Virtual reality

Have you ever imagined yourself flying or maybe walking on the edge of the steep? Though these things are absolutely unreal and unachievable we still keep on dreaming. So just imagine how great it can be to incarnate all this thoughts in our life! And there we bump to idea of virtual reality. This name was born thanksed  to sci-fi writer Wiliam Gibson along with the cyber space in 80^th of previous century. Virtual reality is a world created by computer technology and passed to the human through his usual senses of perceiving the world: eyesight, hearing, smell, touch, taste. For the sake of creating convincing sensation of reality computer synthesis of characteristics and actions should be held in real time. Objects in virtual reality should behave the same as they do in real life so in virtual world physic which extremely closed to the natural one is created(for example gravitation, water characteristics, object’s collision). However virtual reality includes certain actions which can’t be achieved in real life like flying and regeneration. User can easily influence virtual reality which makes it more attractive.

The first system of virtual reality was “Aspen Movie Map” created in MTI in 1977. . This computer program simulated a walk through the town Aspen in Colorado giving users opportunity to choose between two different ways of landscape’s reflection. Summer and winter versions were based on real photos. Nowadays technologies of virtual reality are highly used in different human activities like design, marketing, entertainment, different kinds of training etc.

In modern life a great number of simulators which can represent any kind of activity exists. So for them to feel real scientists bring in virtual reality additional laws which are important for this activity. For example you can feel the inclination of motorcycle or overload. A lot of these simulators are widely used for training pilots and astronauts. :

Usual system of virtual reality can offer users to experience feelings which are closely mimicking those of real life. First of all I want to talk about representation’s mimicking cause it’s one of the most achievable technologies. In our life we can easily meet it just by going to the cinema for 3D movie. There we perceive virtual reality with a pair of special glasses. More complicated systems of representation also use glasses, but with the better angle of vision. However the most promising system of virtual reality is CAVE which designed as a room on the walls of which 3D stereo representations are projected.

Other thing which is perfectly developed in the virtual reality industry is sound.  Multi-channel acoustic system helps to make location of sound so user can orient himself in virtual reality by ear.  
Control and mimicking of touch can be produced by wearing special gloves, though sometimes control can be also carried out by using video cameras which back trace the movements. 
The gloves of virtual reality usually are the part of special suit which also includes helmet of virtual reality. Nowadays user can also feel tactile, temperature and vibration changes while using this device. 
Though virtual reality’s technologies are highly developed they lack senses of smell and taste equally with ability to walk in virtual reality. Scientists are currently working on devices which can represent these abilities. For example recently the sphere which can turn to any direction following the movements of user has been created.

Along with the described above methods there’s a way to achieve virtual reality while passing data to neurons or even brain by means of brain’s interface. This technology has been already tested in medicine as cure for patient with the waste of some sense ability. However this technology is still very expensive and can’t be used on daily bases.

Futurologists say that in no time people will be able to enter virtual reality freely and communicate through this unreal world. And it’s not only dreams, nowadays scientists’re already discussing the possibility of creating new technologies of virtual reality using nanorobots which can directly affect needed sectors of brain to turn on our senses to use virtual reality. If this technology is created we won’t need to travel physically to visit some place, we won’t even need to go to work. How great it can be! But I’m a bit afraid that if we go beyond the reasonable limits we’ll end up like humans in the movie “Matrix” sleeping in the cocoon of virtual reality all our life. Trying to achieve dreams and creating miracles in real life are definitely a good thing to do, but we should never forget about vital boundaries of technology progress.