, Kuniyoshi and Morioka, 2017). Some provide a bit low-quality result which can only support some specific senses of the user. Some levels of immersion of VR in a sequence are:

Desktop VR is a type of virtual reality device, which shows the result on a screen. The user can use the computer in a high resolution or virtual reality. These desktop VRs only include a pair of 3D glasses and a VR device (Boesen and Bragi, 2017). This is one of the basic types of VR applications. In desktop VR, there is no other sensor is used. For instance, there is no sensor gloves or any special hearing sensor in desktop VR.

Fish tank VR

Fish tank VR includes a headset or a head tracking device. The user using a fish tank VR can experience a parallax effect. In fish tank VR, monitors were used for an output source. Fish tank VR was the same as desktop VR in the matter of sensory. They also do not support any special sensing effect. These desktop VRs are an advanced type or generation of the desktop VR. In fish tank VR, for special stereoscopic viewing, they included shutter glasses. Fish tank VR does not give the user a 360-degree view. It depends on the viewer’s head position.

Immersive systems

In these VR, the aim or goal is to immerse the user in a computer-generated world and to make him a part of it. In immersive systems, an individual can participate and make his contribution and decisions in that computer-generated environment. Another advancement in the immersive system is introduced which is that these VRs are sensory applicable. The section of audio and haptics has also been advanced in immersive systems.

Applications of VR

In today’s world, the applications of VR are greatly increasing. It is not only used in the field of gaming or entertainment. Some of the VR applications are mentioned below.

VR in military

In the department of military training, the technology of virtual reality is used. Using VR for the training of soldiers will make them experience the situation or the environment of almost a real war or any fight. This helps them to learn and practice without being in a real environment of a battlefield. Otherwise, it will be risky and dangerous for the soldiers (Kalron, Fonkatz, Frid, Baransi and Achiron, 2016).

VR in sports

In the field of sports, there has always been some kind of advancement and betterment. It can be an advancement of equipment or coaching gadgets. In sports, virtual reality plays a vital role. VR has not been introduced in every sports field of every country. The technology of virtual reality in sports helps the coaches to teach players more efficiently. The players can experience a real situation before playing or participating in an actual game. This helps them learn more and better techniques for their team. Another use of VR in the field of sports is for those who cannot afford to visit a football stadium for watching a live match. They can easily watch it at their homes and can even be a part of it by the use of virtual reality.

VR in mental health cure

In the field of psychiatry, the technology of virtual reality turns out to be a great tool. By the use of virtual reality gadgets, the patients can experience a real-life situation, in which they can get rid of their anxiety or depression (Román-Ibáñez, Pujol-López, Mora-Mora, Pertegal-Felices and Jimeno-Morenilla, 2018). The physiatrist provides them a condition that makes the patient feel happy and apart from their stress and depression. It also helps those people having some kind of fear or phobia. Those patients experience and come into contact with the things they are afraid of. This is how VR is used as a meditation in the field of health (Borrego, Latorre, Llorens, Alcañiz and Noé, 2016). Another application of VR in the medical field, which is to train the new upcoming doctors.  

Virtual reality is a technology that is used in the field of computer and visualization. The technology of virtual reality is getting better and more efficient over time. The main purpose of the virtual reality device is to let the user experience a three-dimensional world. The visualization in virtual reality device is almost like the real world. There are different types of VR. The first virtual reality setup as desktop VR. The desktop VR allows an individual to experience his computer screen in a high resolution. After that, the fish tank VR was introduced. It shows the result in parallax effects (Standen, Threapleton, Richardson, Connell, Brown, Battersby, Platts and Burton, 2017). After all these VRs, immersive systems were introduced. In immersive systems of virtual reality, the user can experience a three dimensioned world. In immersive systems, the user can use sensors. Such as, an individual can move his hand to control the movement in a VR.   

