VIRTUAL REALITY’S MOMENT

David KushnerIEEE SpectrumJanuary 2014

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VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

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VIRTUAL REALITY’S MOMENT Page 2

BEGINNING WITH FLIGHT SIMULATORS, ADVANCING THROUGH SCIENTIFIC

APPLICATIONS, AND INTO THE ENTERTAINMENT ARENA, VIRTUAL

ENVIRONMENTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE AN IMMERSIVE SIMULATED

EXPERIENCE WITHOUT THE EXPENSE AND RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THE REAL

THING.

BOEING 787

FLIGHT SIMULA

TOR FROM

ALTEON

MOLECULAR SIMULATION AT ARGONNE

NATIONAL LABORATORY

MATTEL POWER GLOVE, VECTREX 3D IMAGER, AND

NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY

DIGITAL 3D

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ADVANCES IN DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND STEREOSCOPY HAVE ENABLED FILMMAKERS TO AFFORDABLY PRODUCE 3D FILMS AND THEATRE

OWNERS TO AFFORDABLY SHOW THEM.A 3D DIGITAL CAMERA RECORDS VIDEO, CIRCULARLY POLARIZING THE RIGHT VIEWPOINT USING RIGHT-HANDED POLARIZATION...

...WHILE RECORDING THE LEFT VIEWPOINT USING LEFT-HANDED

CIRCULAR POLARIZATION.

BOTH IMAGES ARE PROJECTED SIMULTANEOUSLY ONTO THE THEATRE SCREEN, IN A MANNER THAT GUARANTEES THAT THE VIEWPOINTS ARE SYNCHRONIZED.

THE MOVIEGOER WEARS POLARIZED GLASSES THAT

ONLY ALLOW THE RIGHT-HANDED POLARIZED IMAGES

TO PASS THROUGH THE RIGHT LENS AND THE LEFT-HANDED POLARIZED IMAGES TO PASS

THROUGH THE LEFT LENS.

VERGENCE VS. ACCOMMODATION

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PROJECTING A 3D IMAGE ONTO A 2D SCREEN OR TELEVISION

DISPLAY TENDS TO PLAY TRICKS WITH ONE’S VISUAL

PERCEPTION.IN THE REAL WORLD, WHEN A PERSON TRIES TO FOCUS ON A

DISTANT OBJECT, THE EYES EXPERIENCE VERGENCE, WHERE

THEY BOTH ROTATE ON THEIR OWN VERTICAL AXES UNTIL THEY BOTH POINT AT THE

OBJECT.

MEANWHILE, THE EYES EXPERIENCE

ACCOMMODATION, WHERE THEY REFLEXIVELY FOCUS ON THE OBJECT IN ITS DISTANT POSITION, CAUSING NEARBY

OBJECTS TO GO OUT OF FOCUS.

WITH 3D IMAGES, HOWEVER, THE EYES ROTATE SO THEY

ARE POINTED TO WHERE THE OBJECT SEEMS TO BE, BUT THE

REFLEXIVE FOCUS MUST ADJUST TO THE SCREEN’S

ACTUAL LOCATION, ELIMINATING THE NATURAL

BLURRING OF NEARBY OBJECTS.

THIS RESULTS IN SERIOUS

EYESTRAIN AND HEADACHES FOR

MANY 3D AUDIENCE MEMBERS.

SIMULATOR SICKNESS

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EFFORTS TO MAKE VR SIMULATIONS AS REALISTIC AS

POSSIBLE FREQUENTLY HAVE UNPLEASANT SIDE

EFFECTS.FOR EXAMPLE, PROVIDING A

VISUAL HEADBOB (LIKE THE ONE

ILLUSTRATED AT RIGHT), WITHOUT

AN ACCOMPANYING

PHYSICAL MOTION, CAN RESULT IN

MOTION SICKNESS AND NAUSEA.

SIMILAR PROBLEMS TEND TO OCCUR WITH RAPID CHANGES IN

ACCELERATION AND RAPID SHIFTS IN PERSPECTIVE.

BALANCE & THE INNER EAR

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THE SEMICIRCULAR CANALS WITHIN THE INNER EAR CONTAIN HAIR

CELLS THAT REACT TO BODY

MOVEMENTS.

THESE REACTIONS ARE TRANSMITTED BY MEANS OF THE

VESTIBULAR NERVE TO THE BRAIN, WHICH

SUBCONSCIOUSLY SENDS MESSAGES

TO THE BODY’S TRUNK AND LIMBS

TO MAINTAIN BALANCE.

WHEN THE EYES SEND THE BRAIN A DIFFERENT MESSAGE

REGARDING THE BODY’S MOVEMENTS, THE BRAIN MAY

REACT ADVERSELY, CAUSING A LOSS OF BALANCE.

VR LATENCY

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WHEN THE VR SYSTEM’S PROCESSING TIME IS

EXCESSIVE, ITS REACTIONS TO THE

USER’S ACTIONS WILL LAG BEHIND, WHICH

DESTROYS THE ILLUSION OF IMMERSION WHEN IT

BECOMES NOTICEABLE TO THE USER.

LATENCY IS PARTICULARLY

PROBLEMATIC IN “AUGMENTED

REALITY” APPLICATIONS,

WHERE VIRTUAL OBJECTS ARE OVERLAID ON THE USER’S

REAL WORLD SETTING, SINCE

THE VIRTUAL AND THE REAL

SHOULD OSTENSIBLY BE INTERACTING.

OCULUS RIFT

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Head-Mounted Display

(Coated in white markers)

Camera(Tracks markers to record user’s head

position)

Head Straps

Circuit BoardScreen

Diopter Adjustment

(Rotate to fine tune so

eyeglasses aren’t needed)

Lenses(Three pairs are provided

to accommodat

e good, moderate, and heavy

nearsightedness)

Foam Padding(Fits to face)

VR HEADSETS

Oculus Rift

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Carl Zeiss Cinemizer

Silicon Micro Display ST1080

Sony HMZ-T2

640x800 Resolution

870x500 Resolution

1920x1080 Resolution

1280x720 Resolution90° Horizontal

FOV30° Horizontal

FOV39° Horizontal

FOV45° Horizontal

FOV13.4 Ounces 4.2 Ounces 6.3 Ounces 11.6 Ounces

7˝ Diagonal Display

0.39˝ Diagonal Display

0.74˝ Diagonal Display

0.7˝ Diagonal DisplayLiquid Crystal

DisplayOrganic Light-Emitting Diode

Liquid Crystal on Silicon

Organic Light-Emitting Diode

$300 $749 $799 $894

THE OCULUS RIFT EXPERIENCE

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FACEBOOK PAYS $2 BILLION FOR OCULUS

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“Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences…

“After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

“This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.”

Mark ZuckerbergMarch 25, 2014

GOOGLE CARDBOARD

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Cardboard($2)

Lenses($10)

Magnets

($6)

Velcro($3)

Rubber Band(1¢)

Google’s response to the $350 Oculus Rift

Developer’s Kit is this do-it-yourself “Oculus

Thrift” which turns Android devices into portable VR viewers, using an open source software developers

kit.

REMINDER:Next Thursday (8/28) is

the deadline for the early draft of the first

paper!NEXT TIME:

Professor Kapatamoyo speaks!