This course provides an introduction to the current state of the art in virtual reality, helps to set the foundations for a common taxonomy of virtual reality technologies and applications, and introduces the VR software tools commonly available for building VR applications.
Virtual reality and virtual environments
Introduction. Evolution of imagination. Where did the VR systems come from? The benefits of virtual reality. Video presentation "Cyberspace I".
The historical development of VR
Scientific landmarks. What is the virtual reality for? Video presentation "Cyberspace II"
Real reality
What is the real reality for? Cognition of the real world. Sensations and complexes of sensations. Fundamental philosophical trends about recognition of the external world. "Thing-in-itself" and "thing-for-us". Discussion: "What if we all are in the Matrix?" Video presentation "Cyberspace III".
Human factors
The eye. The ear. The somatic senses. Equilibrium. Sensory conflicts in VR. Motion in cyberspace.
A generic VR system
The virtual environment. The computer environment. VR technology. Modes of interaction. VR systems. Video presentation "Performance Animation".
Virtual reality hardware
Sensor hardware. Head-coupled displays. Acoustic hardware. Integrated VR systems. Multi-media presentation "VR Madness".
Virtual reality applications
Engineering. Entertainment. Science. Training. Virtual Surgery. Virtual computer art. The concepts of virtual office and virtual corporation. Visit to the Centre for Graphics and Imaging Technologies and CamTech. Project "Virtual Campus".
3D computer graphics for VR systems
The virtual world space. Positioning the virtual observer. The perspective projection. Human vision. Stereo perspective projection. 3D clipping. Colour theory. Illumination models. Reflection models. Shading algorithms. Hidden-surface removal. Realism. Stereographic images. Video "The art of illusion" and "VR surgery".
Geometric modelling for VR systems
Geometric object representations. Geometric transformations. Modelling transformations. Instances. Picking. Flying. Scaling the virtual environment. Collision detection. Tutorials. Video "SIGGRAPH video".
Animating the virtual environment
The dynamics of numbers. The animation of objects. Shape and object inbetweening. Free-form deformation. Tutorial. SIGGRAPH animation.
Physical simulation
Objects falling in a gravitation field. Rotating wheels. Elastic collisions. Projectiles. Simple pendulums. Springs. Flight dynamics of an aircraft. Video "Six degrees of freedom". Tutorials.
Virtual reality software (hands-on experience)
Modelling virtual worlds. Physical simulation. VR toolkits. VR in the net - VRML. Hand-on experience: "My first VR world". Multi-media presentation "SIGGRAPH visual proceedings".