by Marc Steiner -

₇ What is Virtual Reality?

Nowadays, virtual reality has almost become a buzzword due to its repeated use in headlines, discussions and various news outlets. Consequently, we have become somewhat accustomed to hearing or reading about the topic, but are we all familiar with what it actually means? This blog entry aims to clear up any uncertainties about the basic definition of virtual reality and its possible use cases.

But what exactly does the word virtual reality envelop? What is the deciding factor that makes something a “virtual reality”? For this, there are various definitions which of course more or less differ in some areas, but come to a rather decisive conclusion overall. One point that could be made for the first uses of virtual reality, which by todays standards can be considered rather humorous, is the 1896 screening of footage of a train approaching the camera directly. Back then, it caused the entire audience to jump out of the way or run out of the room in fear of getting struck by said train. While this has turned into more of an urban legend over time, a simple cinema screen can hardly be considered virtual reality today.1

Figure 1: A scene out of L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat, 18962

The modern definition of virtual reality is much more focussing on immersion and interaction. For something to be considered VR today, it has to be a computer simulation resulting in a 3D visual (or otherwise stimulating) environment. This immerses the user in a virtual world, with a range of sensory in- and outputs, which shape the experience in real time. The more of the signals are sent, the higher the resulting immersion will be. Typically, this is achieved by a headset which covers the users eyes and plays back footage of whichever environment the user is supposed to find themselves in. The second tool is usually some form of controller or glove, which copies the users movement and allows them to interact with virtual objects. These instruments build the base for the users telepresence (the feeling of “being there”). This feeling can be expanded and reinforced though various technological means.3

Figure 2: A man exploring a virtual spaceship4

This has been a very general overview of what VR means. In future posts I will dive further into the topic and provide insights into different aspects, closing in further on my own approach. Seeing the difference between those two very different worlds of what could be considered “virtual reality” at the time, while taking into accoun the reasonably short time that has passed inbetween, holds exciting possibilities for future development in this area of technology.

Sources

3. Lowood, Henry E.. “virtual reality (VR).” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified November 18, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/technology/virtual-reality.

1. Virtual Reality Society. “History Of Virtual Reality”. Virtual Reality Society. Accessed November 24, 2023. https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html.

Images

4. Derks, Lauren. “VR 고글을 재생하는 남자”. Unsplash. Posted March 18, 2019. https://unsplash.com/photos/man-playing-vr-goggles-bCdIx5LjrYo.

2. Grundhauser, Eric. “Did a Silent Film About a Train Really Cause Audiences to Stampede?”. Atlas Obscure. Posted November 3, 2016. https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html.

by Marc Steiner -

₆ Research Topic 180

As can be seen in all of my previous blog posts, I was first struggling a bit with finding a topic for my research and then started diving into Character Animation and the animation industry. Throughout the time since my last blog post I had that topic in the back of my mind and was still struggling when trying to think of ways I could take this topic further to make up a full masters thesis with my current and future knowledge. Whenever I thought about it I was quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities, until recently I was sitting at work and realized that I could just pivot to the topic I was working with at that moment: Virtual Reality.

Virtual Reality in what context?

During the past two years of me working at mindconsole1 I had the opportunity to come in contact with very different approaches to virtual reality and how it can be used in various contexts. The main area I found myself developing into was the gamification of real world tasks, mainly larger scale operations, ranging from a treecutting learning environment2 for the bfw3 all the way to a digital reconstruction of a part of berlin4 for the Berlin Fire Department5.

Figure 1: Treecutting environment in use6

During these projects I worked on the 3d construction of said environments, developing of functionalities and general project management. That is precisely why I decided that this type of work would be the perfect foundation for my master’s thesis.

Figure 2: The Berlin Ubahn station in the digital environment7

Further directions

Having this theoretical and practical knowledge as part of the thesis I would also like to branch out and take it further than that. What exactly that is going to look like will be decided in the future (and the next few blog posts), but overall I would like to analyse the topic in regards to the psychology aspect of such virtual training environments and possibly the way gamification can help shape important real life training digitally.

Sources

5. Berliner Feuerwehr. “Willkommen bei der Berliner Feuerwehr”. Berliner Feuerwehr, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.berliner-feuerwehr.de/.

3. bfw. “Home – FAST Traunkirchen.” FAST Traunkirchen, Accessed November 15, 2023.
https://fasttraunkirchen.at/.

2. Goebel, Tina. “Virtual-Reality-Training Macht Forstarbeit Sicherer.” science.ORF.at, October 7, 2023. https://science.orf.at/stories/3221561/.

1. mindconsole. “Work.” MINDCONSOLE, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://mindconsole.net/.

4. mindconsole. “BERLIN U5 STATIONS XVR ENVIRONMENT.” MINDCONSOLE, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://mindconsole.net/project/berlin-u5-stations-environment.

Images

6. Goebel, Tina. “Virtual-Reality-Training Macht Forstarbeit Sicherer.” science.ORF.at, October 7, 2023. https://science.orf.at/stories/3221561/.

7. mindconsole. “BERLIN U5 STATIONS XVR ENVIRONMENT.” MINDCONSOLE, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://mindconsole.net/project/berlin-u5-stations-environment.