How does virtual reality help us?

How can virtual reality change our lives?

Virtual reality is reinventing the world of games and entertainment, but it would be a waste of potential to ignore what this technology can do for sectors such as education, healthcare, construction, research and even public management.

Scientists and innovators are dedicating themselves to exploring the possibilities of virtual reality applications. VR is moving from being something very futuristic and imaginative, to becoming a resource that will truly transform our own reality, and for the better.

Social networks

The next step for social networks would be to make networking less digital and more in-person, and virtual reality can drive that feat by creating communities where the user can create an avatar and interact with friends in virtual locations.

Since last year, Facebook has been testing and presenting some initiatives with VR. In April of this year, the social network launched a beta version of Facebook Spaces, a virtual reality application that promises to create virtual spaces and allow users to chat with each other and explore 360° photos and videos.

Public administration

Virtual reality can also be an excellent resource for public management to develop projects, test initiatives and conduct research, all before investing and starting a major project. This makes it possible to save resources, increase the chances of success and avoid unnecessary inconvenience for citizens.

In the UK, the government is starting to use VR to create scenarios and test a new generation of transport technologies. The project is a research facility with a large omnidirectional treadmill on which participants can move around. As a result, researchers collect and analyze data on how people react to new transport services.

Construction and architecture

VR can represent a major transformation for the construction and architecture market. When designing the project, it is possible to develop an immersive model of each space in VR and make simulations with different plants, materials, and footage. At the time of sale, it will be possible to present a virtual decorated model, as a realistic representation of the final project, but for a reduced cost.

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Positive impact of virtual reality on society

Virtual reality (VR) is continuing to grow in popularity, and with that, so are people’s enterprises about this new technology.

Going to new places

Virtual reality gives people the capability to go places each across the world and external space, from the South Pole to the Moon.

This capability is formerly being used in academy to enrich assignment plans and is taking seniors’ minds to places that their bodies won’t allow them to go presently. It turns out that adventure is just a VR headset down.

Experiencing the world in a new way

VR allows people to witness the world like they no way have ahead. You can paint in skyline, stand on top of a cascade, and trip from Machu Picchu to Venice sand in an moment, and indeed go to an open house right from your living room. Virtual reality has opened up a new world, full of endless excitement and opportunities.

Teleconferencing

 In this time of the global COVID-19 epidemic, virtual reality has come a handy tool for a lot of businesses. Business meetings can be held digitally without the need for people to gather together in a conference room. A simulated business terrain can be created with the applicable software, so the health of everyone is taken care of. It also helps to reduce the stress of moving from one position to another.

Brain and skills improvement

VR technology is gradually being adopted by businesses and organizations to train employees to be more productive. It is mostly used by companies that have high chances of occupational hazards. Firefighters, construction workers, and telecommunications personnel are among the set of employees who undergo VR training to improve their skills set and become more adept at their roles in quicker time. The medical industry uses VR technology to save lives, especially in teaching students and health practitioners on topics such as surgery. VR training has been shown to improve the retention and recalling of events by the human brain as well.

How does virtual reality work?

Virtual reality is similar to interacting with objects in the real world, with the difference that this is a computer simulation. Today’s virtual reality technology includes everything from virtual reality glasses and goggles, to advanced controls, surround sound systems, platforms for walking and controlling the action, and much more.

Although there may be other devices that offer Virtual Reality service, but we will specifically focus on the Oculus Rift model, without much loss of generality in relation to the others, as they respect the same operating principle.

Characteristics

• Accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, with an update rate of 1000 Hz
• Positioning detection through an external camera with an infrared CMOS sensor
• Two 5.7 inch Super AMOLED screens with a resolution of 960×1080 (one per eye)

Operation

1.  Lenses: establish a focal point for the user to experience the sense of depth.
2.  Motion detection: The Oculus Rift is equipped with a gyroscope, accelerometer and a compass to detect the user’s head movement. By aggregating the data received from these three sensors it is possible to quickly and accurately detect the orientation of the user’s head. Position detection makes it possible to detect the position of the user’s head in the three-dimensional plane relative to the sensor. When the user leans in to examine a virtual object, the environment will also zoom in to match the movement. This allows you to add a new layer of interactivity and realism.
3. Screens: The system uses two high-resolution AMOLED screens, one for each eye. The working principle takes advantage of the way humans use binocular vision to gain depth perception. When the two 2D images are distorted and viewed at close range, it creates the feeling that the user is in a virtual world.

