What is virtual reality: properties, classification, equipment - a detailed overview of the field. Total immersion: how VR apps help children learn

About what trends in the IT world are worth paying attention to in 2017. One of the points was virtual reality, and for good reason. Interest in VR has grown greatly over the past 2–3 years and continues to grow, more and more different equipment and technologies are appearing, and most importantly, new ideas that require developers to implement.

In this introductory article we will talk about the properties, types and areas of application of VR - this will help better navigate those who want to start their journey in a developing and relevant field.

A virtual reality is a computer-generated three-dimensional environment with which the user can interact, fully or partially immersing himself in it.

VR Properties

It is rare to find a complete set, but below are the features that you need to focus on when creating virtual reality.

• Plausible - supports the user's sense of reality of what is happening.
• Interactive - provides interaction with the environment.
• Machine-generated - is based on powerful hardware.
• Available for study - provides the opportunity to explore a large, detailed world.
• Creating an effect of presence - involves both the user's brain and body in the process, affecting as many senses as possible.

Types of VR

Immersive VR

This type implies the presence of three factors:

1. A believable simulation of the world with a high degree of detail.
2. A high-performance computer capable of recognizing user actions and responding to them in real time.
3. Special equipment connected to a computer that provides an immersive effect while exploring the environment. We'll talk about it in more detail a little later.

VR without immersion

Not everyone and not always needs complete immersion in an alternative reality. Non-immersive simulations are simulations with high-quality images, sound and controllers, ideally broadcast on a widescreen screen. Also included in this category are projects such as archaeological 3D reconstructions of ancient settlements or models of buildings that architects create to demonstrate their work to clients. All of the examples listed above do not fully meet VR standards, but they allow you to experience the simulated world several levels deeper than other multimedia tools, and therefore are classified as virtual reality.

VR with shared infrastructure

This includes “virtual worlds” like Second Life and Minecraft. The only property listed above that they lack for a complete set is creating the effect of presence: such worlds do not provide complete immersion (in the case of Minecraft this only applies to standard controls - the game already has a version for virtual reality that supports Oculus Rift and Gear helmets VR). However, virtual worlds have a good level of interaction with other users, which is often lacking in “real” virtual reality products.

Virtual worlds are not only used in the gaming industry: thanks to platforms such as 3D Immersive Collaboration and Open Cobalt, 3D work and study spaces can be organized - this is called “immersive collaboration”.

Creating the possibility of simultaneous interaction in the community and complete immersion is now one of the important directions in the development of VR (remember Minecraft).

VR based on Internet technologies

Computer scientists have developed a way to create virtual worlds on the Internet using Virtual Reality Markup Language technology, similar to HTML. It was neglected for a while and is now considered outdated, but with Facebook's growing interest in VR, the future of virtual reality promises to be based not only on interaction, but also on Internet technologies.

There is also AR, not to be confused with VR

AR (augmented reality) is augmented reality. Yes, PokemonGo (which, by the way, everyone has already forgotten about) belongs precisely to this category, although it is a somewhat simplified example. Unlike VR, in which we deliberately isolate ourselves from the environment, augmented reality allows us to create an overlay of the virtual world on the real one in the user’s field of perception. This way we can simultaneously receive information from two sources.

Technically, AR is not virtual reality, but the questions that arise when creating it are similar to those that arise when creating VR (for example, how to get the device to calculate its exact location and adjust to the smallest changes made by the user in real time). Therefore, AR and VR technologies are considered quite closely related.

1. For a computer - work in conjunction with a PC or consoles: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR.
2. For mobile devices - they are called headsets and work in conjunction with smartphones, they are a holder with lenses: Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, YesVR.
3. Independent virtual reality glasses are independent devices that run special or adapted OS: Sulon Q, DeePoon, AuraVisor.

An alternative for those who don’t want to ruin their hair, the images in this case are not broadcast into the helmet, but onto the walls of the room, often represented by MotionParallax3D displays (although for a more complete UX in some of these rooms you need to wear 3D glasses or even combine CAVE and HMD ). There is an opinion that VR rooms are much better than VR helmets: higher resolution, there is no need to carry a bulky device, in which some people even get motion sickness, and self-identification is easier due to the fact that the user has the opportunity to constantly see himself. However, purchasing such a room, of course, will be much more expensive than buying a helmet.

