I. Match the words in the text with their definitions:

1. To experience A. Contains risk or danger.

2. At will B. Something that has a single separate and in­

dependent existence.

3. Entity C. To act as one wishes.

4. Application D. To feel or to learn by studying or watching so­

mething.

1. To manipulate E. To control or influence for one’s own purposes.

1. Hazardous F. A particular practical use.

2. Identify whether the following sentences are true or false.

Use the model:

1. Student A: Virtual reality is also called telepresence. — Student B: Yes, this is true.

2. S. A : The use of virtual reality is unlimited. — S. B: That is false. Its use is limited by the performance and cost of its technology.

1. Virtual reality is still remaining behind area of artificial intelligence.

2. CAD is the most widely used industrial VR application.

3. VR application enables architects and other designers to examine, touch and manipulate sections and parts from only 2 dimensions

4. Applications in information technology include the development of 3-D models of telecommunications networks and databases.

5. VR systems are completely harmless for the health of humans.

6. By converting stock market and other financial data into three-dimensional graphic form, securities analysts can use VR systems to more rapidly observe and identify trends and exceptions in financial performance.

2. Complete the following sentences using words and expressions given below.

1. Virtual reality relies on ... input-output devices.

2. The use of virtual reality is limited by the performance and cost of its ... .

3. Virtual reality allows you ... computer-simulated objects, entities and environments as if they actually exist.

4. A VR system consisting of a ... with goggles and headphones, a fiber­optic data glove, motion-sensing devices and a powerfull engineering workstation.

5. VR designers are creating everything from virtual weather ... and virtual wind tunnels to virtual cities and virtual securities markets.

technology headset patterns to interact with multisensory

2. Fill in the prepositions if necessary.

Many science fiction books and movies have imagined characters being “trapped ... virtual reality”. The science fiction books have promoted the idea ... virtual reality as a partial, but not total, substitution ... the misery of reality (in the sense that a pauper in the real world can be a prince in VR), or have touted it as a method for creating breathtaking virtual worlds in which one may escape ... Earth’s now toxic atmosphere. They are not aware ... this, because their minds exist... a shared, idealized virtual world known as Dream Earth, where they grow..., live, and die, never knowing the world they live ... is but a dream.

2. Answer the questions.

1. What is VR?

2. What are its origins?

3. What multisensory devises do you know?

4. Why is VR called a telepresence?

5. What does VR allow you to do?

6. What do current applications of VR include?

7. What is the most widely used industrial VR application?

8. What are VR designers creating?

9. What do applications in IT include?

10. Does VR becomes telepresence when VR systems are used at a remote site?

11.Ate there any limitations of VR?

Read the text.

Virtual reality technology is so powerful that it gives the user a sense of being immersed in the virtual world. In order to let the users/operators have the sense of being immersed in the virtual environment, two important devices are needed: Data Glove and Head-Mounted Display (HMD).

Data Glove is a kind of virtual reality input device that allows a user to react to the virtual environment. By wearing this data glove on the hand, the robotic arm coupled to this data glove will replicate exactly the way this data glove is manipulated by the user. The arm can be directed to, say, pick up an object. Once the object is in hand, information is sent back to the data glove to apply stress to the user movement, inducing a sense of holding the object.

HMD is a device that cuts off visual and audio sensations from the surrounding world and replaces them with computer generated three- dimensional images.

Imagine you are in the dining room at home. Once you put on a HMD connected to a computer, you may feel that you have been teleported to the surface of Mars, with the two moons, the Phobos and Deimos, and numerous stars glowing in the distant horizon. What is in front of you is no longer the dining table but the foot of the gigantic Olympus Mons: a volcano larger than any mountain on Earth. When you take a step forward, your point of view (3D) moves forward in this virtual space. You find yourself no longer in the dining room; you are in the cyberspace of Mars you came across in science fiction. Everything is so real that you cannot deny you are exploring on that planet.

These are all due to the 3D computer generated images produced by the sophisticated computer. Besides, the head-tracking system senses the exact position and orientation of your head, while the computer uses this set of data to update the view on the display.

A Head-Mounted Display consists of six major components :

1. the housing

2. head strap

3. liquid crystal display (LCD) screens

4. aspheric lenses

5. focusing rings

6. video cable.

The housing holds the LCD screens in a fixed position relative to each other to reduce the possibility of image misalignment, and at a sufficient spacing from the operator’s eyes to alloy spectacles to be worn. The focusing ring moves the aspheric lens closer or further relative to the LCD, to

facilitate focusing of the image and to adjust for accommodation variances between different users.

The aspheric lens is composed of two convex surfaces each having an aspheric shape. This focuses the image from the 13.5mm x 10mm active matrix LCD screen located approximately 75mm in front of the viewer’s eyes, onto the fundus of the viewer’s eye with minimal distortions. The perceived field of view is approximately 35° horizontal, and 25° vertical.

As a result, using these high tech but user friendly data glove and HMD, an astronaut, for example, can experience being on a planet millions of miles away to control a robotic arm to do various tasks. Without these two important devices, he may only be able to use the keyboard and mouse as input devices and view the non-3D display on the monitor, making a 3D task difficult.

Head-mounted displays, BOOMs (binocular omni orientation monitor), and the CAVE are the most popular output devices. The BOOM is similar to a head-mounted display but without the hassle of a helmet. Its viewing box suspends from a two-part rotating arm. Simply place your eyes into the BOOM’s two eyepieces and you are in the virtual world. The CAVE, however, is slightly different. Instead of putting on a helmet or looking into an eyepiece, you step into a small room. This device gives you the distinct advantage of enjoying the sensation of being "in" the data. The CAVE also has other advantages. Because the viewer only needs to wear a special pair of glasses, multiple people can enjoy the experience at the same time. Currently the CAVE is the only viewing device that allows for unrestricted movement.

Comprehension check:

By wearing this device on the hand, the robotic arm coupled to it will replicate exactly the way it is manipulated by the user.

• Data Glove

• Head-Mounted Display

• Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor

• CAVE

Device that cuts off visual and audio sensations from the surrounding world and replaces them with computer generated three-dimensional images.

• Data Glove

• Head-Mounted Display

• Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor

• CAVE

The BOOM’s viewing box consists of

• a two-part rotating arm.

• six major components:

1. the housing

2. head strap

3. liquid crystal display (LCD) screens

4. aspheric lenses

5. focusing rings

6. video cable.

• the robotic arm coupled to this device.

This device gives you the distinct advantage of enjoying the sensation of being “in” the data.

• Data Glove

• Head-Mounted Display

• Binocular Omni Orientation Monitor

• CAVE