Applications of Virtual and Mixed Reality
Applications of Virtual and Mixed Reality
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  • 승인 2005.05.01 12:01
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Virtual Reality is a subject of rising importance since it is representative of the expanding interface between human beings and computers. Kim Jounghyun is an associate professor in computer science and engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). He has contributed the following article on virtual reality, following the first one in the Korea IT Times April issue.
Kim Jounghyun
In the last article, I introduced the field of virtual and mixed reality technologies, and explained how it aimed to create artificial and useful experiences to enhance our lives. Now let take a look at few such examples. Training has been one of the most natural application areas of virtual reality. In fact, much of the research in virtual reality has historically been driven by the military sector in an effort to develop more realistic and useful and effective training simulators (e.g., flight simulators, war game simulators, etc). For instance, the Institute of Creative Technology at the University of Southern California has teamed up with the US Army and is developing the ission Rehearsal Exercise (MRE)systems for training field soldiers to operate better in various stressful situations (See Figure 1). Another field of training where virtual reality is making a big wave is in the medical domain. For example, virtual reality technologies have been effectively used to train medical students and doctors, for example, for learning the human anatomy and practicing complicated surgeries. Speaking of the medical domain, virtual reality technologies has been successfully used for treating motion rehabilitation and mental disorders as well (not just training). Prof. Mel Slater and his colleagues at University College London have created a virtual reality based content to treat the fear of public speaking (See Figure 2). In this system, the patient is exposed to a gradually negative audience to gain confidence in public speaking. Other types of phobia and mental disorders have been treated using virtual reality system very successfully. The two unique characteristics of virtual reality, namely, the interactivity and feeling of user presence, are at the core of such success.
Another application area with a big potential is the education. Although the recent advances in multimedia have resulted in an explosion of educational digital contents, they still fall short in terms of providing a vivid and rich learning experience. For instance, students are limited to interacting with the content by mere mouse clicks and small display size. Examples in Figure 3 show how virtual and mixed reality technologies can further enhance the education experience. In Figure 3a, a user is looking at the interior of the virtual earth (using a head mounted display) overlaid on a real book.
This way, the user feels as if one is in the same space with the virtual volcano, and therefore, the educational experience is more direct and vivid. Using a similar mixed reality technology, we can associate 3D graphics with physical props (Figure 3b). By interacting tangibly with the 3D graphics through the props, the user can have a much more direct experience, for instance, in conducting a virtual experiment (e.g., connecting the bulb and battery, dissecting the fish). Figure 3c shows a case where a user is immersed in an imaginary life-sized molecular world. Such a visualization and interaction would not be possible using the usual desktop multimedia system.
There are many other examples of successful applications of virtual and mixed reality that limits of space prevents much discussion of in this column, such as in entertainment and games, design and architecture, engineering, and communication. While some of these applications might still seem exotic or science-fiction like, they will start to appear in our daily lives very soon. For one thing, the prices of devices (e.g., displays, sensors) often required for virtual and mixed reality systems are falling rapidly. In the next article, I will write on this very topic: what kind of displays and sensors are needed and how they work to create the virtual experience.

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