Virtual Reality:

It is a combination of two words: “Virtual” and “Reality”. Virtual means near and Reality means which
human experience in real. Hence, it means Near-Reality.

“Virtual reality is the term used to describe a three-dimensional, computer generated

environment which can be explored and interacted with by a person. That person becomes part
of this virtual world or is immersed within this environment and whilst there, is able to
manipulate objects or perform a series of actions.

The person wears a head-mounted display (HMD) or glasses which displays three-dimensional
images as part of their experience. Some systems enable the person to experience additional
sensory input, e.g. sound or video which contributes to their overall experience.”

http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html

Augmented Reality: In this technology Real World is mixed with Computer generated images. They are
intermingled in such a way that they look like they belong to same environment

http://www.vrs.org.uk/

Virtual Reality is used for following purpose:

Education

Engineering

Gaming

Healthcare

Military trainings

Training Simulations

Architecture

Sports

Fashion
Business

Art

Entertainment

Medicine

To interact with the Virtual Environment , user needs Input devices to get connected to the System and
get the experience of being part of the Virtual world, few of input devices are:

Nunchucks

Joysticks

Remote controls

Controller wands

Gloves

3D glasses

Goggles

Tracking balls

Body suites

Thread mills

Headsets

Hamlets

“Different computer languages and Web browsers are developed like :-

 Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)- This is the earliest three-dimensional

modeling language for the Web.
 3DML – This is a three-dimensional modeling language where a user can visit a spot (or
Web site) through most Internet browsers after installing a plug-in.
 X3D - the language that replaced VRML as the standard for creating virtual
environments in the Internet.
 Collaborative Design Activity (COLLADA) - a format used to allow file interchanges
within three-dimensional programs. “

http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/games.html
 Different Films based on Virtual Reliaty are:

 TRON & TRON Legacy

 The Matrix series
 Vanilla Sky

Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds are 3D interactive environment. A person can choose to be any form
shape he/she desires. That vitual representation of a person is called Avatar or Alter Ego.

Examples are:

 Second Life (most popular)

 The Sims
 Active Worlds
 Kaneva
 IMVU

Virtual Reality game companies are:

 Sony (PlayStation)
 Microsoft (Xbox)
 Nintendo (Wii)
 Linden Labs (Second Life)
 Electronic Arts (The Sims etc)

Advantages

There are a few ethical issues in regard to virtual environments which need to be addressed.
These are related to human behaviour and motivations and are also a concern for the gaming
industry.

They include:

 The problem of ‘desensitisation’

 Virtual criminality

The desensitisation of virtual reality

Concerns have been raised about a possible relationship between virtual reality and
desensitisation. This refers to virtual reality games in which there are high levels of violence or
training exercises for the military in which soldiers engage in simulated combat scenarios which
include killing.

Desensitisation means that the person is no longer affected by extreme acts of behaviour such as
violence and fails to show empathy or compassion as a result. In some situations they actively
seek out this type of scenario for the adrenaline rush and sense of power.

This has been noticed with gamers, especially those who play first person shooters or role
playing games which involve a high degree of immersion.

Another issue related to this is ‘cyber-addiction’. There are people who become addicted to
virtual reality games and as a consequence, start to blur the boundary between real and virtual
life. They spend increasing amounts of time in the virtual environment which has a detrimental
effect on their real world life.

Virtual criminality
It is hard to imagine but what happens if someone commits a criminal act but within a virtual
environment? A potential situation is one in which several people are immersed within a virtual
environment but one of these participants becomes injured or traumatised due to the actions of
another person in that situation.

The question is whether it is possible for someone to suffer an injury or mental distress as a
result of a violent action carried out in a virtual environment. And if this does happen is the
perpetrator punished in a similar way to someone who commits this action in the real world?

What may be argued is whether a virtual reality participant can experience pain, distress or other
emotions associated with a criminal act?

This is an ongoing issue.

