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of VR		 VRML
In the 1990's the development of Virtual reality really started to become popular due to the mass media.  We hear about VR applications all the time today, VR games, VR simulations, Cyberspace (e.g.  Tron, William Gibson).

Some basic definitions and terminology:

Virtual Reality (VR) and Virtual Environments (VE) are used interchangeably.   Researchers tend to dislike the term virtual reality due to the hype associated with it and the associated unrealistic expectations at the present time.

VR and VE are the most popular terms, but there a few others:

  • Synthetic Expereince
  • Virtual Worlds
  • Articificial Worlds
  • Artificial Reality
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    Definitions:

    Definitions of virtual reality are quite varied and concentrate on particular aspects of the field.

    Karen Carr, in her introduction to Simulated and Virtual Worlds, offers:

    virtual reality as the practice of "fooling people into accepting as real what is only perceived." While this broad definition offers us great latitude in determining what may be considered a virtual world, it certainly does not conjure up images of what is commonly considered today's virtual reality.

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    Following are some different definitions.

    • "...some form of immersive , synthetic environment which creates a feeling of presence or suspension of disbelief which is sufficient to make the user feel that the artificial world which they appear to inhabit is real." (Foster and Meech 20)
    • Jaron Lanier refered to it as a "new post-symbolic paradigm" which circumvents representation with a direct experience.
    • William Gibson has imagined a "cyberspace." His considerations of virtualality center around this concept of a "consensual hallucination."
    • Michael Heim's definition from The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality "Virtual reality is an event or entity that is real in effect but not in fact."
    • Finally a more pragmatic or practical definition from www.cyberedge.com: "There is a three part test for virtual reality:
      • It is a computer-mediated experience.
      • The objects in the virtual world are modeled using 3D model techniques.
      • The system provides random interactivity.level_of_vr.gif (9104 bytes)

    Although there are some differences between these definitions, they are essentially equivalent.  They all mean that VR is an interactive and immersive (providing a sense of presence) expereince in a simulated (autonomous) world.  In fact D. Zelter (1992) uses these three concepts to determine the level of advance of VR systems. 

    If a system has all three then we have a virtual reality system.  See Marzuryk and Gervautz Institute of Computer Graphics, Vienna Unviersity.

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