Virtual Reality Technology

GRIGORE C. BURDEA is a professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and author of the book Force and Touch Feedback for Virtual Reality, also published by Wiley. PHILIPPE COIFFET is a Director of Research at CNRS (French National Scientific Research Center) and Member of the National Academy of Technologies of France. He has authored twenty books on robotics and virtual reality, which have been translated into several languages.

Foreword xiii

Preface xv

1 Introduction 1

1.1 The Three I’s of Virtual Reality 3

1.2 A Short History of Early Virtual Reality 3

1.3 Early Commercial VR Technology 8

1.4 VR Becomes an Industry 10

1.5 The Five Classic Components of a VR System 12

1.6 Review Questions 13

References 14

2 Input Devices: Trackers, Navigation, and Gesture Interfaces 16

2.1 Three-Dimensional Position Trackers 17

2.1.1 Tracker Performance Parameters 19

2.1.2 Mechanical Trackers 21

2.1.3 Magnetic Trackers 24

2.1.4 Ultrasonic Trackers 32

2.1.5 Optical Trackers 35

2.1.6 Hybrid Inertial Trackers 38

2.2 Navigation and Manipulation Interfaces 41

2.2.1 Tracker-Based Navigation/Manipulation Interfaces 42

2.2.2 Trackballs 44

2.2.3 Three-Dimensional Probes 45

2.3 Gesture Interfaces 46

2.3.1 The Pinch Glove 48

2.3.2 The 5DT Data Glove 49

2.3.3 The Didjiglove 51

2.3.4 The CyberGlove 53

2.4 Conclusion 54

2.5 Review Questions 54

References 54

3 Output Devices: Graphics, Three-Dimensional Sound, and Haptic Displays 57

3.1 Graphics Displays 58

3.1.1 The Human Visual System 58

3.1.2 Personal Graphics Displays 60

3.1.3 Large-Volume Displays 70

3.2 Sound Displays 84

3.2.1 The Human Auditory System 84

3.2.2 The Convolvotron 88

3.2.3 Speaker-Based Three-Dimensional Sound 90

3.3 Haptic Feedback 92

3.3.1 The Human Haptic System 93

3.3.2 Tactile Feedback Interfaces 97

3.3.3 Force Feedback Interfaces 102

3.4 Conclusion 110

3.5 Review Questions 110

References 111

4 Computing Architectures For VR 116

4.1 The Rendering Pipeline 117

4.1.1 The Graphics Rendering Pipeline 117

4.1.2 The Haptics Rendering Pipeline 125

4.2 PC Graphics Architecture 126

4.2.1 PC Graphics Accelerators 129

4.2.2 Graphics Benchmarks 133

4.3 Workstation-Based Architectures 135

4.3.1 The Sun Blade 1000 Architecture 136

4.3.2 The SGI Infinite Reality Architecture 137

4.4 Distributed VR Architectures 139

4.4.1 Multipipeline Synchronization 140

4.4.2 Colocated Rendering Pipelines 143

4.4.3 Distributed Virtual Environments 149

4.5 Conclusion 153

4.6 Review Questions 154

References 155

5 Modeling 157

5.1 Geometric Modeling 158

5.1.1 Virtual Object Shape 158

5.1.2 Object Visual Appearance 164

5.2 Kinematics Modeling 172

5.2.1 Homogeneous Transformation Matrices 172

5.2.2 Object Position 172

5.2.3 Transformation Invariants 175

5.2.4 Object Hierarchies 176

5.2.5 Viewing the Three-Dimensional World 178

5.3 Physical Modeling 180

5.3.1 Collision Detection 180

5.3.2 Surface Deformation 183

5.3.3 Force Computation 184

5.3.4 Force Smoothing and Mapping 190

5.3.5 Haptic Texturing 192

5.4 Behavior Modeling 194

5.5 Model Management 197

5.5.1 Level-of-Detail Management 198

5.5.2 Cell Segmentation 202

5.6 Conclusion 205

5.7 Review Questions 206

References 206

6 VR Programming 210

6.1 Toolkits and Scene Graphs 210

6.2 WorldToolKit 214

6.2.1 Model Geometry and Appearance 214

6.2.2 The WTK Scene Graph 215

6.2.3 Sensors and Action Functions 218

6.2.4 WTK Networking 220

6.3 Java 3D 221

6.3.1 Model Geometry and Appearance 222

6.3.2 Java 3D Scene Graph 223

6.3.3 Sensors and Behaviors 225

6.3.4 Java 3D Networking 227

6.3.5 WTK and Java 3D Performance Comparison 227

6.4 General Haptics Open Software Toolkit 231

6.4.1 GHOST Integration with the Graphics Pipeline 231

6.4.2 The GHOST Haptics Scene Graph 232

6.4.3 Collision Detection and Response 234

6.4.4 Graphics and PHANToM Calibration 234

6.5 PeopleShop 235

6.5.1 DI-Guy Geometry and Path 236

6.5.2 Sensors and Behaviors 237

6.5.3 PeopleShop Networking 238

6.6 Conclusion 239

6.7 Review Questions 239

References 240

7 Human Factors in VR 243

7.1 Methodology and Terminology 244

7.1.1 Data Collection and Analysis 246

7.1.2 Usability Engineering Methodology 250

7.2 User Performance Studies 253

7.2.1 Testbed Evaluation of Universal VR Tasks 253

7.2.2 Influence of System Responsiveness on User Performance 256

7.2.3 Influence of Feedback Multimodality 260

7.3 VR Health and Safety Issues 266

7.3.1 Direct Effects of VR Simulations on Users 267

7.3.2 Cybersickness 269

7.3.3 Adaptation and Aftereffects 274

7.3.4 Guidelines for Proper VR Usage 276

7.4 VR and Society 277

7.4.1 Impact on Professional Life 278

7.4.2 Impact on Private Life 278

7.4.3 Impact on Public Life 279

7.5 Conclusion 280

7.6 Review Questions 280

References 282

8 Traditional VR Applications 285

8.1 Medical Applications of VR 287

8.1.1 Virtual Anatomy 287

8.1.2 Triage and Diagnostic 289

8.1.3 Surgery 296

8.1.4 Rehabilitation 304

8.2 Education, Arts, and Entertainment 314

8.2.1 VR in Education 314

8.2.2 VR and the Arts 319

8.2.3 Entertainment Applications of VR 324

8.3 Military VR Applications 328

8.3.1 Army Use of VR 328

8.3.2 VR Applications in the Navy 334

8.3.3 Air Force Use of VR 338

8.4 Conclusion 342

8.5 Review Questions 342

References 343

9 Emerging Applications of VR 349

9.1 VR Applications in Manufacturing 349

9.1.1 Virtual Prototyping 350

9.1.2 Other VR Applications in Manufacturing 358

9.2 Applications of VR in Robotics 362

9.2.1 Robot Programming 363

9.2.2 Robot Teleoperation 365

9.3 Information Visualization 371

9.3.1 Oil Exploration and Well Management 374

9.3.2 Volumetric Data Visualization 376

9.4 Conclusion 382

9.5 Review Questions 382

References 383

Index 387