The disadvantages of virtual reality described above are minute in comparison to the wide
benefits of virtual reality as a whole but it is very important that these issues are addressed.

http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/ethical-issues.html

 Companies and organizations have established commercial worlds as a new form of

advertising
 Virtual Worlds allow companies the opportunity to learn customer reaction to new
products
 The disabled can experience freedom by temporarily leaving their disabilities and doing t
hings,  through their avatars, like walking , fishing , exploring and other physical
activities.
  Educational opportunities are thriving in Virtual World. Universities have established
locations in Virtual Worlds – either entire campuses or simple classrooms. More classes
are conducted in Virtual World environment.
 VR is imaginably more personal than electronic mail or instant messaging, or
even a letter or a telephone call
 VR is a great social leveler, it may find a common ground across differences in
age, culture, and linguistic orientation (Biocca and Levy 1995)
 people will be drawn together by similar interests instead of purely by
geographic location (Biocca and Levy 1995)

communication will be both challenging and rewarding, more effective and productive, and thus
more enjoyable (Biocca and Levy 1995)

 a tremendous opportunity for every 'connected' person to find his or her field
and/or discipline (Biocca and Levy 1995)
 after using a medium that provides total freedom of expression face-to-face
communication may be found to be too confining (Cartwright 1994)
 It is great social way, users may find a common interests across the world
 Communication and learning will be more effective, productive, and more
enjoyable.
 It enables users to interface with each other using a three dimensional
environment through sight, sound, and touch.
 It will improve some users’ skills without causing any mistakes in real world.
 It helps patients recover from strokes, phobias and other illnesses.

1. Advantages
o Although the disadvantages of VR are numerous, so are the advantages.
Many different fields can use VR as a way to train students without actually
putting anyone in harm's way. This includes the fields of medicine, law
enforcement, architecture and aviation. VR also helps those that can't get out of
the house experience a much fuller life. These patients can explore the world
through virtual environments like Second Life, a VR community on the Internet,
exploring virtual cities as well as more fanciful environments like J.R.R. Tolkien's
Middle Earth. VR also helps patients recover from stroke and other injuries.
Doctors are using VR to help reteach muscle movement such as walking and
grabbing as well as smaller physical movements such as pointing. The doctors
use the malleable computerized environments to increase or decrease the
motion needed to grab or move an object. This also helps record exactly how
quickly a patient is learning and recovering.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8135619_advantages-disadvantages-virtual-reality.html

Advantages

 It's free!
  Highly adaptable, user created, and users retain intellectual property to their creations.
 Visualization - 3D models.
 Social interaction through dialogue and collaboration.
 Informal learning opportunities.
 Simulation and experiential learning/role playing - live the experience!
 Ability to establish groups to enhance social networking. Connect to a wider world of
learners, researchers and professionals.
 Quests and problem solving ability (games).
 "Green" environment.
 Ability to record chat, voice, video and track data for research purposes.
 Language translators available.
 Virtual job pool.
 Supports PowerPoint, video, audio, graphic images, voice over internet protocol, public
chat, private chat, text based information, and an interactive whiteboard.
 Ability to remain anonymous.
 Level playing field for a wide range of individuals including those with disabilities.
 Greater connectivity and engagement in distance based relationships.

http://secondlife-virtualworld.wikispaces.com/Second+Life+-+Advantages+%26+Disadvantages

Virtual reality has many advantages. Some of these advantages include being able to train dangerous
skills such as emergency aviation situations in safe environments. This practice of skills can help to save
lives. Virtual flight simulators have been used to teach pilots a wide range of skills. 

A second advantage of virtual reality is that it allows for more connection in rural communities. An
Example is the GimpGirl community. The community was built around people with limited mobility in rural
communities. The GimpGirl community has allowed members of a disenfranchised community to form a
community of their own (Cole, Nolan, Seko, Mancuso & Ospina, 2011) .

Virtual reality also allows for the creation of virtual worlds. For example most video games use virtual
reality in some limited form. For example World of world craft is a virtual world where players can interact
with other players on any particular quests that they may undertake. The game has several classes of
character. Many of whom do not exist in real life such as aliens and mages. This is one of the more
popular examples of a massively multiplayer online game.

https://sites.google.com/site/multimediaprojectdanielyoung/advantages-and-disadvantages

Disadvantages
  an inescapable aspect of social life is the formation and maintenance of
interpersonal relationships (Biocca and Levy 1995)
 interaction ought not be substituted for community (Mayer 1999)
 VR will provide a communication environment in which the dangers of deception
and the benefits of creativity are amplified beyond the levels that humans
currently experience in their interpersonal interactions. (Biocca and Levy 1995)
 could lead to low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and insignificance, even
self-destructive acts.
 One of the largest disadvantages of virtual reality is that the technology required for an
immersive or natural experience has remained elusive.
 Even the most basic virtual reality hardware and software highlights another of the
disadvantages of virtual reality, namely the cost.