Datagloves

To satisfy the instinctive need of the user to touch with his hands what he finds interesting in the process of exploring the environment, gloves were created with sensors to capture the movements of the hands and fingers. The technical support for such a process varies - it is possible to use fiber optic cables, strain gauge or piezoelectric sensors, as well as electromechanical devices (such as potentiometers).

Joysticks (gamepads) / Wands

Special devices for interacting with a virtual environment, containing built-in position and motion sensors, as well as buttons and scroll wheels, like a mouse. Nowadays they are increasingly being made wireless to avoid inconvenience and clutter when connecting to a computer.

VR Applications

Education

VR is used to simulate training environments for activities that require prior training, such as flying an airplane, skydiving, and even brain surgery.

The science

VR improves and accelerates the study of the molecular and atomic world: immersed in a virtual environment, a scientist can handle particles as if they were LEGO bricks.

Medicine

In addition to helping train surgeons, VR technology also proves useful during the operations themselves: the doctor, using special equipment, can control the movements of the robot, thereby gaining better control of the process.

Industrial design and architecture

Instead of building expensive models of cars, airplanes or buildings, you can create a virtual model that allows you not only to examine the project from the inside, but also to test its technical characteristics.

Games and entertainment

At the moment, this is the most famous and widest area of ​​​​use of VR: it includes both games and cinema, virtual tourism and visiting various events.

As we said, VR continues to integrate with different areas of our lives and has evolved from a science fiction myth into (virtual) reality, so choose an area to develop and go ahead. An international organization is currently standardizing VR technologies

United 3D Labs interactive graphics laboratory develops virtual reality solutions, including:

• industrial VR simulators;
• virtual reality simulators;
• museum exhibitions and interactive VR installations;
• virtual tours;
• games.

Virtual reality developed by United 3D Labs for the MIREA Branch in Fryazino.

The Mystery of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is perhaps the most mysterious and popular part of computer graphics. Many science fiction books and films extol its benefits and scare the possible consequences of its use. Virtual reality takes the user into an artificial world created by developers. Unlike augmented reality, where the basis is a real image transmitted by a video camera, in virtual reality all objects are created in computer graphics development programs.

Various applications of virtual reality technologies have been known for several decades; they are actively used in the military sphere, the space industry, and medicine. Ordinary users actually encountered virtual reality quite recently - with the appearance of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality glasses on wide sale in 2016, as well as all kinds of VR helmets for mobile phones.

Not only VR glasses

It should be noted that virtual reality is far from just glasses and helmets. Multi-screen configurations, CAVE rooms (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment), Virtual Reality Video Wall with a viewing angle of more than 180 degrees, etc., all these solutions are also designed to transfer the user into the virtual world. These systems are very expensive and extremely complex from a technical point of view, but at the same time, they have a number of advantages, starting with the main one - no need to wear rather uncomfortable virtual reality glasses.

Application of virtual reality

Of course, first of all, the creators of computer games seized on the opportunities offered by affordable VR glasses - transferring the user into the virtual world of a game is, of course, much more interesting (and promises much greater profits) than showing this very world on a monitor screen. But relatively cheap consumer virtual reality glasses have more serious uses. What was previously available only to the military, who bought a pair of glasses for 50 thousand dollars, is now available to museums, schools and institutes. All kinds of realistic virtual tours, reconstructions of objects and events, virtual experiments, the opportunity to see with your own eyes what cannot be seen in real life - these are just a small part of the possibilities offered by virtual reality glasses. And of course, industrial enterprises have seized on the unique capabilities of virtual reality to create realistic simulators and simulators.

Standalone virtual reality headset

It is worth paying special attention to the segment of wireless virtual reality glasses, such as HTC Focus or Oculus Go. They, of course, lose to their older brothers Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in terms of complexity and graphics quality, but they have a huge advantage - mobility. They are not wired to a desktop computer. And they have enough computing power to display projects of the same architectural visualization or a small simulator.

United 3D Labs interactive graphics laboratory invites you to our demo room. We will be happy to show the virtual reality solutions we have developed and demonstrate the main models of VR glasses existing on the market, talk about their strengths and weaknesses.

