LESSON 9 - VR APPLICATIONS:
ENTERTAINMENT, BUSINESS, ART
VR APPLICATIONS
In the few short years since small, high speed personal computers have made possible reasonably priced VR systems a vast variety of actual and potential applications have arisen. As with most new technologies at their inception a relatively small number of uses are envisioned. When digital computers were first being developed in the late 1940s the leading expert in the field predicted that four digital computers would take care of the world’s computing needs for the foreseeable future. Today there are likely to be more than four computers - each far more powerful than the ones from the 1940s - in a simple table-top appliance. This misestimate was due to the fact that the new technology had not been around long enough for many people to know of its capabilities. As the capabilities became known someone would see an additional use. With each new use someone else would think how it could be modified to a still different purpose. The entire process of use and capability feeds upon itself in a positive feedback manner.
The same is true of VR applications. As the capabilities of the systems increase the number of possible uses explodes. Personal computers are only about 25 years old. At the time of their first development only single line text editors were available. Today a word processing program can be 65 Megabytes in length and allow the user to change type styles and sizes, manipulate graphics, incorporate spreadsheet data and a host of other operations not even considered 25 years ago. Spreadsheets themselves were not even thought of at the time. They are the result of two MBA students noticing that the type of operations they needed to do for their classes required numerous and repetitive operations which were ideally suited for computers. They applied this idea and LOTUS was born. The use of CAD (computer aided design) drafting programs has completely revolutionized the design field.
With virtual reality systems the original force was the need for realistic simulators especially for aircraft. The military set the requirements and drove the development of such systems. As the technology progressed and the original R&D work was done, commercial companies could afford to begin working on lower cost systems with wider applications. The money spent by defense has resulted in a many-fold return to the economy in other areas.
ENTERTAINMENT
Today, while the military still provides the stimulus for many high end applications, the major driving force for the development of realistic VR simulation systems is the entertainment industry.
Interest in the activities of defense and the military is rather limited except in time of war. The professionals in the field and industries which supply them are, in general, the only ones who follow defense activities in times of peace. In times of war this interest is shared by the general public. During the Gulf War, tens of millions of people watched as a telepresence system followed a laser-guided bomb through a window into a particular building. When the war was over, this and other technological marvels were rapidly forgotten. However, the entertainment industry reaches nearly everyone in the country. Over twelve per cent of all workers added in 1993 were in the entertainment industry - more than 200,000 jobs. The entertainment industry is the fastest growing segment of the economy. With a large customer base the industry can afford to spend large amounts on research and development and has done just this.
Movies and special effects utilizing computers have increased astronomically in the last few years. The movie industry is one of the major users of supercomputers such as those manufactured by Cray Research. The video game industry - a form of VR - is pervasive across the country and around the world. Simulation rides at amusement parks have rapidly grown over the last few years.
The original amusement park rides of the first half of this century provided unusual sensory inputs - sounds, lights, and motions - for riders, but made little attempt at simulating a different environment. In the mid 1950s Disneyland pioneered the theme park in which rides were an attempt to also provide a simulation of another environment. One of the earliest of these, the Moon Trip at Disneyland, used an inflatable bladder beneath the seats to simulate the acceleration of takeoff, stereo sounds, and moving, animated scenes combined with actual pictures to provide a visual simulation of the environment. Screens on the ceiling and floor of the ride provided scenes simulating views fore and aft from a rocket. As the power of computers increased exponentially and their cost dropped, the capabilities of these simulations have also expanded.
Today a number of simulation rides exist which incorporate realistic sound, 3-D, full
motion imaging, and motion platforms. 
These range from rides associated with a
fictional movie - such as the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios - to
simulations of real environments such as the flight simulators at Fightertown and Magic
Edge Entertainment Center. The differences do not end with context. Some rides are only
immersive. The rider experiences a realistic environment but has no control over it: He is
only along for the ride. Others, like the flight simulators, are not only immersive, but
also interactive. The user can control his environment and interact with it. One F/A-18 simulator ride, for example, can provide roll angles of plus
and minus 45 degrees and pitches from minus 25 to plus 60 degrees. The user can experience
the effect of 2.5 G turns under his own control.
Other rides reproduce surrealistic environments which could not exist as depicted in the real world. Again these can either be interactive or just let the user ride along.
Peter Gabriel's Mind Bender sim ride.
Another recent innovation has been the coupling of multiple users together in video
games, immersive or other wise. The popular game DOOM can be played by an individual
against computer-generated opponents or when run on a network can allow a number of
individuals to compete with or against each other.
