"Virtual reality" (VR) describes an "interactive computer environment": "A computer generated an image; a display system presented the sensory information; and a tracker fed back the user's position or orientation in order to update the image. The elements combined to substitute sense data from the natural world with sense data about an imaginary world that changed in response to the user's act...

Background: Safe realistic training and unbiased quantitative assessment of technical skills are required for laparoscopy. Virtual reality (VR) simulators may be useful tools for training and assessing basic and advanced surgical skills and procedures. This study aimed to investigate the construct validity of the LapSimGyn VR simulator, and to determine the learning curves of gynecologists with...

Nowadays Virtual Reality (VR) has become a hot research topic. In China researchers have obtained a lot of achievements in various VR fields. VR is no longer limited to academic research as it used to be, it has sprung up to a new industry. This paper gives an overview of the research and development on VR in China, including the mainland of China, Hong Kong and Macao. It also gives a summary o...

Current numerical methods have slow dynamic visualisation capability, which is usually separate from the calculation phase. This paper investigates whether an analogue virtual reality (VR) model of a structure can integrate calculation and visual representation. The paper shows how the user can interact with a VR analogue model of a cantilever beam, move a concentrated load along the length of ...

OBJECTIVE The present study compared the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) simulator for training phlebotomy with that of a more traditional approach using simulated limbs. BACKGROUND Phlebotomy, or drawing blood, is one of the most common medical procedures; yet, there are no universal standards for training and assessing performance. The absence of any standards can lead to injuries a...

Virtual reality (VR) is usually described as an artificial environment, created with methods of computer graphics on high-performance rendering machines, where users wearing headmounted displays and data-gloves, or using other interfaces, navigate and interact with the scene or each other in (near-) real time. VR has become particularly popular for all kinds of simulations, including architectu...

John Dilworth [Philosophical Psychology 23(2010), pp. 23-42] Realistic uses of Virtual Reality (VR) technology closely integrate user training on virtual objects with VR-assisted user interactions with real objects. This paper shows how the Interactive Theory of Perception (ITP) may be extended to cover such cases. Virtual objects are explained as concrete models (CMs) that have an inner genera...

The evolution of multimedia and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies can open new educational opportunities in architecture education. This paper describes an example in this educational field.

Better educational media that assist in learning have been constantly sought by researchers in the educational technology domain to enhance the outcomes of education. Virtual Reality (VR) has been identified as one of them. Proponents of VR believe that it is an excellent educational tool, which could help to improve performance and conceptual understanding on a specific range of tasks. Nonethe...

Kinect and Leap Motion sensors are commonly used for tracking applications today. However, both sensors have failure modes in particular tracking scenarios. The Kinect sensor is very sensitive to the orientation of the user with respect to the sensor and is susceptible to occlusions. The Leap Motion senor has a limited range and field of view, but is far more accurate than the Kinect. In this p...