Virtual Reality: Scientific and Technological Challenges

Despite widespread popular and professional interest in virtual reality, research and development efforts in synthetic environments (SE) - the field encompassing virtual environments, augmented reality, and teleoperation - have remained fragmented. Virtual Reality is the first serious, integrated treatment of the topic, presenting current knowledge from several disciplines along with thought-provoking vignettes about a future in which SE is commonplace. This volume discusses all aspects of creating a system that will allow human operators to see, hear, smell, taste, move about, give commands, respond to conditions, and manipulate objects effectively in a virtual environment. The committee of computer scientists, engineers, and psychologists on the leading edge of SE development explores the potential applications of SE in the areas of manufacturing, medicine, education, training, scientific visualization, and teleoperation in hazardous environments. The committee also charts directions for development of improved SE technology, needed studies of human behavior and evaluation of SE systems, and government policy and infrastructure.