• Niehorster, D.C., Li, L. and Lappe, M., 2017. The accuracy and precision of position and orientation tracking in the HTC vibe virtual reality system for scientific research. i-Perception, 8(3), p.2041669517708205.
• Christensen, J., Annau, T.M. and Van Hoff, A., Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc, 2020. Generating content for a virtual reality system. U.S. Patent 10,708,568.
• Lorenzo, G., Lledó, A., Pomares, J. and Roig, R., 2016. Design and application of an immersive virtual reality system to enhance emotional skills for children with autism spectrum disorders. Computers & Education, 98, pp.192-205.
• Bhagat, K.K., Liou, W.K. and Chang, C.Y., 2016. A cost-effective interactive 3D virtual reality system applied to military live firing training. Virtual Reality, 20(2), pp.127-140.
• Osumi, M., Ichinose, A., Sumitani, M., Wake, N., Sano, Y., Yozu, A., Kumagaya, S., Kuniyoshi, Y. and Morioka, S., 2017. Restoring movement representation and alleviating phantom limb pain through short‐term neurorehabilitation with a virtual reality system. European journal of pain, 21(1), pp.140-147.
• Boesen, P.V., Bragi GmbH, 2017. Earpiece 3D Sound Localization Using Mixed Sensor Array for Virtual Reality System and Method. U.S. Patent Application 15/290,845.
• Kalron, A., Fonkatz, I., Frid, L., Baransi, H. and Achiron, A., 2016. The effect of balance training on postural control in people with multiple sclerosis using the CAREN virtual reality system: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 13(1), p.13.
• Román-Ibáñez, V., Pujol-López, F.A., Mora-Mora, H., Pertegal-Felices, M.L. and Jimeno-Morenilla, A., 2018. A low-cost immersive virtual reality system for teaching robotic manipulators programming. Sustainability, 10(4), p.1102.
• Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Llorens, R., Alcañiz, M. and Noé, E., 2016. Feasibility of a walking virtual reality system for rehabilitation: objective and subjective parameters. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 13(1), p.68.
• Standen, P.J., Threapleton, K., Richardson, A., Connell, L., Brown, D.J., Battersby, S., Platts, F. and Burton, A., 2017. A low cost virtual reality system for home based rehabilitation of the arm following stroke: a randomised controlled feasibility trial. Clinical rehabilitation, 31(3), pp.340-350.

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Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction

Title: virtual reality: a definition history - a personal essay.

Abstract: This essay, written in 1998 by an active participant in both virtual reality development and the virtual reality definition debate, discusses the definition of the phrase "Virtual Reality" (VR). I start with history from a personal perspective, concentrating on the debate between the "Virtual Reality" and "Virtual Environment" labels in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Definitions of VR based on specific technologies are shown to be unsatisfactory. I propose the following definition of VR, based on the striking effects of a good VR system: "Virtual Reality is the use of computer technology to create the effect of an interactive three-dimensional world in which the objects have a sense of spatial presence." The justification for this definition is discussed in detail, and is favorably compared with the dictionary definitions of "virtual" and "reality". The implications of this definition for virtual reality technology are briefly examined.

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Virtual Reality: Ethical Challenges and Dangers

By ben kenwright on january 14th, 2019 in editorial & opinion , ethics , magazine articles , social implications of technology , societal impact.

Physiological and Social Impacts

According to Moore’s Law, there is a correlation between technological advancement and social and ethical impacts  [13]. Many advances, such as quantum computing  [22], 3D-printing  [11], flexible transparent screens  [1], and breakthroughs in machine learning and artificial intelligence  [17] have social impacts. One area that introduces a new dimension of ethical concerns is virtual reality (VR). VR continues to develop novel applications beyond simple entertainment, due to the increasing availability of VR technologies and the intense immersive experience. While the potential advantages of virtual reality are limitless, there has been much debate about the ethical complexities that this new technology presents  [9],  [19]. Potential ethical implications of VR include physiological and cognitive impacts and behavioral and social dynamics. Identifying and managing procedures to address emerging ethical issues will happen not only through regulations and laws (e.g., government and institutional approval), but also through ethics-in-practice (respect, care, morals, and education).

Including Ethics in the Design

Integrating ethics and moral sensitivity into design is referred to as “anticipatory technology ethics” by Brey [4] and “responsible research and innovation” by Sutcliffe [23]. These researchers emphasize the vital importance and responsibilities that designers have on technologies and their capacities, as well as designers’ moral obligations to the public. These obligations may include a wider long-term view, taking into account social involvement, environmental impacts, and other repercussions. Moral responsibilities related to technology have long been a subject of debate. For example, guidelines presented by Keith Miller [12] and other researchers on the topic of moral responsibilities emphasize that people who design, develop, and deploy a computing artifact (hardware or software) are accountable for that artifact, and for the foreseeable effects of that artifact.

Traditional moral responsibilities in the physical world do not necessarily translate to virtual worlds created by designers.

However, it is unclear how to predict the impact of virtual reality technologies (i.e., foreseeable effects). There is also a question of “foreseeable use” versus “intended use.” Hardware engineers may develop virtual reality technologies that are then used for unintended purposes in applications and by software developers.