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Advantages of virtual reality 

Better than reality

The visuals seem to be better than reality. Virtual reality technology is used in video games and users feel that they are in another world. In video games with controls, vibrations and other sensations can be transmitted. The use of sounds and graphics in video has been increasingly incorporated into virtual reality. Generate great gaming experiences for users. Also, experiences in games can feel realistic, for example, when fighting against zombies.

Used in various fields

Virtual reality has been used in different fields due to its extensive characteristics. It is being used in the military, in education, and in other fields. Add an extra dimension to learning. Virtual reality, for example, is used in aviation and architecture to see the final product.

Amazing user experiences

Users have excellent experiences with virtual reality. Users feel that they can experience real places, seeing and hearing real things. Many people want to use virtual reality technology more and more. This is very useful for people with disabilities, because with virtual reality, they can feel that they can explore the real world. Films produced for virtual reality give the audience the possibility to see all the surroundings in each scene. Therefore, it creates interactive visions for users.

Provide detailed views

Virtual reality can generate a detailed view of a place. For example, virtual reality can be used for tourism, making people enter places with ease. It gives a detailed view of the place you want to visit. In addition, users can see and navigate to points of importance and interest.

Connect people

Virtual reality gives you the opportunity to communicate with people you don’t know in real life. It helps to form new relationships in a more efficient way, compared to real life. Users can meet different types of people and stay connected with them.

Effective Communication Form

One of the most positive things about virtual reality is that it can be used as an effective form of communication. Users can communicate with each other face to face, having better communication with each other and generate a new experience of communication with people.

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Virtual reality technology

The technology of virtual reality involves immersing the user in a completely synthetic computer generated world, where your senses are forgoing the real world, immersing the user in an alternative environment.

To enjoy a virtual reality experience you need special glasses. These glasses can be connected to a computer, be totally portable or require a mobile phone to be inserted inside the glasses.

The most powerful glasses to enjoy virtual reality experiences are those that are connected to a high-performance computer, since they allow much more realism and graphic quality in the virtual environments that are proposed to the user.

The history of virtual reality began at the beginning of the 20th century, around 1935. In that year, we found the first specific reference to virtual reality glasses, whose author was the science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum in his story titled “The Pygmalion Glasses.”

The story revolves around the invention of a teacher, who allows those who use it to be transported to other worlds and places through glasses.

The first virtual reality glasses were created in 1960 by Morton Heiling, and for this reason he is known as the father of virtual reality.

This cinematographer and inventor had developed the Sensorama in 1957, a rather cumbersome machine that allowed the user to enjoy multisensory experiences. His new invention, designed to be used as a portable computer on the user’s head, was called a stereoscopic television set for individual use, this was the beginning of the history of virtual reality.

Although this virtual reality helmet may seem very rudimentary today, the concept was already very similar to current equipment, and for this reason it is considered that they were the first virtual reality glasses in history.

Virtual reality applications examples

1) Virtual reality in video games

The use of virtual reality in the video game industry is perhaps one of the most popularly known and one of the most progressing thanks to the growing interest of the people.

It can be said that it all started with the Nintendo Wii console (Nintendo Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan), which allows you to interact with the game by performing the same movements as if you were in a real situation, for example, moving your arm as if you were playing tennis.

2) In psychological disorders

Virtual reality is very useful to treat some psychological disorders that are caused in part by the patient’s lack of control of some variables, such as anxiety disorders or phobias.

Thanks to virtual reality, they will be able to train, and gradually decrease their control over the environment, knowing that they are in a safe context.

 3) In training of professionals

Although virtual reality is used in more and more different areas, one of the fields where it has been used the most, and continues to be used, is in the training of professionals, such as airplane pilots or workers at nuclear power plants.

Here, virtual reality is especially beneficial, as it reduces training costs and also ensures worker safety while training.

4) Evaluation and rehabilitation of balance

Traditionally, the lack of balance (either due to age or disorder) has been rehabilitated using a system made up of three pendulums.

The exercise performed is very simple, the balls at the end of the pendulum are slowly thrown towards the patient, who must dodge them and return to their original position. The use of three pendulums prevents the patient from predicting where the next ball will come from.

This system has a series of limitations, firstly, it must adapt to the morphological characteristics of the patient (height and width) and, secondly, it is necessary to control the speed with which the balls are going to be thrown, this aspect depends on how fast the patient is to dodge the ball. These adjustments must be made manually, which can be tedious and inaccurate.

