Introduction to Virtual Environments

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to a technology which is capable of shifting a subject into a different environment without physically moving him/her. To this end the inputs into the subject's sensory organs are manipulated in such a way, that the perceived environment is associated with the desired Virtual Environment (VE) and not with the physical one. The manipulation process is controlled by a computer model that is based on the physical description of the VE. Consequently, the technology is able to create almost arbitrarily perceived environments.