What Are the Different Types of Virtual Reality Environments?

The essence of virtual reality technology is to try to replace the real world with virtual things, but augmented reality technology is to amplify information in the actual environment.

Augmented reality

What will a computer user interface look like in 10 years? If we speculate based on existing systems, the rapid increase in high-resolution displays is obvious: from small handheld or wrist-mounted devices to large screens embedded in desks, walls or floors, these displays will undoubtedly be Become everywhere. But I and many other computer scientists believe that a completely different type is called "augmented virtual reality

The user interface (augmentedreality, AR) will have a far-reaching impact on the development of future computers and our interaction with computers.

Compared with VR (virtual reality technology), in AR (augmented virtual reality technology), the real surrounding environment plays a very important role. The main purpose of AR (enhanced virtual reality technology) is to place artificial virtual objects in real environments, or real-time movies in real environments. But there is a very practical problem with this: the real environment is more difficult to control than the virtual environment, and there are too many variables! Unlike the virtual environment, which can be modified arbitrarily. AR "augmented virtual reality" systems use some of the same hardware technology as virtual reality (VR), but there is one fundamental difference: VR (virtual reality) attempts to replace the real world, while AR "augmented virtual reality" Amplify information in the actual environment.
In today's AR (augmented virtual reality) research, tracking technology plays a very important role. After mechanical and electromagnetic tracking technology, optical tracking technology has become more and more important and welcomed. Although the infrared method can obtain relatively high accuracy and tracking speed; while the tracking method based on the mark pattern can also use ordinary digital cameras to achieve the purpose of image recognition and tracking. However, the most challenging and futuristic aspect of AR technology today is the "markerless tracking" approach.

Just think, to what extent can AR be universal? When the repairman inspects the faulty part of the equipment, he can see some focused instructions that indicate which parts need to be inspected. As long as the surgeon checks the real-time visceral ultrasound scan, he can see that the image equivalent to X-rays is superimposed on the patient's body. Firefighters can see the pattern of the building in fire, avoiding risk factors that were otherwise invisible. The soldiers could see the position of the enemy sniper through the message from the drone. Tourists glanced down the street and saw the reviews of every restaurant in the area. Computer gamers can walk to work while fighting a few three-meter-high aliens.
Getting the right information at the right time and place is the key to all such applications. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Palm and PocketPC use wireless networks and global positioning system (GPS) receivers that continuously track handheld devices to provide timely information. However, AR is special in the way it presents information: Instead of using a separate display, it is integrated with the user's senses. When the user's attention is switched back and forth between the real world and the computer screen, this interface can minimize the extra effort he spends. In AR "augmented virtual reality", the world seen by users is almost integrated with the computer interface.

Although AR sounds like science fiction, researchers have been prototyping systems for more than 30 years. In the 1960s, computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland and his students at Harvard and Utah had already developed the first system. In the 1970s and 1980s, several people engaged in AR research in the US Air Force Armstrong Laboratory, the Space Administration's Smith Research Center, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It wasn't until the early 1990s that several scientists at the Boeing Company coined the term "augmented virtual reality." They were developing an experimental AR system to assist workers in assembling pipeline equipment. As hardware costs fall, some necessary laboratory equipment is no longer so expensive, and AR research has seen fruitful results for the past 10 years. Since 1998, scientists have held AR conferences every year.
Ever since Su Zelan first came to the fore, despite major changes in information technology, the main components needed to build an AR "augmented virtual reality" system remain the same: monitors, trackers, and drawing computers and software. In recent years, the efficiency of these components has been greatly improved, and it is only possible to design experimental systems that can be quickly developed into commercial products.