Introduction to Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation in which people can easily interact within an artificial 3D environment. The development of virtual reality is intended to give people a realistic experience inside a virtual world, by making use of technologies that influence the human brain into believing whatever they are experiencing is real. Most commonly, virtual reality is used for entertain-ment purposes such as 3D cinema and video games. With the COVID-19 restrictions in the year 2020, VR is experiencing a huge rise. As per Grand View Research, the global VR market will grow to 62.1 billion dollars in the year 2027.
This book takes the readers through a brief introduction about virtual reality, focuses on the history of virtual reality, types of virtual reality and its development, systems of VR, its comparison with augmented reality (AR), human beings in the virtual environment (VE), benefits, and applications of VR along with its future.
The first chapter sheds light on the basic overview of virtual reality so that the readers are clear about the fundamentals and history behind that form the utmost basics in the field. This chapter will also underline the development of virtual reality across several years, and also explains certain pros and cons related to it. The second chapter stresses different systems related to virtual reality. This chapter takes the readers through the different types and components of VR systems. It also focuses on a comparison between immersive and non-immersive VR systems. Further, the third chapter explains visual, acoustic, and haptic perception in VR along with the key developments in VR haptics. Then, the fourth chapter compares virtual reality with augmented reality. In the chapter, different components and devices of augmented reality are discussed. Further, certain applications, advantages, and disadvantag-es are explained towards the end. The fifth chapter further focuses on how human beings experience in a virtual environment. It explains the impact of VR technology on human lives and the efficiency of human performance in a virtual world, along with the positives and negatives of escaping to virtual reality. The sixth chapter explains different technologies in virtual reality, tracking of different gestures.