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How does virtual reality help students?

Virtual reality offers numerous benefits to motivate students and teachers. 

 1. Help in understanding

One of the main reasons for adopting virtual reality in the classroom is because of the students’ improved understanding and realization of ideas. For example: in science classes, it is possible to visualize how the human body works and have a much more effective learning of the systems and descriptions of each organ. This avoids flaws and misinterpretations about different contents.

2. Improves the structuring of activities

The possibility of structuring more interesting activities for the class is one of the advantages. Virtual reality, for example, can lead students to explore a certain historical period, have access to distant places and see some object that is inaccessible up close. This makes teachers make their classes more dynamic and attractive to everyone.

3. Facilitates practice

The technological potential of the tool makes learning in the classroom also obtain better results in practice. This is because students can use numerous resources, such as virtual chats, in which doubts come directly to the teacher — who understands at which points the class has more difficulty in interpreting information and concepts.

4. Train skills

The simulations carried out by virtual reality help students to learn different skills, and can even be used for training in realistic scenarios. In this way, teaching becomes much faster, in addition to avoiding numerous risks related to real and unknown situations. In this case, it is possible to acquire a more complete knowledge of the disciplines and their theories.

5. Engage for collaboration

At this point, one of the biggest contributions is in relation to the improvement of collaboration and communication among the class. This is due to the increased motivation for the construction of knowledge, which must be joint. Thus, each student can make their contribution, aiming to create collaborative activities and better social interaction.

Virtual reality in the classroom provides numerous advantages for educational institutions and for the improvement of the students’ learning process. Teachers who have the extra support of technology have a lot to gain, including in terms of improving their relationship with the class. Undoubtedly, the bet on the tool is a great differential for education and everyone involved.

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What can VR hold for the future?

Future of virtual reality

As the cost of production falls, more money is invested in a technology and more can be expected of its future. When he envisioned immersing himself in new environments in the 1950s, Morton Heilig couldn’t even think that we would get to where we are now.

More and more companies are seeking insertion in the virtual reality market, either with the construction of hardware prototypes or applications, or by incorporating startups in the area.

However, even with this race between the giants in the search for space, we are still nowhere near what virtual reality technology can provide.

In the near future, VR will be an inseparable part of our lives. It will be common to have a virtual reality gadget to perform various activities, such as working, socializing and, of course, entertaining. Among the processes we can look forward to in the future be:

Connection with other technologies

Virtual reality has huge potential. Combined with other technologies, it can generate a range of incredible solutions for our daily lives, creating tools with a very interesting role in the business world.

Imagine using virtual reality with Big Data, allowing the user to manipulate data and statistics by hand to create simple and intuitive graphics?

It is still possible to wait for integration with maps and immersion in places for visitation or exploration. The connection with other wearable devices is also expected, which will allow an increase in sensations during the experience.

Job creation

The expansion of the VR market is limited to the creation and evolution of hardware and software, and virtual reality applications are still limited.

This happens because of the changes that occur in the hardware, which, with the emergence of new technologies, end up impacting the development of applications.

However, this movement tends to stabilize soon, creating a demand for professionals specialized in various areas for the development of virtual reality applications.

In this wave of creation of new opportunities and positions in the job market, the main search will be for software developers, systems architects and 3D modelers.

Conclusion

Virtual reality involves immersing the user in a completely synthetic computer generated world, where your senses are forgoing the real world, immersing the user in an alternative environment. To achieve this type of experience, the user must use a Head-Mounted Display (HMD), i.e. a screen worn on the head at eye level. The HMD typically blocks the view of the surroundings to aid immersion. The software used in virtual reality experiences is basically a video game engine, which must be capable of rendering hyper-realistic, high-resolution images. Rendering is the process that transforms the information of a three-dimensional scene, geometry, textures and lighting, into 2D frames. In the case of virtual reality, two frames must be calculated at a time, one for each eye, and they must have a minimum resolution of 4K for each eye when using the most advanced equipment. Virtual reality in the classroom is going to revolutionize the way children learn and in the industrial world is mainly applied for the training of professionals. Virtual reality also offers an opportunity to modern and innovative architects who want to add more value to their clients. In the near future, VR will be an inseparable part of our lives. It will be common to have a virtual reality gadget to perform various activities, such as working, socializing and, of course, entertaining.

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