EOTO #1

Virtual Reality

        

       History: Imagine being in your own world. Where what you see is different from what is real. Jaron Lanier created this thing called virtual reality. Jaron Lanier created virtual reality because he wanted people to feel like they were in the movie, or video game, or some alternate dimension.  He wanted to create a new reality: a virtual reality, where anything is possible. This history of virtual reality has often been influenced by the defense industry. One of the first VR projects was developed in the 1960s for a U.S. military combat system. Virtual reality has played a significant role in the military field and has been adopted by all services: army, navy, and air force. It is mostly used for army training purposes but there are other areas where VR is a powerful tool. Virtual reality is a computer-generated environment that enables the viewer to be completely immersed in their 3D data. Military and defense are one of the most important application fields for virtual and augmented technology. VR is one of the key technologies listed by the U.S. Department and Defense in the 21st century.

          Impact:  Virtual reality has had a huge impact in today's world.  Virtual reality has impacted the world so much that people are using it form both military and civilian purposes. One common military use is virtual reality training for exercises that are too rare, too expensive or too dangerous to be done in real life. With a VR headset and controllers trainees are completely immersed in virtual environments. For example, you can have a flight simulator overlaid with a virtual world rendering an actual battlefield for combat pilot training. Soldiers can enter rooms and buildings and fight enemies without risk of live ammunition. Drone operators can pilot aircraft almost exactly as it would appear in real-life, even if they are thousands of miles away. Virtual reality has changed the way we design products both military and civilian. Palmer Lucky created a virtual reality headset called an Oculus. Oculus has developed many games where the player feels and acts as though they're inside another world - and it looks so real that some folks could be confused.  Palmer Lucky sold Oculus for $2 billion.  There was even a Hollywood blockbuster movie about virtual reality. This movie was called Ready Player One. In the movie people would put on VR headsets and entire body suits and go into another world.   It was a very cool movie, and not that hard to imagine becoming a reality in the near future. 

In addition to the many military applications, virtual reality has also changed the world of travel.  Just sitting in your house on any particular afternoon, a virtual reality user could be transported to Italy, the Bahamas, New York City, or even the moon -- all in a couple of hours, and all from the comfort of your own home. No danger, no jet-lag, just experience the sights and sounds of these locations through virtual reality.  

Real Estate is another area strongly impacted by virtual reality, with realtors granting access to home virtually.  An interested buyer doesn't need to visit the actual house to see if they're interested. One can visit the house virtually, and scan all areas of the house -- the rooms, the views, the closets -- all without leaving their own home.  What a time-saver!!