Abstract :
Virtual reality (VR) is the popular term for a class of technologies that promise to dramatically redefine the ways humans interact with computers. The simplest way to conceptualize VR is to think of VR´s ultimate goal: first person point of view networked simulations in which humans navigate about a 3D environment, interact with the environment and with computer generated human forms, and in which users can not differentiate between the simulation and the real world. Perhaps the best known example of such an experience is the “Holodeck” on Star Trek´s Starship Enterprise. To achieve such a goal, major engineering advances are required in a variety of disciplines, in addition to a few basic scientific breakthroughs which may never occur. However, as the tools of VR inexorably advance, more and more applications will be found where even current “imperfect” VR systems provide order of magnitude improvements over conventional approaches. The paper is intended to present a brief overview of current VR technology and applications, key areas of near term research and key scientific challenges