I don’t know about you, but personally, I’ve been waiting for a year and a half for VR to finally start breaking up the market. First there were cardboard Google Cardboards, which served as an ideal gift for a friend or wife. Then Microsoft released a colorful video for the Super Bowl final, showing the far from reality capabilities of Hololens. And of course, in 2016, we watched and read a lot of reviews about incredibly cool, freshly baked VR devices, and also played the first high-quality data-oriented games on devices.

With all this, the popularity of VR applications is still far from the given applications, but this does not reduce interest at all. So if a revolution is looming, now is the time to take the banner into our own hands. But how?

Simple as one-two-three

You can create mobile applications without having a suitable smartphone at hand, but creating a VR application without the appropriate device is almost impossible. Therefore, your first step will be to buy any, even primitive, VR adapter.

The next step is to install the correct “engine”, which in our case will be Unity. Today, it is best configured not only for creating VR applications from scratch, but also for translating existing 3D creations into this format. By the way, while wandering around the Internet, you may come across the opinion that Unity’s VR option was originally designed to interact with the Google Cardboard SDK, so using it on iOS will cause a lot of difficulties. The first part is partially true, but the second is not. In any case, no real problems were noticed.

The third and main step is the application development environment, these are standard and well-known IDEs, there is no fundamental difference in this matter.

More to help

If we are talking about creating mobile applications, then this particular set of tools is considered optimal, but depending on the type of your creation, you can use others.

Unreal Engine
Starting from version 4, you will also have access to the capabilities of working with VR graphics. However, due to some complexity and high cost of the platform, it would be hard to call Unreal a priority option.

InstaVR
A web service that allows you to create your own VR application in a few clicks. Perfect for implementing simple ideas, be it landscape visualization or a 3D virtual console.

Wonda VR
A specialized service for creating VR videos. It’s really easy to do prototyping, video stitching, and applying effects here, but the price starts at 499 €. However, there is a 14-day trial version to evaluate the capabilities.

Application for processing photos with the ability to convert to VR format.

Splash
A similar service, available only for iOS. It is still under development, but already has good functionality.

Differences from game development

There are no fundamental differences. From the point of view of developing VR applications and 3D games, the approach is almost completely the same, the difference lies only in small details. Moreover, if the quality of 3D games today directly depends on both the graphical component and the plot, then VR allows you to neglect one of the aspects and remain successful.

Useful literature

Due to its specific nature, there is not much useful literature in the world about creating popular and beautiful VR applications. So let's get acquainted with the superficial educational literature.

Google VR - let's start with the official guide from Google, which tells how to turn a simple box into a miracle entertainment;

Microsoft VR - similar step-by-step instructions, but from Microsoft;

How to make a VR app with zero experience - a useful and visual article that will help you create your first application;

Creating a Gear VR app in Unity Free- and here is a training video on how to create a VR candy using your direct hands and Unity.

The education system is quite conservative. Despite many innovative developments and discoveries, the educational sector practically does not use revolutionary teaching methods, mostly preferring the “classics”. But information technology offers new rules for this area - training in augmented reality format.

Training in virtual reality format

First of all, it is worth noting that augmented and virtual reality are not the same thing. To create virtual reality you will need glasses that will draw a new world. Components for creating virtual reality (powerful and modern hardware, glasses) are quite expensive. Another stumbling block for the introduction of virtual reality in the field of education may be the “loss of contact” between teacher and student: the student travels in the virtual world, forgetting about the reality in the classroom.

With additional reality, things are much simpler. Augmented reality is an innovative way to demonstrate educational material. A dull and very hackneyed picture comes to life. This not only does not interfere, but also contributes to a greater extent (interests) the interaction between students and the teacher.

The development of AR (augmented reality) is quite young - less than 10 years have passed since its creation, and it is not yet widely used in the education system (even in developed countries). It has found its wide application in museums (“revitalizing” objects) and street advertising.
To put the system into action, you don’t need sophisticated and expensive gadgets: a camera (even a camera in a smartphone will do), a screen (TV, tablet, phone), software compatible with your existing device, and an AR marker. A drawing, drawing, graphic image or real object (building, postcard or chocolate bar) can be used as a marker. The application identifies the proposed marker and plays a graphic or animation on the screen.