In the wake of society’s exposure to VR, and due to today’s powerful computer systems, designers are able to create and develop complex interactive virtual worlds. These immersive environments offer numerous opportunities — both good and bad. But organizations and designers are not obligated to obey ethical restraints. There is also the element of hackers, and the issue of immoral exploitation of the technologies. These ethical questions arise partly because VR technologies are pervasive and difficult to classify and identify, and because it is difficult to predict their short- and long-term impacts. VR technologies also raise questions about legal responsibility, for example if software and hardware are used incorrectly or in unethical ways (see  Figure 2  for an outline of the ethical challenges connected with VR technologies).

So as VR has hit the mainstream, much debate has arisen over its ethical complexities. Traditional moral responsibilities do not always translate to the digital world. One aspect we argue is essential to ethical responsibility for virtual reality is that VR solutions must integrate ethical analysis into the design process, and practice dissemination of best practices. In the digital era, organizations and individuals need to uphold ethical and professional responsibilities to society and the public. Creativity should be combined with diligence. Decision making, ethics, and critical thinking should go hand in hand throughout the development process. Development needs to include future predictions, forecasting impact, evaluating and elaborating on possible consequences, and identifying any issues with openness and transparency.

Benefits and Applications of VR

VR technologies are commonplace in today’s marketplace, with key players including, Google, Microsoft, Oculus, Sony, and Samsung seeking to push the limits and applications of VR. VR first appeared in the 1980s, but then faded away. This time VR is here to stay  [3].

Related to VR, we need to acknowledge the importance of active real experience. Active real experience is a fundamental element within VR (i.e, the illusion of “real”). Real, or close-to-reality, experiences have an impact on the user by providing “positive” experience. VR with these touted benefits include games, films, education, training, simulations, communications, medical (i.e, rehabilitation), and shopping.

Due to the availability and flexibility of VR technologies, the number of virtual reality users is forecast to reach 171 million by 2018, with the VR market set to continually grow at an extraordinary rate  [20]. In 2018  [21], the value of the global consumer virtual reality market is estimated to be U.S. $4.5 billion (see  Figure 1 ).

Figure 1. Number of active virtual reality users worldwide beginning in 2014, in millions  [20]. Forecasts for the future are based on previous trends.

Figure 2. Ethical questions and challenges around VR technologies.

Need for Investigation

Currently, there is a lack of information on the short- and long-term physiological impacts of VR. There is also not enough known about who and what types of individuals are using VR (age, types of experience, attitudes, and levels of digital sophistication). Many questions relate to individual attributes, and to what degree the user needs to possess “critical reasoning” abilities.

The intersection of ethics and virtual reality has to date focused primarily on individual issues, for example, specific content, or blood or violence. While these dilemmas are important, many other subtler ethical issues relating to virtual reality demand the attention of designers, scientists, engineers, and related communities. Designers, programmers, and testers usually focus on specific areas, yet they could be involved in contributing to solutions to ethical issues, or they could be responsible for inputting ethical concerns. Frequently, designers must make decisions based on the lens of their knowledge and experiences. But designers’ scope of knowledge does not always encompass the wide range of areas that might impact the public related to physiological, social, or ethical aspects.

Ideally, consumers should be entitled to know what “tests” have been done to ensure public safety, including physical and mental safely, for young and old, in all situations and environments. In addition, any “possible” problems or “neglected” issues should be explicitly stated as a matter of public and moral obligation, not just for legal purposes. Of course, this might be challenged by managerial decisions — any “questioning” or “refusal” (or even public announcement without permission due to NDAs) might impact the individual’s career. Hence, regulators need to step in and ensure “designers” are accessible and the facts are not compromised. Prevention is better than “correction.” We want to avoid reacting to a disaster after it has happened. We want to solve the problem before it manifests itself, using forward thinking, preventative measures to create a safer more reliable future-proof technology or solution.

There is also debate about corporations “waiting” for regulators and legal liabilities to push them towards more moral, safer designs. This attitude can cause significant harm to the public.

Complex Intercoupled System of Components

We need to look VR solutions as a whole, and not just at individual components such as specific components, interactions, or sounds. The interrelated and synergistic operation of the system can have a broader impact on the user. VR combines multiple senses (audio, visual, touch, and movement) each of which influences the immersive experience.

