Virtual reality, from cultural visits to video games…

Note : This page has been translated into English from French by a machine translation tool

What to think about VR ? Virtual Reality, also known by the English acronym VR for Virtual Reality, is in the unconscious of the greatest number of people, in the image of the technological revolution that the 21st century, although still in its infancy, has already gratified us. And yet it is a technology that is already several decades old. The path of virtual reality seems a bit jagged. Not having been a great success at first, having even been almost forgotten for many years, it first made its return in a more conventional and accessible way than the image we have today with the appearance of the Google Street View service allowing to visit virtually any city or road axis around the world. Finally, virtual reality as we imagine it today, especially with the use of a helmet, has most likely been revived by the interest Facebook has shown in this technology in 2014 with the acquisition of the company Oculus VR. Since then, virtual reality seems to be struggling a little to impose itself on the general public. Considered almost dead on several occasions, the last few months are there to remind us that this is certainly not the case…

But what exactly is virtual reality ?

Let’s start at the beginning, and try to be clear about what virtual reality is. It is in fact a technology whose goal is to immerse the user in a computer-designed environment that sometimes allows him to interact with it and that can in addition to sight provide a sound experience of course but also haptic or even olfactory. As we briefly mentioned in our introduction, virtual reality can take many forms. Among the most common, we all know the one that is allowed to us simply with our tablet or our computer like the virtual tour for example. This is a not very immersive formula, but it is nevertheless very practical to discover a city without moving from your living room or to get a nice glimpse of the interior of a property before even deciding to move to visit it for real.

But when we talk about virtual reality, it is not necessarily the only or even the first image that comes to mind. Indeed, this technology can prove to be much more immersive than in the cases cited above. We want to talk here about an VR that is no longer satisfied with the display of images on a traditional screen but requires the use of a dedicated helmet. The latter use stereoscopy, i.e. the reproduction of a vision in relief by the use of two two-dimensional images presented in front of each eye. These images are presented in front of our eyes at a higher frequency than the one used in cinema or television and each of them is focused on our eyes with the help of lenses allowing a better coverage of the field of vision. The use of sensors makes it possible to detect head movements and therefore to adapt the broadcast images accordingly, thus giving the user the same feeling of being able to scrutinize his environment as in reality. But helmets are available at all prices and for all bills. And the cheapest of them are made of… cardboard… No, you’re not dreaming! And if you are motivated and a minimum of skill with your ten fingers you can even make one yourself. Of course, needless to say that it won’t work alone and that you will need to add the display and motion detectors to it in order to immerse yourself in a virtual world. Today, these tasks are fully handled by a simple smartphone. A powerful hardware configuration, a beautiful screen and a battery offering a good autonomy will in this case be good allies in order to benefit from a correct level of rendering.

But in concrete terms, when we think of this technology, we naturally think first of video games. Indeed, this is one of the uses of virtual reality. But fortunately, it is not limited to that…

Virtual reality, for what uses ?

As you all know, virtual reality offers gamers a new way to approach gaming and allows them to go one step further in the immersion offered by a video game. However, it can find its place in many other areas. Let’s take a look at the best that VR has to offer…

As we have mentioned, the VR can be used to make virtual tours … All types of visits … Indeed, if we mentioned the visit of old properties for sale allowing future buyers to sort among them before moving, we can also use virtual reality for the visit of properties under construction and this up to the use of helmets for the most upscale services. But it can also be used in architecture, to be able to see the interior and exterior of a building without having to lay the foundation stone. But can be even more useful, virtual reality can allow to realize the visit of natural tourist places that are difficult to access or that we must limit the number of visitors in order to preserve at best their conservation. It can be the same for museums, for example, for which, in addition to an immersive visit, virtual reality could allow, among other things, to easily integrate additional information or media files into the visit.