VR makes learning fun

How this happens in practice. There is a regular textbook on the desk in front of the student. The illustration in the book shows the camera of a gadget with installed software. The program recognizes book drawings as a marker, and instead of a flat drawing of an atom, a three-dimensional object appears that can be viewed from all sides. Lessons with augmented reality allow students to become part of ongoing processes in both the micro (molecular level) and macro world (at the level of the solar system and galaxies). Hardly anyone would want to skip such physics lessons.

Also, many people find it much easier to perceive information received through eye contact rather than through a formula or drawing. Thus, this technology will help overcome the barrier of acquiring knowledge for schoolchildren and students without extra effort and serious investments. AR will be useful in developing spatial thinking.

From developments to reality.

The startup HoloGroup (Russia) is today actively working on introducing augmented reality technology into the educational everyday life of schoolchildren.
HoloGroup became the winner of the independent award “Time of Innovation 2016” in the category “Computer and Wireless Technologies” in the “Discovery of the Year” nomination.

Virtual reality training from HoloStydy ©photo holo.group

A team of specialists is working on developing lessons in AR format, adapted for Microsoft HoloLens (an application they developed). With the help of this application you can already get acquainted with the structure of our planet.
Augmented reality turns monotonous lessons into an exciting adventure.

Today, virtual reality technology helps museums move to a whole new level of interaction with visitors. With the help of panoramic video and 3D graphics, everyone has the opportunity to see museum archives that are closed to the public, lost exhibits or reconstructed historical monuments. In addition, virtual reality is a great way to visit remote architectural sites and exhibition halls anywhere in the world. Our article will help you understand devices for creating virtual reality, tell you about the history of this technology and the use of virtual reality in museums.

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Classmates

360° video technology allows you to create panoramic films with varying degrees of interactivity, where the viewer controls the viewing angle at will. This video can be viewed in a virtual reality helmet, using a special application on a smartphone or on a personal computer display.

The experience of tourists who took an excursion to an ancient pyramid or visited an exhibition in the Louvre, which was previously available to few, can now be shared by everyone through complete immersion in virtual reality.

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer simulation of a real or fictional world into which a person immerses and interacts. Not just an artificial world, but a complex and well-functioning system of devices capable of synchronously influencing the senses.

It seems that virtual reality was only invented and created in recent decades. However, this idea began to be implemented almost 100 years ago.

History of virtual reality

Link Trainer during its use at an RAF station in 1943

In 1956, cinematographer Morton Heilig, later called the “father of virtual reality,” set out to develop a sophisticated machine that could simulate riding a motorcycle through the streets of Brooklyn. He wanted to create a “cinema of the future,” the main idea of ​​which was to completely immerse a person in a specially prepared film using shaking, noise, wind and smells. The project was called "Sensorama" and was patented. The principle of this device became the basis for the creation of modern 4D cinemas.

The next major breakthrough in the field of VR technologies and the creation of the virtual reality that we know took place in 1977. The first modern VR system was the Aspen Movie Map, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This computer program simulated a walk through the city of Colorado, giving the opportunity to choose between different ways of displaying the area: summer and winter versions of the virtual walk through Aspen were based on real photographs.

Demonstration of the work “Aspen Film Maps”

Until the end of the eighties, virtual reality technology was considered promising, but soon, due to the complexity of implementation and the high cost of equipment, interest in it faded. People started talking about virtual reality again only in 2012, when devices for immersion in virtual reality appeared, available to a wide range of people.

Virtual reality technologies

Cameras for shooting 360° video

Cameras for shooting 360° video

Binaural sound

In computer games, this problem is solved using special software that specifies the location of sound sources in virtual space. However, with the advent of the 360° Video format, the need arose to record sound extremely accurately - the way a person standing at a certain point hears it.

For this purpose, so-called binaural sound is used - it is recorded on special microphones that are shaped like the human ear.

Devices for recording binaural sound

Virtual reality helmets

Gear VR - virtual reality headset from Samsung

There are two types of virtual reality helmets: full-fledged ones, which have their own processor and connect to a computer, and mobile ones, into which a smartphone with a special application is inserted.

Full headsets (such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR) have two built-in displays - when you put the device on, they are a few centimeters from your eyes. The same picture is transmitted to the displays, but with a slight offset. In front of the displays there are two image-distorting lenses that create a three-dimensional image effect. To allow you to look around in the virtual world when you turn your head, the helmet has several sensors: a magnetometer, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Another one - a tracker with infrared LEDs - should stand on the table, look at the person and record his position in space. It is required for games where freedom of movement is allowed. A USB cable is also connected to the device for data transfer and power.