Passive and active involvement of the user, where a user may sit back and “watch” or experience the situation “autonomously” is one possible experience. Another can be more active involvement, where the user is required to “hammer” home the activity or action. The complexities of designing a VR solution involves millions of lines of code and a myriad of three-dimensional content elements that provide texture and geometry, not to mention sounds and specialist hardware like headsets and head-tracking tools. While software testing has always been challenging  [15],  [25], testing the physiological, ethical, and social aspects introduces a new level of difficulty. Challenges of addressing specific scenarios and the complexity of the system are compounded by the new levels of freedom in VR – by the variety of uncertainties and situations that are possible.

VR designs need to account for human interfaces, environmental perceptions, levels of freedom, user-user interactions (social/networking), coordination, and control. Different users and developers will use the hardware/software in different ways, creating multiple outcomes and choices. Strong trends towards online solutions, with user-user interactions and communication increase the possible complexity, and also may lead to “swarms” of virtual users – another area where further research is needed.

We anticipate that before long, swarms of virtual users will be able to interact and communicate. We need to ensure this is done safely. Close coupled interactions of multiple users will also raise questions of privacy and hacking, i.e., of possible intentional tampering or non-legitimate accessing of user resources.

Over-Trusting

The public and users have a predisposition to trust technologies from big brands, often involving acceptance without questioning. While VR solutions possess the power to entertain, engage, and tantalize users, they also have the power to cause significant physiological trauma. There are worrying concerns about over-trusting new technologies. Some questions, designers and users need to ask themselves are:

• Is it possible, for example, for the VR system to be “hacked” without the user knowing (i.e., modifying/injecting changes into the user’s virtual world).
• How much does “age” impact the experience in terms of digital awareness, overall experience, mental sensitivity, etc.?
• How will a user respond to unforeseen troubles? (For example, will they jerk, fall over, scream, harm themselves?)

Interestingly, with regard to the last point, if a person is immersed and believes they are really acting out the experience, they will react as they would in a real situation (i.e., behaviors could emerge). The user would be actively and cognitively engaged with the virtual environment. The ways that VR intertwines user’s psychological and behavioral aspects must be taken into account by the designers.

Regulations

As VR developers and manufacturers pursue significantly different design pathways, it makes it difficult for regulators to keep up and to develop rules and regulatory standards for safety. Among the crucial divides relates to the “applications” of VR, that is, to the type of interfaces, uses, the people who use them, etc. Of course, companies seek competitive advantage and are less interested in sharing information that might injure trade secrets. There needs to be a balance achieved between openness, reliability, and corporate rivalry and profit. Arguably, standards for VR technologies would need to have a specialized set of safety features, beyond traditional engineering tests and approaches to evaluate safety.

While some issues could be evaluated using traditional standards, such as violence and types of content, the immersion aspect of VR introduces additional risk factors that need to be accounted for, including aspects related to VR’s training and manipulation of the mind. Designers will also need to take into account approaches and solutions to reduce risks and harm. They need to insure that users are not left free to expose or harm themselves without guidance.

Relevant professional communities need to become collectively involved in developing rules and guidelines around the design process. Importantly, designers need to incorporate ethical thinking when creating innovative and creative solutions using virtual reality that incorporate safety and impact considerations. Each designer should look upon their creation or design and consider her or his ethical obligations. Designers, testers, and managers need to take a “value-sensitive” approach, and contemplate the implications of what they are creating.

How would we “demonstrate” that a virtual reality technology is safe? This also leads onto questions of levels of safety and risk, and to consideration of ratings. There may also need to be “warnings” emphases, about possible side effects. Also there is the question of how the design will impact others, and questions of social factors. For example, could the technology incite or promote unlawful behavior?

Risks to Children

Studies have shown children are most vulnerable when it comes to VR technologies, as they are highly susceptible and can more easily confuse what is real and what is not real, i.e., they likely may be less able or unable to distinguish between the real world and the virtual world  [18]. For example, in a study by Segovia and Bailenson  [18], young elementary children watched their virtual doppelganger swimming with orcas. When these kids were questioned a week later, they said they believed their virtual experience to be real. In recent studies  [2], young children would connect with “virtual characters” (avatars). Children would see the “avatar” in VR as more real (compared to characters or avatars on other mediums, such as television). The avatar in the virtual environment would be more influential compared to the television equivalent, making it more difficult for the children to inhibit their actions or not follow the avatar’s commands. And it is not only young children who internalize VR scenarios – these scenarios also impact young adults.

For example, elder adolescents have been found to be particularly sensitive to being socially excluded in a virtual environment. What this means is that parents need to be particularly careful about the type of VR content they allow their children to view (see  Figure 3 ). Note that the majority of research has been done on young adults, with little understanding of what happens to younger children when they are exposed to virtual worlds  [5],  [18].