Any system that attempts to provide an immersive experience requires some type of display
that will try to fool the human senses. These systems are very costly and can be problematic to
use, largely because so few people have the technical knowledge to repair or maintain them.
Additionally, most virtual reality systems are not readily interchangeable with different
hardware, increasing the cost and reducing the long-term value of an initial investment in such a
system.

 Socially, some of the disadvantages of virtual reality as entertainment have already

started to surface, even without an experience that fully removes a person from his or her
surrounding stimuli. One issue is social isolation, in which the user of virtual reality relies
more on interactions that take place in a virtual world than on experiences in the real
world. This lack of true, physical interaction has the potential to create incorrect
associations that are not part of real social settings. The isolation could eventually cause
depression, disassociation and other conditions, if it is severe enough.
 Another of the possible psychological and social disadvantages of virtual reality is
desensitization. If some users were to use virtual reality for entertainment extensively,
then they could run the risk of failing to recognize the true consequences for actions in
which they are taking part or are viewing. When translated to the real world, in an
extreme case, this could cause a lack of understanding of the effects of some actions
when performed outside the virtual environment.

 It will decrease human interaction in the real world.

 The cost of creating a virtual reality system is too high.
 Training with a VR environment does not have the same results as training in the
real world.
 Programmers are still grappling with how to interact with virtual environment
 If the virtual environment became much higher quality, they will become
attractive to those wishing to escape real life.
 The Cost: This new technology is expensive. The cost of developing
hardware and software for the application of virtual reality technology is
too great for many institutions to implement at this time. Computer
instrumentation is expensive after introduction but has always decreased
over time; so I suspect as this occurs virtual reality will eventually become
more commonplace in Medicine.

The Restraint: Presently the equipment used to create a virtual

environment is restrictive and uncomfortable to its users. This would have
to be overcome for more convenient uses in surgical procedures.

http://virtualrealityjb.webs.com/disadvantages.htm

1. Disadvantages
o The disadvantages of VR are numerous. The hardware needed to create
a fully immersed VR experience is still cost prohibitive. The total cost of the
machinery to create a VR system is still the same price as a new car, around
$20,000. The technology for such an experience is still new and experimental.
VR is becoming much more commonplace but programmers are still grappling
with how to interact with virtual environments. The idea of escapism is common
place among those that use VR environments and people often live in the virtual
world instead of dealing with the real one. This happens even in the low quality
and fairly hard to use VR environments that are online right now. One worry is
that as VR environments become much higher quality and immersive, they will
become attractive to those wishing to escape real life. Another concern is VR
training. Training with a VR environment does not have the same consequences
as training and working in the real world. This means that even if someone does
well with simulated tasks in a VR environment, that person might not do well in
the real world.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8135619_advantages-disadvantages-virtual-reality.html

Disadvantages

 Learning curve.
 Time.
 High speed internet connection, a quick microprocessor, and a good video/graphics card
are necessary.
 Technical problems can include slow responses and a lag in resizing objects.
 Need to continuously update software.
 Need for headphones.
 Barriers and distractions to learning (sexually explicit content, outsider intrusions, etc.).
 Managing inventory.
 Potential costs.
 No way to check the real "identity" of an avatar.
 Obsessive behavior concerning avatar appearance.
 Role playing in virtual world can lead to delusional behavior.
 Confusion can arise between virtual reality and actual reality.

http://secondlife-virtualworld.wikispaces.com/Second+Life+-+Advantages+
%26+Disadvantages

Virtual reality also has several limitations. Virtual realities require a considerable amount of time
to produce. For example it can take up to a year for programmers to make a virtual room using a
real room as a blueprint (Howstuffworks, n.d.).

A second limitation of virtual reality is that they are often limited by technology. The computer is
only able to generate certain images. The image quality is often limited by the technology that
was used at the time of the production. For example in a chemistry class I took I had to do virtual
experiments. The graphics were often limiting and interfered with the experiment. Affecting how
effective the virtual reality actually was.

Another disadvantage of virtual reality is that they are often expensive to produce. Virtual reality
costs in excess of $300 000. This limits the technology to people and projects that have a higher
budget ( Sines & Das, 2001). The total cost of the virtual reality technology must be considered
when budgeting for any project involving the technology.

Even with the disadvantages that virtual reality technology has the technology can be
instrumental in several situations. As the technology develops the limitations of the technology
can be reduced and hopefully in time eliminated.  

https://sites.google.com/site/multimediaprojectdanielyoung/advantages-and-
disadvantages