1. VIRTUAL REALITY:
SENSING THE POSSIBILITIES
Professor Mark Billinghurst
Director Empathic Computing Lab
mark.billinghurst@unisa.edu.au
Dr. Ross Smith
Co-Director: Wearable Computer Laboratory
ross.smith@unisa.edu.au
2. Outline
5:50 – What is VR (Mark)
6:00 – History and Business of VR (Mark)
6:15 - Applications of VR (Ross)
6:25 - Tools for Developing VR (Ross)
6:35 - VR Research Directions (Mark)
6:45 – Demos (Mark and Ross)
3. Downloads to Try
• Search on iOS/Play Store for:
• Google Cardboard
• Cardboard Camera
• DiveCityCoaster
• Streetview
• Within
6. The Ultimate Display
“The ultimate display would, of course, be a room
within which the computer can control the
existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a
room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs
displayed in such a room would be confining, and
a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal”.
Ivan Sutherland, 1965
10. What is Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality is..
a computer technology that replicates an
environment, real or imagined, and simulates a
user's physical presence and environment to
allow for user interaction. (Wikipedia)
• Defining Characteristics
• Environment simulation
• Presence
• Interaction
11. Defined in Terms of Presence
• Presence is the key to defining VR in terms of experience
• Presence is defined as the sense of being in an environment
• Telepresence is defined as the experience of presence in an
environment by means of a communication medium.
• A “virtual reality” is defined as a real or simulated environment
in which a perceiver experiences telepresence.
12. David Zeltzer’s AIP Cube
! Autonomy – User can to
react to events and stimuli.
! Interaction – User can
interact with objects and
environment.
! Presence – User feels
immersed through sensory
input and output channels
Interaction
Autonomy
Presence
VR
Zeltzer, D. (1992). Autonomy, interaction, and presence. Presence: Teleoperators
& Virtual Environments, 1(1), 127-132.
48. Why 2016 won’t be like 1996
• It’s not just VR anymore
• Huge amount of investment
• Inexpensive hardware platforms
• Easy to use content creation tools
• New devices for input and output
• Proven use cases – no more Hype!
• Most important: Focus on User Experience
49. Conclusion
• Virtual Reality has a long history
• > 50 years of HMDs, simulators
• Key elements for VR were in place by early 1990’s
• Displays, tracking, input, graphics
• Strong support from military, government, universities
• First commercial wave failed in late 1990’s
• Too expensive, bad user experience, poor technology, etc
• We are now in second commercial wave
• Better experience, Affordable hardware
• Large commercial investment, Significant installed user base
• Will Virtual Reality be a commercial success this time?
59. Applications: Sports and Entertainment
• www.Nexvr.com
• Live streaming events
• NBA Basketball VR
• (1 game per week)
• US Open Tennis VR
• Live Nation concerts
60. Virtual Campus Tour
• Current undergraduate student project
• Captured hundereds 360 photos
• Custom menus and navigation
• Allowing remote experience of facilities
62. Applications: Medical
• Virtual Reality in Clinical Applications
• Acute and Chronic Pain Modification
• Phobias, Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Eating disorders
• Benefits
• Low cost
• Repeatable
63. How do these systems work?
• Phobias
• Repeated experience reduces fear and anxiety
• Wound dressing
• Distraction
• Lower pain self report compared to opiates
• Chronic pain
• Illusion based systems
64. Application: Chronic Neck Pain
•Injuries happen to everyone, for some pain persists
after injury healing
•1 in 5 Australians suffer chronic pain
•Current Treatments provide no long term benefit,
AND often cause further complications.
•Science suggests these methods don’t target the
main contributor: the brain.
•Pain with movement depends on perceived, not
actual movement (Harvie, Smith et al. 2015).
•Shows real time manipulation of pain using MoOVi
65. Application: Virtual Training
• Virtual Dissection
• Cadaver lab
• OH&S Training tools (Forklift)
• Learning benefits
• Easily repeatable
• No harm to specimen
• No exposure to chemicals
• http://www.tactustech.com
73. Developing Software
• Unity Game Engine
• Unreal Game Engine
• Asstore access (not just for developers)
• Comprehensive tools to support
• Physics
• Lighting effects
• Animations
• Colliders
• Scripts
• Audio
• Particle systems (smoke, fog..)
•
74. Tools for Non-Programmers
• Focus on Design, ease of use
• Visual Programming, content arrangement
• Examples
• Insta-VR – 360 panoramas
• http://www.instavr.co/
• Vizor – VR on the Web
• http://vizor.io/
• A-frame – HTML based
• https://aframe.io/
• ENTiTi – Both AR and VR authoring
• http://www.wakingapp.com/
• Eon Creator – Drag and drop tool for AR/VR
• http://www.eonreality.com/eon-creator/
75. InstaVR (Web Based)
• http://www.instavr.co/
• Development flow
• Capture 360 photos
• Upload to web
• Add content flow
• Add links, hotspots
• Publish to platform:
• Android, IOS, Gear VR, Web,
• Daydream, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR
78. Areas for VR Research
• Display
• Wide field of view, new display technologies
• Tracking
• Precise tracking, wide area
• Interaction
• Natural gesture interaction, human factors
• Authoring Tools
• Content capture, authoring in VR
• Applications
• Collaboration, large scale VR
79. Bare Hands
• Using computer vision to track bare hand input
• Creates compelling sense of Presence, natural interaction
• Challenges need to be solved
• Not having sense of touch
• Line of sight required to sensor
• Fatigue from holding hands in front of sensor
81. Eye Tracking
• Technology
• Shine IR light into eye and look for reflections
• Advantages
• Provides natural hands-free input
• Gaze provides cues as to user attention
• Can be combined with other input technologies
88. Conclusions
• Virtual Reality has long history
• 60 years of experimentation
• Recent VR explosion
• Desktop VR, mobile VR
• Rapidly growing market
• Many areas for commercial application
• Significant Research Opportunities
• Collaboration, applications, display, interaction
90. Hands on Demonstrations
• HTC Vive
• PC Based VR
• Wide area tracking
• Two handed input
• Google Cardboard
• Mobile VR
• iOS/Android applications
• Gear VR
• Mobile VR
• Improved Tracking
• Touch pad input
91. Google Cardboard Demonstration
Step 2:
- Search for a location
- I chose “Brighton Beach”
- Click “red dot”
Step 3:
- Select from available
- 360 images and click
Step 4:
- Click on cardboard icon
- Place in viewer
Step 1: Download “Street View” from Apple or Play store