Figure 3. Psychological Factors – Stages of learning and human development impact how our environment and experiences change as we get older.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly caused by a directly witnessed real-life event that is life threatening or violent in nature. Current clinical diagnosis of PTSD excludes exposures that occur through electronic media, including movies and pictures  [6],  [8],  [16]. However, given the increasing ability to stimulate the range of senses beyond sight and sound, due to the immersive and interactive nature of VR, one has to wonder if at some point these experiences will result in the brain’s fear centers getting rewired in a similar way to that seen in PTSD. One could hypothesize that if a person felt that their VR experience was real (i.e., if they really felt they were at risk of harm), and if they did not have a way of voluntarily ending the experience, they could experience rewiring of fear circuitry of their brain in a manner similar to PTSD. They would then perhaps have a range of PTSD like symptoms.

Desensitization

Funk  et al.   [7] believe repeated exposure to real-life and to entertainment violence could alter cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes, possibly leading to desensitization. The study showed a relationship between real-life and media violence exposure and desensitization as reflected in related characteristics. One-hundred-fifty fourth and fifth graders completed measures of real-life violence exposure, media violence exposure, empathy, and attitudes towards violence. Regression analyses indicated that only exposure to video game violence was associated with (lower) empathy. Both video game and movie violence exposure were associated with stronger pro-violence attitudes. The active nature of playing video games, intense engagement, and the tendency to be translated into fantasy play may explain negative impact, though causality was not investigated in the present design.

Not all Bad

There are “dangers” with anything – however, we must not forget the huge benefits of combining VR with games, in education, rehabilitation, training, and of course, entertainment  [10],  [14],  [24]. VR is a technology – how we use VR, for good or bad, is up to us.

And VR is not the only issue affecting a user’s mental health. Many other factors outside VR influence the individual’s mental health, e.g., work, social life, or family.

VR and games also offer a means of escape. Virtual reality lets our imagination go to new heights because anything is possible. Virtual Reality helps us to test the information learned in a “real-life” situation so that we are able to evaluate – simulate – theoretical knowledge in a practical implementation. With VR we can simulate how machinery works and responds, and we can replicate soft skills such as human actions and behaviors. Another huge area is how virtual reality impacts learning, making learning fun, exciting, and visual.

There has been and continues to be rapid growth in Virtual Reality technologies. It is estimated that there will be 300+ million VR users worldwide by 2020. There remains room for debate around the topic of ethical responsibilities for these technologies. While it can be argued that makers cannot be held 100% responsible for their designs, each company and individual designer should demonstrate reasonable caution, through monitored trials and testing. Designers should not ignore possible mental health and safety issues, or physiological impacts or social and ethical factors. Steps to address these issues might include interactive testing using human and automated users.

We suggest adding additional investigation and analysis testing stages to the development of virtual reality technologies in efforts to protect the public. These tests might not focus on physical health and safety concerns, but rather on physiological and social influences. Currently, no such trials related to physiological or social factors are required, monitored, or enforced. But a large number of virtual reality applications are already on the market, suggesting that technological and economic forces may overrun efforts to protect the public good. The fact that VR is already available does not mean there is no need to address this issue, and it should not be left until it is too late.

The growth of VR technologies leads to an increase in new products and accelerated development of VR in industries such as education, healthcare, household management, tourism, and video games, impacting social and economic sectors. On one hand, there will be huge opportunities for new and innovative VR applications, beyond entertainment uses. On the other hand, there are numerous challenges and ethical issues that need to be addressed. More research needs to be done to investigate the psychological impact of VR, especially on young children, both in the short and long term. However, if the VR economy is to continue to grow while maintaining sustainable healthy new developments, it must be supported by scientific research to investigate the social and ethical issues around these technologies.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author would like to thank the reviewers for taking time out of their schedules to provide insightful and helpful comments to improve this article.

Author Information

Ben Kenwright is with the University of Bolton, Bolton, U.K. Email: [email protected].

To view full article, including references and footnotes, click HERE .

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Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality Essay

Advantages of virtual reality, disadvantages of virtual reality, comparison between virtual reality and augmented reality.

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to a high-end user computer interface involving real-time interactions and stimulations that use several sensorial channels which include visual, auditory, tactile, smell and taste. Virtual Reality should not just be taken as a high-end user interface or a medium.

This is because it includes applications that help in providing solutions to problems in different areas for instance in military, medicine and engineering. The ability of a given application to provide a remedy to certain challenges depends on human imagination (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003).

