Virtual Robots

A Virtual Robot (vRobot) has the intelligence and functionality of robots without a mechanical body. Virtual robots are used mainly for VR and other cyberspace applications. Virtually-enabled telerobotics is used in to enable people to perform work in hazardous environments such as: other planets; areas with chemical or living hazards; battlefields; oil fields; and under the sea. Virtually-enabled robotics is also helpful for macro-scale activities (especially mining, landscaping, and architecture) and micro-scale activities (especially surgery on a micro-scale, nanomanfacturing, genetic applied science and virtual biology). Virbots are used for cyberspace uses. Also virtual reality and telerobotics has different info on virtual reality.

Some science and equipment used in virtual reality systems to track our movement for human-to-computer communication include: multi-axis mouse and control levers; instrumented hand devices with mechanical, magnetic, ultrasonic or optical sensors that track hand location and motion; gesture recognition systems that recognize hand and facial gestures using optical or mechanical monitors; Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) in which motion is tracked through mechanical, magnetic, ultrasound or optical monitors; electronically-wired clothing with multiple signal emitters and/or mechanical, magnetic, ultrasonic or optical position monitors; and omni directional treadmills. These technologies each have advantages and disadvantages. Mechanical systems track movement promptly and precisely, but are often bulky and restrict the scope of body motion caused by the tangible connections that they need. Inertial machines require fewer physical connectors, but respond slowly and less accurately. Devices built on magnetism and ultrasound also tend to be slow and magnetic devices can be hindered by nearby ferrous things. One possibility for optical movement measurement involves attaching multiple LEDs to clothing and then monitoring the motion by the Light Emitting Diodes via computer. In any event, this method only records a limited quantity of points on the body. More: methods of haptic feedback reports more developments.

Identifying Virtual Reality (VR) by subjective effects is applied science-neutral and therefore can provide a more enduring definition of Virtual Reality (VR). It is the result of work on the effects of the world on human behavior and belief, not the scientific depths of how those effects are achieved. Based on a psychological or behavioral framework one can identify four progressive levels of Virtual Reality (VR) -- (1) first level virtual reality is a computer-generated setting in which people do not behave as if they were in a genuine environment and never forget that they are not in the actual world. (2) second level Virtual Reality (VR) is an artificially-generated environment in which people come in contact like they are in the actual world, but do not forget that they are not in the real world. (3) level three Virtual Reality is a computer-generated setting in which people behave as if they were in the tangible world and momentarily forget that they are not in the real world. (4) fourth level virtual reality is an artificially-generated environment in which people act as if they were in a genuine world and earnestly believe that they are in an actual environment. In order to attain advanced effects, the computer-created place must engage larger portions of the bandwidth of vital senses (such as vision, hearing, touch) and key human control modalities (especially hand and head motion). For virtual reality related information, please also see criteria for persuasive virtual reality .

Virtual reality began an a couple decades back as crudely simulated three-dimensional things inside a narrow range of vision, with basic linked audio signals, and limited computer responsivity to human hand motions. The cost of the computer operating performance and power needed to simulate rapid-response reactions to human motions was so high that there were few locations for sophisticated Virtual Reality (VR) formation and few consumer market VR products beyond just simple games, but fueled by continuing improvements in computer operating power and improved mechanisms for human to computer interaction, virtual reality has evolved from an entertainment newty to a multi-billion dollar industry with applications in the fields of amusement, telecommunications, robotics, the world wide web, medicine, engineering, physics, biotechnology, education, defense, trade, real property, building design, direction, exploration, map making, demography, athletics, and relationships. There is additional discussion at shutter glasses and head mounted displays of related VR material.