But virtual reality can also have medical applications. Indeed, putting patients in real conditions but without the slightest risk to their health can speed up the training of staff or doctors. This is particularly true for surgery, where it is possible, for example, to perform a fictitious operation in total immersion. Conversely, during a real operation under local anesthesia or during more painful treatment, virtual reality can be used by offering the patient, thanks to it, relaxing landscapes for example, in order to reduce physical pain and improve the psychological state, thus diverting attention as it were.

If virtual reality can find an excellent application for the training of medical personnel, it can also be a great ally for training in many sectors of activity. We can cite in particular the training of military personnel in combat techniques or the training of airline pilots in maneuvers in delicate situations. Generally speaking, it allows us to approach real-life conditions by providing a secure environment for all disciplines for which training in real conditions can prove to be risky. Let’s stay in the professional field where it can also allow remote meetings or videoconferences. In the private sphere, this technology can also be used to communicate with family and friends via video.

Finally, virtual reality can be in some cases a great opportunity to limit costs. Indeed, whether for scientific experiments requiring the use of expensive or rare materials, or for industrial prototype construction projects for example, working on virtual models can in the latter case help to solve certain design problems that could have been financially burdensome if they had been encountered during their real design.

However, these are only a few examples and certainly the uses and interests of virtual reality can be numerous.

Go further into the virtual reality…

If virtual reality can provide a high quality immersion for the user through visual and sound rendering, some elements are still missing to give the impression to the user that he is evolving in a real environment. Indeed, virtual reality headsets generally allow to interact with the environment through joysticks. However, as far as the impression of realism is concerned, pressing a button to open a cabinet does not really remain optimal. Moreover, it is extremely complicated to ensure an immersion when moving around in a video game when we have only a limited space in our living room, the idea of course to generate ultra realistic virtual movements by any other means than the user’s own movement being unsuitable because it can generate a huge headache to your brain that might wonder why you are moving while you are not moving ?

The solution is very simple, make you move while staying on the spot. This is where the omnidirectional mat comes into play. It allows the user, as the name implies, to move in multiple directions. The mat then captures these movements and reproduces them on the display to move the virtual avatar synchronously. And that, the brain of players fond of virtual reality will thank them for it. The most powerful among these mats allow to go beyond the simple capture of the movement and can record sitting or squatting positions but also jumping movements.

When it comes to interacting with the virtual environment in which you are evolving, a simple headset does not offer the perfect immersion. Indeed, to catch objects, move them or open doors for example, you use with basic VR equipment the controllers provided with your helmet. The problem is that here again, with an interaction generated by a movement almost in the void, without feeling, and above all that can sometimes be done by pressing a button on the joysticks, we find ourselves on something closer to what a Wiimote can offer than a real virtual reality tool. But don’t panic! Here again, if you want to push your VR experience further, you can equip yourself with gloves, exoskeletal or not, that will allow you to catch the objects, feel their mass and rigidity and even for some of them their texture and temperature. Thanks to this type of accessory, you will thus benefit from a force feedback allowing you to have the sensation in your hands of touching or holding the objects that make up your virtual environment.

Other projects or prototypes seem to push the limits even further to offer an ever more immersive environment. These include the MMOne virtual reality chair or the Birdly flight simulator for all those who have always dreamed of flying like a bird.

After many ups and downs in its history, virtual reality is still there and digital companies, among others, but also some startups seem to intend to continue to make it live and evolve. While some extremely ambitious projects have been carried out or are still under development to push realism to the point of feeling hot and cold through fans placed on the helmet, or to allow smells or even tastes to be felt, many of these technologies are not yet quite on the way to finding their way into our living rooms. However, omnidirectional carpets or VR gloves are already accessible and commercially available for a few hundred euros (all the same). There remains the problem of the catalog of available video games that support this type of accessories. Perhaps the arrival of the new generation of game consoles will be an opportunity to give a new impetus to virtual reality. Beyond video games, let’s not forget that VR can prove to be a formidable tool to guarantee, in many sectors of activity, the safety of personnel, the improvement of their training or even the reduction of costs…