On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) aims at supplementing the real world with a virtual world instead of replacing it altogether. In order to achieve this, Augmented Reality makes use of objects generated by a computer and appears to coexist together with the real world (Klopfer, 2008). Many researchers are interested in Augmented Reality for different reasons.

Some of the reasons include enhancing the perception and interaction with real world and undertaking improvement of different tasks in the world. Augmented Reality can also be applied in different areas such as in the medical practices, commerce, engineering, design and inspection, entertainment as well as military field. Classifying the AR system can be done basing on display, tracking and application viewpoint.

According to Yeon Ma and Choi (2007), there are quite a number of positive implications associated with virtual reality. For instance, VR can be used in the medical field during simulated surgery. It can be used train medical students and new doctors.

The use of flight simulators in the military field can serve as an effective way of providing realistic and advanced situations when undertaking military training. Yeon Ma and Choi (2007) are unanimous that in businesses and corporations, virtual Reality provides a convenient form of communication and at the same facilitates a faster collection of data.

Certain stereoscopic displays and computer screens are used to display virtual reality environments. Headphones and speakers can also be used to boost simulation of the environment (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003). In fact, this amounts to one of the merits of a virtual reality environment.

Moreover, advanced virtual environments can now incorporate a force feedback system that provides some of tactile information. This latest integration of virtual reality environment is mainly made use of in gaming applications. The medical field has also benefited greatly from this new mode of a virtual reality environment. The whole system is heptic in nature (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003).

Another merit of a virtual reality set up is that individuals in remote locations can indeed facilitate some virtual presence of each other through telexistence and telepresence modes. A wired glove or the ordinary mouse and key board components of a computer can be used as virtual artifacts in this case in order to enable remote communication between two or more parties.

In a virtual reality set up, the new environment created can be made to appear like a real world. On the other hand, a virtual reality environment can be significantly altered to resemble the world with slight differences. A case example of this type of virtual reality is the Virtual Reality games (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003).

The main disadvantage of Virtual Reality is with regard to the technology needed to carry out a natural or an immersive experience. it has been found out that for a relatively long period of time, the procedure has remained unsuccessful. Some of the systems that allow articulated presence or provide the expected feedback are at times clumsy. This increases the chances of causing problems when using the system.

Another disadvantage of Virtual Reality relates to the negative social impacts caused by immersive environments to the people and the psychological effects that result from the process due to prolonged usage (Yeon Ma & Choi, 2007).

In terms of demerits, it has proved to be cumbersome to develop a virtual reality environment with high-fidelity. Some of the factors that limit this possibility include communication bandwidth, image resolution, and processing power.

Differences between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are based on the level of immersion of the system. A major difference between the two is that a Virtual Reality system aims at reaching a fully immersive virtual environment and uses factors generated by a computer.

This is the environment where the user performs his or her task. On the other hand, an Augmented Reality aims at combining both the virtual and real world. This is mainly aimed at assisting a given user to perform a task from a physical setting (Johnson & Sasse, 1999).

Another difference between the two is that Virtual Reality usually limits the physical movement of the user, whereas Augmented Reality requires the system to be portable especially when dealing with the outdoor augmented reality systems.

However, it is pertinent to note that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality share some common features. For example, they both share three dimensional images and interactivity and can be applied in similar fields (Yeon Ma & Choi, 2007).

Burdea, G., & Coiffet, P. (2003). Virtual Reality technology . Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley Interscience.

Johnson, C., Sasse, M. A. (1999). International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction & Interact: Human-computer interaction . Amsterdam: IOS Press.

Klopfer, E. (2008). Augmented Learning: Research and Design of Mobile Educational Games .New York: MIT Press.

Yeon Ma, J. & Choi, J.S.(2007). The Virtuality and Reality of Augmented Reality . London: Academy Publisher.

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IvyPanda. (2023, December 7). Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-reality-versus-augmented-reality/

"Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality." IvyPanda , 7 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-reality-versus-augmented-reality/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality'. 7 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-reality-versus-augmented-reality/.

1. IvyPanda . "Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-reality-versus-augmented-reality/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Virtual Reality Versus Augmented Reality." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-reality-versus-augmented-reality/.

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News from the Columbia Climate School

A Virtual Reality Film That Makes the Climate Crisis Feel “Real”

Olivia Black

Adrienne Day

“During one kayaking [trip] around the glacier, ice fell onto my kayak. I tried to save this one piece of glacier ice in my freezer. I watered it every day, trying to make it grow. Turns out I wanted to make a story,” said artist and filmmaker Jiabao Li of time spent in Alaska. Inspired by that trip, Jiabao created Once a Glacier , a 15-minute virtual reality (VR) film about a girl and her relationship with a glacier. 

