Realidad Virtual

Virtual Reality
“Virtual reality is a way for humans to visualize, manipulate and interact with computers and extremely complex data.”

Virtual reality is a form of technology which createscomputer generated worlds or immersive environments which people can explore and in many cases, interact with.

Virtual reality has its advocates and opponents which are mainly due to a lack ofunderstanding about this technology and its capabilities. Unrealistic expectations coupled with lack of awareness regarding technical limitations means that for many people, virtual reality is difficult tograsp or even take seriously.

This topic aims to educate and inform anyone interested in virtual reality. This includes the casual observer through to the teenager fixated on virtual reality gamingthrough to the healthcare professional or engineer.

We have also included a section about the human factors issues of virtual reality for those of you who work in usability, user experience (UX)or any other user-centred discipline.

When was Virtual Reality invented?

These provide a framework for virtual reality which spans a period of more than 70 years. In this time we saw thedevelopment of the first simulation device, the first form of interactive multimedia theatre, and the first head mounted display (HMD) and the use of virtual reality in the field of human-computerinteraction (HCI).

Virtual reality came to the public’s attention in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. This can be attributed to pioneering computer scientist Jaron Lanier who introduced the world back in 1987to the term ‘virtual reality’.

Research into virtual reality continued into the 1990’s and that combined with the appearance of films such as The Lawnmower Man helped to raise its profile.

There-invention of virtual reality

But the growth in popularity of virtual reality was matched by a growth in public expectations which then over hyped the abilities of this technology. This led to...