Some VR amusement park type game
centers have interactive simulations, often of battle or adventure type situations, which
incorporate 3-D vision, realistic sound, and motion feedback. These can be interconnected
and allow users to compete against each other in a computer-generated world. The users
become part of a giant video game.
BattleTech Pods.
Here is a scene from
Virtual World Entertainment's world of the mythical Virtual Geographic League.
Faster and more powerful computers allow a rich amount of detail to be included in virtual
worlds.
Other simulations may not have the high stress and excitement of battles but still find a place. In Japan it is possible to play virtual golf. In a country where it is necessary to reserve space on a real golf course up to a year in advance, this simulation has been a success. In the last year, virtual golf has gained a hold in hte United States. Even though there are many real golf courses with little or no advance planning, many people will pay for the oportunity to play a simulated game on a virtual version of a choice of famous PGA courses.
One of the interesting findings about the VR game industry is that most users would prefer to interact with other players, not just play against the computer. This interaction can be either as a team or competitive. Rather than isolate individuals as has often been predicted of computer games, they appear to increase socialization.
The home entertainment industry is still at the very beginning of VR applications. 
A number of
years ago Nintendo introduced a control glove using ultrasonic tracking as a replacement
for a joystick. The glove, which sold for $85, did not catch on and has since been
dropped. One large drawback was the lag in response time compared to the joystick. These
gloves are still available at garage sales and can be used by an individual who wishes to
experiment with his own systems. A number of books are available which describe their use
and connection to a PC.
The major drawback in home systems has been the development of a low cost HMD. Computer costs themselves have dropped to the point where they no longer limit individual system applications. However, a good low-cost head-mounted display is still needed for 3-D effects. Any kind of serious motion feedback is still a ways off.
One of the latest innovations in the VR entertainment field is interactive movies, or role playing simulations. The work of Thomas Dolby described in the text is a start in this direction. With advances in computing power and rapid data retrieval you can expect in the near future to be able to enter an outlined story and assume the role of one of the characters. Other characters, their speech and their actions will be responsive to the actions of the user. The holodeck of the Enterprise may not be as far off as you think.
Over the last year or two, Kyoko Date has become one of Japan's biggest teenage singing idols. What makes this unusual is that she exists only in the virtual world. She began as a demonstration project by HoriPro, a major company in the entertainment industry in Japan, to produce a realistic simulation. This was a major project: ten programmers worked on her face alone. Six months were required to make here smile realistically. She is composed of over 40,000 polygons. She has released records and has her own radio show. (The identy of the person providing her voice remains a well-kept secret.) Short video segments are available. She currently has fan clubs located all over the world from Japan to the US to France and Italy among many others.
BUSINESS
Business has adapted VR to a wide variety of uses. Architectural walk-through and
fly-around software is widely available and is used extensively both for design and
sales. For example, as already mentioned it is used as a sales tool to sell houses
in Japan. 
Many
other industries use some form of virtual reality to allow the potential customer to
experience the final product prior to buying. A furniture store can allow the customer to
view a couch with a number of different fabrics without maintaining a large inventory. A
prospective car buyer can drive the vehicle in a simulator, such as the Mercedes motion
platform simulator shown here, and see how it behaves in unusual or even dangerous
circumstances. The real estate industry already provides photographs and video tapes of
houses for their customers before making a trip for actual examination of the property.
With the advent of relatively inexpensive HMDs expected within the next few years it is
likely that customers will be able to take a 3-D tour of a possible home even from across
the country.
Another area in which business has applied VR is design. From the CAD market which now dominates the drafting field to the development of Boeing’s new 777 passenger jet, VR applications have abounded. The 777 was the first aircraft built without the aid of a mockup. Wherever possible Boeing incorporated VR techniques and applications into the design.
For
the past dozen or so years the spreadsheet has been the dominant method of presenting data
- particularly financial - throughout the business community. The use of VR techniques
opens a wide variety of possibilities. One of the most versatile things about VR is that
information can be represented in such a wide variety of forms. Numbers can be shown
graphically in a number of different ways - x-y, bar, pie, and so on - but they can also
be represented by different shapes, color, textures, or even sounds. For example the Metaphor Mixer described in the text can be used by a stock broker
to keep tabs on many aspects of a large number of stock simultaneously. In real time the
user can group different attributes and change the display to provide information in the
form in which it will be most helpful.