A work of climate fiction, Once a Glacier explores a world similar to our own—one with ice sheets that are disappearing as a casualty of climate change. The film traces the journey of a girl as she watches the glaciers around her slowly vanish. We follow her story, as a young girl who discovers the glacier, to her aging into an elderly woman who still protects the decades-old piece of the glacier in her freezer. 

Jiabao uses VR technologies to try and cultivate a close connection between the audience and the world she creates. Unlike regular cinema films, VR gives viewers a fully immersive experience that detaches them from their physical surroundings, embedding them in a new world.

“You think of human life within a hundred [years], and glacial time in millions of years,” Jiabao said in an interview with GlacierHub. “Because of that, we can’t [see] glaciers shrinking. Virtual reality compresses time, so within a girl’s lifetime you can see the comparable disappearance of the glacier.”

Researchers agree that VR can be a valuable tool in reaching new audiences. “VR can influence users’ conceptual understanding of scale in a way that looking at things on a computer monitor doesn’t,” said Isabel Cordero , a polar research assistant at the Polar Geophysics and Glaciology group at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. “It’s one thing to tell someone that the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica is roughly the same size as Texas; and it’s another thing to show them just how much ice that actually is.”

Cordero, a scientist, has used VR as part of the research group’s Visualizing Ice Sheets in Extended Reality project (VISER). Part of their work includes making virtual models of ice sheets that can help people physically contextualize real-world processes and explore complex polar data sets in an interactive way.

In Once a Glacier, viewers have an opportunity to interact with the main character. For instance, viewers can water the piece of glacial ice in the woman’s fridge. In the end, the audience can virtually follow along as the piece of ice she so fervently cared for is auctioned off into a museum, hailed as the last glacier in the world. 

“It’s one thing to tell someone that the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica is roughly the same size as Texas; and it’s another thing to show them just how much ice that actually is.” – Isabel Cordero, Polar Geophysics and Glaciology group at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Sound plays a critical role in the film. In Iñupiaq culture, glaciers carry memory through sound. The Iñupiaq are an Indigenous Peoples found across the Arctic who inspired Jiabao to create the grandmother character in the film, voiced by Carolyn Nahyoumaurak. While Western science focuses on observing the history of glaciers through ice cores (which can reveal past environmental and climate conditions), Jiabao focuses on the ambient sounds of the glaciers to center viewers in the present. In one part of the film, the audience kayaks with the main character through towering glaciers as cracking ice and breaking bubbles follow closely behind. To make the scenes as realistic as possible, her team recorded the sounds from real glaciers in Alaska. Voice acting is also important in the film; poetic narration reflecting the film’s main message. 

“I am not alone,” the girl’s voice echoes as a poem is read in the film. “I am the keeper of frozen memory, brimming always, of time that should never end, of blue ice pure to its blue core. I am not alone.”

Science reveals the imminence of climate change, yet we still struggle to pass comprehensive policies and spur action. A new study argues the problem lies not in people’s perceptions of the urgency of climate change, but from a flaw in climate change messaging—we need to show people that “we are not alone.” Empathy is critical here, and VR films, by building close links between the audience and the characters, are one way to connect us with our fellow humans—and by extension our changing planet. Through VR technology, viewers can experience climate change in new ways that hopefully spur them to action.

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Virtual reality sessions lessen cancer pain in clinical trial

Results support adding this noninvasive, nonpharmacologic therapy to improve the health and quality of life of people with cancer.

A 10-minute virtual reality (VR) session significantly lessened pain in hospitalized patients with cancer in a recent clinical trial published by Wiley online in CANCER , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Even a day later, participants experienced sustained benefits.

Most people with cancer experience pain, and treatment usually involves medications including opioids. VR sessions that immerse the user in new environments have been shown to be a noninvasive and nonpharmacologic way to lessen pain in different patient populations, but data are lacking in individuals with cancer. To investigate, Hunter Groninger, MD, of Georgetown University School of Medicine and MedStar Health and his colleagues randomized 128 adults with cancer with moderate or severe pain to a 10-minute immersive VR intervention involving calm, pleasant environments or to a 10-minute two-dimensional guided imagery experience on an iPad tablet.

