Will Anything Useful Come Out of Virtual Reality. Examination of a NavalApplication

摘要

The term virtual reality can encompass varying meanings, but some generallyaccepted attributes of a virtual environment are that it is immersive, interactive, and intuitive. Integration of many different technologies is necessary in order to produce a system having these attributes. Applications such as molecular modeling, flight simulators, physical rehabilitation, and architectural design and walk through utilize various pieces of the technology, but at present there are few practical applications which are utilizing the broad range of virtual reality technology. This paper will discuss an application to provide a sonar operator with a virtual underwater acoustic environment including the design methodology and human factors experiments for testing the system. The technologies used in this application are 3-D modeling software, computer image generation software, 3-D graphics rendering engines, helmet mounted stereoscopic displays, head tracking sensors, 3-D input devices, voice recognition, and a 3-D spatializing sound system.... Operability, operator functions, Virtual reality, Man-machine interface, Decision aids/decision making, Decision support. ASW.