The flowsheet concept also described in the text allows the user to see not only a static picture of a company’s finances but a dynamic version which depicts the history and trends of its operations and financial health. When information is modeled and presented to the user he can make decisions or play "what if" to see what effect changing individual data sets will have on the final outcome. All of these techniques help provide information in a form which enables the user to make more rapid and more accurate decisions.
Industry is also using VR systems to aid R&D. 
The molecule manipulators discussed allow
chemists to develop new substances and new methods of producing known substances in a more
efficient fashion. The use of telepresence and telerobotics has increased and is used by
many industries to reduce risk and maximize efficiency. Oil companies use robots to
explore undersea sites and to keep track of what is going on at the bottom of oil wells.
The nuclear industry uses telepresence and telerobotics to handle radioactive materials. A
robotic system has been designed to clean up toxic waste materials at low risk to the
operator.
GROPE Molecule Manipulator System
Computer control has been adapted to prototype and production of real world hardware. A designer can produce a drawing of a part using CAD. He can then use an HMD and wired glove to handle and observe the part and see how it fits into a new or existing system. With special output devices the CAD drawing can then be translated directly into a solid, 3-D prototype part. One system, described in the book, uses UV lasers to harden layers of plastic and build up the part. Other systems - some selling for as little as $12,000 - can mill a 3-D part from plastic or even aluminum. It is even possible to buy a machine which attaches to your home PC which will embroider a patch. Cost of this machine is $500.
Once a part has been designed, a telerobotic operated milling machine can be programmed by an experienced operator as he turns out the first part and then used by itself to produce as many copies as desired.
In the
service industry, VR systems are being designed which will allow the service technician to
call up a variety of diagrams and information in real time. In the Army system shown
at the right, a belt-mounted computer system allows the repair technician to call up a
wide variety of manuals, procedures, and diagrams. These may be observed while the
tech is actual performing the necessary work. In some of these systems, a
heads up display allows the operator to superimpose a diagram on the real device, mixing
the real and virtual worlds.
The advertising
industry has begun to widely use computer generated animations and VR techniques such as
morphing. Morphing allows a smooth change from one picture into another, giving the
illusion that the subject has actually changed. This technique is not limited to
selling new products. In the 1994 and 1996 elections it was widely used to fix in
the voters' minds a connection between a candidate and another (usually unpopular)
political figure. Morphing software is inexpensive and is often included with
scanning or TV frame capture equipment.
ART
As any new medium is developed, the applications to other fields are invented. Art has adapted each new technology as it has become available. Acrylic paints provided different characteristics than were available before the discovery of these chemicals. Lasers are now routinely used by artists to present visual displays. The synthesizer has proved to be an extremely useful tool to the music field. What sets VR apart is that it has nearly limitless possible varieties and capabilities. Since computer graphics programs were invented, they have been used to paint pictures. With VR processing capability these can be expanded into three dimensions and extended through time. A picture can be disassembled into its component elements and reassembled again into itself or into something entirely different.
In the last year or two, the morphing capability of graphics programs has been widely used. Morphing is the process whereby a picture is slowly altered into another; for example, one person’s face becomes someone entirely different over a period of several seconds. For $200 you can buy a device for your PC which will capture a video image frame from a camcorder or TV along with morphing software which will allow you to change one picture into another.
Graphics programs now also allow real photographs to be mixed with artist-drawn components. In the resulting picture the different elements are indistinguishable. This process can be extended to movies. A TV image of one or more people can be intermixed with computer-generated background or even computer-generated characters, realistic or otherwise.
It is not that VR systems themselves create new art but rather that they allow the artists - visual, sound, or even tactile - to express themselves in different ways. One of the biggest changes is the ease of incorporating multimedia. Art is not limited to one medium, but can contain elements of several. Of course this was possible previously: Movies have background music; light shows accompanied concerts. However, the capability of computer-based VR systems allows their rapid integration and control. Levels of coordination which were previously impossible are now easily accomplished. As an example, Madison’s fireworks show, Rhythm and Booms, uses computer control to coordinate the fireworks display with music. This might not be what is normally thought of as a virtual reality system, but it fits the description in that it attempts to immerse the viewer in a not-real, even symbolic, world.
Another aspect of the nature of VR systems is that the exact experience can be duplicated widely. Suppose, for example, low cost HMDs become available for home games. These could just as well be used to allow a nationwide audience to participate in a virtual art experience. Concerts and exhibitions could then come to the individuals rather than the other way around.
Here is
an image from a video realization of the Romanesque basilica of the Benedictine Abbey of
Cluny, France. Walk-through software has made it possible for students to
study the art of buildings in ways never before imagined.