The investigators found that both interventions lessened pain, but VR sessions had a greater impact. Based on patient-reported scores from 0 to 10, patients in the guided imagery group reported an average decrease of 0.7 in pain scores, whereas those in the VR group reported an average drop of 1.4. Twenty four hours after the assigned intervention, participants in the VR group reported sustained improvement in pain severity (1.7 points lower than baseline before the VR intervention) compared with participants in the guided imagery group (only 0.3 points lower than baseline before the active control intervention).

Participants assigned to the VR intervention also reported improvements related to pain “bothersomeness” (how much the pain bothered them, regardless of the severity of the pain) and general distress, and they expressed satisfaction with the intervention. 

“Results from this trial suggest that immersive VR may be a useful non-medication strategy to improve the cancer pain experience,” said Dr. Groninger. “While this study was conducted among hospitalized patients, future studies should also evaluate VR pain therapies in outpatient settings and explore the impact of different VR content to improve different types of cancer-related pain in different patient populations. Perhaps one day, patients living with cancer pain will be prescribed a VR therapy to use at home to improve their pain experience, in addition to usual cancer pain management strategies like pain medications.”

Additional information  NOTE:  The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. A free abstract of this article will be available via the  CANCER  Newsroom  upon online publication. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, [email protected]

Full Citation: “Virtual reality for pain management in hospitalized patients with cancer: a randomized controlled trial.” Hunter Groninger, Diana Violanti, and Mihriye Mete. CANCER ; Published Online: April 8, 2024 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.35282). 

URL Upon Publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.35282

Author Contact: Allison Kapson, AVP Research Communications, Marketing & PR, MedStar Health, at [email protected] .

About the Journal CANCER  is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Cancer Society integrating scientific information from worldwide sources for all oncologic specialties. The objective of  CANCER  is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of information among oncologic disciplines concerned with the etiology, course, and treatment of human cancer.  CANCER  is published on behalf of the American Cancer Society by Wiley and can be accessed online. Follow CANCER on Twitter  @JournalCancer and Instagram @ACSJournalCancer , and stay up to date with the American Cancer Society Journals on LinkedIn .

About Wiley Wiley is a knowledge company and a global leader in research, publishing, and knowledge solutions. Dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge, Wiley serves the world’s researchers, learners, innovators, and leaders, helping them achieve their goals and solve the world's most important challenges. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at  Wiley.com . Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  LinkedIn  and  Instagram .

10.1002/cncr.35282

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Virtual reality for pain management in hospitalized patients with cancer: a randomized controlled trial

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Virtual reality sessions lessen cancer pain in clinical trial

A 10-minute virtual reality (VR) session significantly lessened pain in hospitalized patients with cancer in a recent clinical trial published in Cancer .

Most people with cancer experience pain, and treatment usually involves medications including opioids. VR sessions that immerse the user in new environments have been shown to be a noninvasive and nonpharmacologic way to lessen pain in different patient populations, but data are lacking in individuals with cancer.

To investigate, Hunter Groninger, MD, of Georgetown University School of Medicine and MedStar Health and his colleagues randomized 128 adults with cancer with moderate or severe pain to a 10-minute immersive VR intervention involving calm, pleasant environments or to a 10-minute two-dimensional guided imagery experience on an iPad tablet.

The investigators found that both interventions lessened pain, but VR sessions had a greater impact. Based on patient-reported scores from 0 to 10, patients in the guided imagery group reported an average decrease of 0.7 in pain scores, whereas those in the VR group reported an average drop of 1.4.

Twenty four hours after the assigned intervention, participants in the VR group reported sustained improvement in pain severity (1.7 points lower than baseline before the VR intervention) compared with participants in the guided imagery group (only 0.3 points lower than baseline before the active control intervention).

Participants assigned to the VR intervention also reported improvements related to pain "bothersomeness" (how much the pain bothered them, regardless of the severity of the pain) and general distress, and they expressed satisfaction with the intervention .

"Results from this trial suggest that immersive VR may be a useful non-medication strategy to improve the cancer pain experience," said Dr. Groninger.

"While this study was conducted among hospitalized patients, future studies should also evaluate VR pain therapies in outpatient settings and explore the impact of different VR content to improve different types of cancer-related pain in different patient populations. Perhaps one day, patients living with cancer pain will be prescribed a VR therapy to use at home to improve their pain experience, in addition to usual cancer pain management strategies like pain medications."

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Virtual Reality — The Concept of Virtual Reality

The Concept of Virtual Reality

• Categories: Virtual Reality

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Words: 689 |

Published: Feb 12, 2019

Words: 689 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, application.

• Entertainment

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