Virtual Reality - Virtually
HereFly-Through VR
Freedom to move, turn, and look in any direction in the virtual space. This is called 6 degrees of freedom (6 DOF). This is the defining characteristic of a VR system. Example: a walk-through of a CAD model. A system that provides less freedom of interaction may be useful but its not VR.
Reactive VR
All the freedom of Fly-Through plus, when you interact with objects they will either respond with a predefined behavior or allow you to change them. Example: you can grab an object and send it flying or you can pull on an object and change its shape.
Through the Window
A standard computer monitor or data projector provides a "window" onto your virtual world which appears to lie on the other side of the screen. This is the experience of desktop flight simulator games. In fact, this term originated with the first military flight simulators.
Into the Room
A stereo-ready monitor or projector displays a stereoscopic image, you wear what look like sun glasses. The virtual world becomes quite dimensional, appears to recede into the monitor and reaches out towards you, into your room. For a sample experience don't miss the next 3D movie that uses fancy polarized (not red/blue) sun glasses.
Immersive
When you put on a head mounted display (HMD) you are transported into the virtual world (visually at least). With head tracking the computer knows and adjusts for where you are looking. Look up and see the virtual sky, look down and see the virtual ground.
For a sample experience play Virtuality's Dactyl Nightmare VR game. The CAVE (see Virtual VR and SuperVR) is also supremely immersive.
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Updated Jan 28, 1998