Oculus Rift virtual reality helmet

The most advanced virtual reality headset today is the Oculus Rift. A distinctive feature of the Oculus Rift is the lens method of constructing an image - the viewer wearing a helmet looks at the stereo image not directly, but through special aspherical lenses. With the help of lenses, it was possible to significantly expand the viewing angle, making it close to human biological vision, thanks to which the helmet provides an unusually deep immersion in virtual reality. This feature determined the future fate of the glasses - the project became one of the most dynamically developing in the industry, experimental applications for Oculus Rift began to be created all over the world, and in 2014 one of the record deals in the industry took place - Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion.

While the Oculus Rift is not available for retail sale, they can be ordered on the developer's website for $599.

The simplest mobile virtual reality headsets are a piece of cardboard, a pair of plastic lenses and a smartphone as a screen.

Google Cardboard ( translated from English - cardboard) is an experiment by Google in the field of virtual reality, which is based on a cardboard helmet into which an Android smartphone is inserted. The smartphone divides the image into a stereo pair and even tracks the position of the head.

Google Cardboard

You can assemble the helmet yourself or buy it for $15. Today it is the most common helmet in the world, which was produced in about five million copies.

Other Cardboard mobile helmets are mostly made from cardboard and metal to ensure the device lasts as long as possible.

In addition, there are mobile virtual reality helmets made of plastic with the ability to adjust the position of the lenses, a built-in fan, a volume button and a battery for recharging a smartphone (for example, Homido, Durovis Dive, Gear VR and others).

Binoculars

Virtual reality binocular developed by the Multimedia Solutions Laboratory

With the help of a binocular you can travel back hundreds of years and see reconstructions of historical objects and events with your own eyes with the effect of complete immersion.

Interactivity in virtual reality

3D graphics in virtual reality

Such elements can be:

Incorporating various additional content into 360° video (images, videos, hyperlinks, etc.) – “picture-in-picture” function

Transition from a 360° video image into a simulated 3D reconstructed reality space.

Interactive interaction makes it possible to choose the route: the user, at certain points in the video (forks), can choose the desired continuation of the excursion, or go back. Pointing at an element is carried out by turning the head, which is tracked using a virtual reality helmet. By holding the crosshair over the selected element for a few seconds, the element is activated and the next segment of the 360° video is launched, for example, a video of the next exhibition hall appears.

On the “forward” passages, there may be a guide in the form of a three-dimensional animation, talking about the exhibits. If desired, the user can skip viewing a segment of the video by pressing a key on the keyboard or using an interactive element.

The second form of interactive interaction is the ability to move from 360° video to a virtual 3D reconstruction. At certain points in the video tour, an element appears, activating which the user moves into a 3D reconstruction with the ability to freely move in virtual space and the ability to return to the original video.

Examples of using virtual reality technologies in museums

The Goodby Silverstein & Partners agency was hired to create a VR version of the film. The artists painstakingly examined the canvas and recreated its 3D version in great detail. The project also actively involved artists from the Disney studio, who had previously collaborated with the museum to create the animated film Destino. The result of their collaboration was a project for the Oculus Rift virtual helmet, with the help of which anyone can find themselves inside the famous canvas.

Virtual reality at the Salvador Dali Museum

With the WoofbertVR app for Samsung Gear VR, you can visit the world's most famous art museums from the comfort of your home. A tour of London's Courtauld Gallery is now available. The virtual walk is accompanied by comments from the famous British writer, author of graphic novels Neil Gaiman. The idea to create such an application came to the mind of Woofbert executive director Robert Humvey, who was unable to get to the National Gallery during his visit to Washington.

WoofbertVR app for Samsung Gear VR virtual reality glasses

In 2016, the Laboratory of Multimedia Solutions created a panoramic tour for visitors to the Museum of the History of the City of Monchegorsk. Museum guests will be able to take a virtual tour of the workshops of the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company and see the entire production cycle of non-ferrous metals by wearing a virtual reality helmet and launching a special application on their smartphone.

Filming of a virtual tour of the Kola MMC workshops

There are many options for using virtual reality in exhibition activities. Our team of specialists will help you choose the best solution
specifically for your museum and will help implement the project at the highest level.

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