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284 11. Summing Up
a 3D audio scene as well as painting haptic surfaces that we feel rather than
see. Sadly, this is difficult, and it may be a long time before it is possible
to render acoustically or haptically as realistic a scene as one can do
graphically.
Having described all the relevant technology involved in VR, we then
tried to give you an understanding of the internals of delivering the VR ex-
perience; that is, the software processing that must be undertaken to deliver
this experience. This is not a trivial topic, but if you want to build y our own
virtual environment then you should be able to grasp the basics of this, e.g.,
graphics rendering, the Z-buffer, lighting etc.
To complete our first section, we also introduced the concept of computer
vision. For some time, the sciences of computer vision (with its applications
in artificial intelligence and robotics) and computer graphics have been con-
sidered separate disciplines, even to the extent of using different notations for
expressing exactly the same thing. But, for VR and the increasingly impor-
tant augmented reality (AR), we need to bring these together and use both as if
they are one. For example, we can utilize computer vision to create VR from
pictures rather than build it graphically from mesh models. This is an ideal
way of creating the surrounding environment for certain VR experiences, e.g.,
walkthroughs.
Now, at the end of Part I, we hope that you have read enough on the
concepts of VR to help you answer whether VR is appropriate and suitable to
help enhance your own application.
The Future for VR
VR still has a lot of undiscovered potential for use in the future, but we should
notexpecttoomuchofit.
Ultimately, we would like to achieve a VR that is indistinguishable from
reality. But is this possible? Virtual humans whom you can touch and who
can touch you are always going to be figments of the imagination. Artificial
intelligence may one day offer virtual actors that can act autonomously and
intelligently, but they can’t be made to take physical form using any type of
projection system.
Is it possible to predict the future for VR? We think the answer has to be
no, but we do believe that today’s uses as summarized in Chapter 3 will only
form a small portfolio of the areas in which VR can play a part. Provided
we know our technological limitations and use the possibilities wisely, VR