Editing Virtual reality (section)

==Forms and methods==
{{Further|Immersion (virtual reality)|Reality–virtuality continuum}}
[[File:THE VIEW (Virtual Reality).jpg|thumb|An operator controlling The Virtual Interface Environment Workstation (VIEW)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosson |first=Lois |date=2014-04-15 |title=The Virtual Interface Environment Workstation (VIEW), 1990 |url=http://www.nasa.gov/ames/spinoff/new_continent_of_ideas |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101164355if_/https://www.nasa.gov/ames/spinoff/new_continent_of_ideas/|archive-date=2016-11-01}}</ref> at [[NASA]] [[Ames Research Center|Ames]] around 1990]]
One method of realizing virtual reality is through [[simulation]]-based virtual reality. For example, driving simulators give the driver the impression of actually driving a vehicle by predicting vehicular motion based on the driver's input and providing corresponding visual, motion, and audio cues.

With [[Avatar (virtual reality)|avatar image]]-based virtual reality, people can join the virtual environment in the form of real video as well as an avatar. One can participate in the [[3D computer graphics|3D]] distributed virtual environment in the form of either a conventional avatar or a real video. Users can select their own type of participation based on the system capability.

In projector-based virtual reality, modeling of the real environment plays a vital role in various virtual reality applications, including robot navigation, construction modeling, and airplane simulation. Image-based virtual reality systems have been gaining popularity in [[computer graphics]] and [[computer vision]] communities. In generating realistic models, it is essential to accurately register acquired 3D data; usually, a camera is used for modeling small objects at a short distance.

Desktop-based virtual reality involves displaying a 3D [[virtual world]] on a regular [[Visual display unit|desktop display]] without use of any specialized [[VR positional tracking]] equipment. Many modern [[First-person (gaming)|first-person]] video games can be used as an example, using various triggers, responsive characters, and other such interactive devices to make the user feel as though they are in a virtual world. A common criticism of this form of immersion is that there is no sense of [[peripheral vision]], limiting the user's ability to know what is happening around them.
[[File:Treadmill_Omni.jpg|thumb|An Omni treadmill being used at a VR convention]]
[[File:Engineers train in virtual environment to prepare for real missions 150616-Z-YF431-084.jpg|thumb|A [[Missouri National Guard]]sman looks into a VR training [[head-mounted display]] at [[Fort Leonard Wood]] in 2015.]]

A [[head-mounted display]] (HMD) more fully immerses the user in a virtual world. A [[virtual reality headset]] typically includes two small high resolution [[OLED]] or [[LCD]] monitors which provide separate images for each eye for [[Stereoscopy|stereoscopic]] graphics rendering a 3D virtual world, a [[3D audio effect|binaural audio]] system, positional and rotational real-time [[Motion capture|head tracking]] for six degrees of movement. Options include [[Motion controller|motion controls]] with [[Haptic technology|haptic feedback]] for physically interacting within the virtual world in an intuitive way with little to no abstraction and an [[omnidirectional treadmill]] for more freedom of physical movement allowing the user to perform locomotive motion in any direction.

[[Augmented reality]] (AR) is a type of virtual reality technology that blends what the user sees in their real surroundings with digital content generated by computer software. The additional software-generated images with the virtual scene typically enhance how the real surroundings look in some way. AR systems layer virtual information over a camera [[live feed]] into a headset or [[smartglasses]] or through a [[mobile device]] giving the user the ability to view three-dimensional images.

[[Mixed reality]] (MR) is the merging of the real world and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.

A [[cyberspace]] is sometimes defined as a networked virtual reality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cyberspace|title=Definition of cyberspace &#124; Dictionary.com|website=www.dictionary.com}}</ref>

[[Simulated reality]] is a hypothetical virtual reality as truly immersive as the [[Real life|actual reality]], enabling an advanced lifelike experience or even virtual eternity.