For many of us, the Virtual Reality (VR) experience is usually about wearing the VR headset, holding a controller, and then enjoying it. Some use it for work, gaming, or watching a movie.
However, not many of us actually spend some time and think about what is needed to generate that VR experience. You may be able to point out the headset, controllers, and earpieces, but many more things are needed to make VR work.
The technology that makes VR possible includes:
- Head Mounted Display
- Tracking Systems
- Central Processing Units
- Graphical Processing Units
- Sensors
- Software
- Input Devices
- Audio
- Networking
- Temperature Regulators
- Olfactory Displays
This article explores the underlying technologies in VR and how each contributed to making VR a reality today.
What Are The Technologies That Makeup VR?
Technologies that make up VR usually attempt to process computing input and then generate outputs that our senses can interpret, such as audio, video, smell, etc. These computing inputs may also be processed using a wide array of computers, which may be networked to each other.
Generally, you can roughly break down the technologies in VR into several major families. One is input, where the job is to receive and process data. These may include devices like Graphic Processing Units (GPU) or Central Processing Units (CPU).
The second family would be output. The focus is to produce the output understood by the human senses. These include Head Mounted Displays (HMD), earpieces, and olfactory displays.
The last family would be the peripherals, supporting devices that make input and output possible. These may include temperature regulators, networking systems, or sensors.
Head Mounted Display
Head Mounted Display is probably the most recognizable part of the VR system since it is more photographed.
It is a display system, usually built into a headset. You then wear the headset over your head, like a goggle. The headset will then show visual outputs that may mimic the real world, usually in a 3D stereoscopic display.
It is also common to see head-mounted displays mounted with sensors. These sensors help to connect your body and head movements to what you see on display.
There is a wide range of headsets, from affordable to premium. Premium headsets usually have more computing power, can handle more inputs, and have more sensors.
Tracking Systems
Tracking systems are a wide array of sensors to track real-world input from your side and translate them into the virtual environment. These inputs may include your movements, voice, or actions, such as pressing a button.
Tracking systems in VR rely on a combination of sensors, cameras, and algorithms to track your movement and position accurately. These tracking systems allow the VR system to generate a more accurate and immersive experience for you.
Some VR systems also have a hand-held controller, like a TV remote. These controllers serve as another place to enter input into the VR environment.
Central Processing Units
A central processing unit’s job is to perform the main and major calculations. The CPU takes input from multiple sources, such as speech and movement. It also takes input from the software.
The CPU then takes this input, processes it, and sends the information or ‘orders’ to the output devices to generate the VR environment. In many cases, the CPU performs this job with the help of GPUs (Graphic Processing Units). CPUs are very powerful computers, and high-end CPUs can cost much money.
The process of receiving, processing, and producing data happens quickly and often in real-time. This explains why what you see and hear changes quickly the moment you tilt or turn your head while in the VR world.
Graphical Processing Units
Graphic processing units (GPU) perform similarly to the CPU. In general, it performs tasks similar to the CPU but more focused and faster. GPU generally helps to take graphic processing tasks away from the CPU to allow it to focus on other tasks.
GPUs usually are built in a similar structure as CPUs, but the focus is to make GPUs process a smaller number of tasks but very quickly. This is to make GPUs excellent in processing graphics, which usually require a very fast response rate.
GPUs achieve this by having much smaller, simpler control units, arithmetic logic units (ALUs), and caches. This differs from CPUs with larger similar units but fewer of them.
Powerful GPUs can process graphics so well they give high-resolution displays, in frequency as high as hundreds of frames-per-second.
Sensors
Sensors are devices placed in areas that generate input for the VR system. In VR, you may associate sensors as patches with wires that you stick on your body to detect movement.
There are more sensors in VR than just that. Depending on the realism of the VR, there may be sensors in the headset to detect head movements. There may also be sensors attached to your hands, legs, fingers, and waist to detect body movements.
Some sensors help detect temperature, heartbeat, or more, depending on how real the VR experience is.
The higher the realism of the VR experience is, the more sensors are needed. However, more sensors mean much more input, which requires a more powerful CPU and GPU to process them.
Software
All VR experience starts with the software, which provides the data input for the CPU and GPU to process. The software provides the VR environment, for example, what you see, hear, and smell once you put on your VR headset.
The software also contains instructions for the CPU and GPU. The processors then use these instructions to process the input and send information to the output devices.
Input Devices
Input devices could be seen as a remote control or a game controller. These input devices allow you to input specific orders to the VR environment for better control of the environment.
For example, suppose you are playing a tennis game in VR and would like to pause the game. In this case, you may use the controller, press a button to bring up the menu, and then pause the game.
Depending on your VR experience, you may also be using more specific input devices. For example, if you are playing a first-person shooter (FPS) game, you may use several special input devices.
First would be a gun-like device that you hold like a gun. Pull the trigger, and the device may vibrate, and then in the VR, you will see your gun firing. You may also be using a movement sensor, such as a Virtuix Omni One, to run in the VR set, but in the real world, you are moving statically.
Audio
Audio is one of the output channels in a VR environment to help bring more realism and authenticity to the experience. Audio outputs are usually delivered using earpieces.
High-quality audio earpieces may deliver audio with surround-sound capability, which means the sound volume and quality may change depending on your position.
For example, suppose you are facing a sound source right before you. If you turn your head or body to the back, the sound may be fainter and sounds like it’s coming from the back. If you turn your body right, the sound may be louder in your left ear.
Olfactory Displays
Olfactory displays are devices that convert computing data into digital smells. This emerging technology should play a large part in VR for the foreseeable future.
It helps to provide smells that further enhance the VR experience. In gaming, if you find yourself in a hospital or gym, the olfactory displays could send out smells of disinfectants or sweat.
When you shop online via VR, the device sends out the smells of the item you are buying. This may be useful for selling food, drinks, or fragrances online.
Temperature Regulators
VR is an intensive computing process, as there is much information to process from the sensors, and the output must be delivered in real time. As a result, very powerful GPUs and CPUs are used, and they work hard.
One of the biggest issues with computing devices is heat. When they work hard, they get hot. Unmanaged heat could slow the processing speed or cause the circuitry to burn out.
As a result, VR systems may come with cooling systems to manage these issues. They either help cool down the computers inside your VR system or set a threshold to throttle down the performance of the computers to prevent them from overheating.
Networking
Finally, all these systems must be networked to function harmoniously. Without networking, the input devices have nowhere to send information, the CPUs and GPUs have no data to process, and the output devices have nothing to show.
Networking usually happens using wired or wireless connections. The more common connections are Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, although wired connections may perform better in some cases.
Once connected, each separate piece of VR technology can now work together. They can then produce that real, immersive VR experience for you.
Are you looking into learn different software technologies available for VR development and wondering if it’s an uphill task to learn them, read everything about it in our article Is VR Hard To Learn
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