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How VR Playing It's Role In Globalization
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Virtual reality is one of the modern technologies which was introduced a few decades back and has taken an important place in the field of technology in a very short time. it makes use of an artificial environment generated by the computer in which simulates the real environment. Besides gaining an immediate acceptance in the world of computer games, it is now being used in many fields of life including architecture, medicine, military and aviation. Scientists and researchers are expecting to explore a lot in this modern technology than what we know about it today. It is a great leap in the field of 3D and a lot of work is still under progress. The discussion below is an insight into the details of this technology, its uses, advantages, disadvantages and social impacts. The term virtual reality refers to refers to a modern technology providing an immersive, interactive experience using the three-dimensional computer based graphic images. This technology creates an artificial environment with the help of computer hardware and software and is presented to the user in way which simulates the real world. The equipment makes use of a pair of special gloves, ear phones and goggles, the three of them being controlled by the computer. In this way, three of the user’s five senses are receiving and input from the computer. The goggles also act by detecting the eye movements of the user, thereby monitoring his actions.
There are six categories in which virtual reality can be displayed: Desktop displays, Head-mounted displays, Arm-mounted displays, Single screen displays, Surround screen displays and Volumetric displays. The head mounted displays are among the most widely used displays for virtual reality. In this device, a pair of display screens is placed right in front of the user’s eyes. These screens are attached to a helmet which the user wears. The arm mounted displays resemble a pair of binoculars mounted on an articulated arm. The user visualizes the virtual world by means of lenses. His virtual environment is controlled by his movements at an arm’s length and range of motion. Single screen displays use the Immersive Workbench products. These products mostly make use of a tabletop metaphor where the virtual objects give an impression of lying on the table top.
Virtual world is although quite close to the real world yet it is still unable to ‘replace’ the feelings of a real world. As an example, the virtual reality technology is now being used for military training as well. But a soldier actually knows that he is not going to get any harm from any bullet coming from an unknown origin or a surprising attack. These feelings can only be experienced while being in an actual war field where all of a soldier’s instincts are fully active in order to prevent him from any unknown danger, as he knows that it is real and he can even loose his life if he gets distracted from this actual environment. (Science Clarified, 2010) Similarly, it was found many years back that the pilots trained by using the flight simulators make mistakes while flying the actual plane. This occurs because of the actual differences found between the virtual and the real world. As for example, a flight simulator is unable to present the effects of simulation that a pilot feels during an actual flight. Thus, when he gets into a real flight, he faces confusion while experiencing the new sensation. Yet, this is a temporary problem and is resolved by allowing the pilots trained by flight simulators to fly a plane, only after twenty-four hours have passed. These problems are although temporary, but they have raised questions about whether a long- term use of virtual reality able to bring about permanent changes, especially in children, whose brains are still under developing stage and can easily be modified as compared to the grown-ups. Some psychologists believe that a long term and frequent use of virtual reality is going to change the way, people are used to perceive the real world. According to some psychiatrists, a prolonged use of virtual world can make people avoid real life problems instead of trying to solve them.
Although virtual reality technology can be still described to be in its initial stages, yet there are now about 61,000 commercial companies all over the world which are using the virtual reality technology to produce different products.
Even at this basic stage, now virtual reality has become a part of the educational training at about 3,600 educational institutes all over the world. There can be no doubt in saying this that the use of virtual reality has now increased to a great extent than the time when it was introduced initially, all over the world. Given below is a graph showing an increase in the use of virtual reality over the period of years.
Virtual reality can be described as one of the most important inventions of the modern world. Initially when computer was invented, it did not have much uses. With time, many improvements were made and computer started taking an important place at offices, homes and industries. Development of internet was a remarkable addition and it made the computer a necessity for every work place as well as homes. Likewise, virtual reality was developed initially with a very basic knowledge. But now, it has started taking an important place at many work places especially those professions which are related to computer and technology. Still studies are being carried out in order to make further improvements in it, and we can predict its importance in the upcoming time mainly because of the reason that the virtual reality enables a person to visit any place or environment where it is sometimes practically impossible to go in person. One can visit the internal body, the space, the molecular structures, deep sea, buildings, sky, planets or whatever one can think of. Science is amazing and the computer world is giving the mankind an experience of a totally new world which could not be imagined some decades back. Thus, virtual reality can be easily described as one of those inventions of science, which carry a great elasticity in them and with the research work going on in this field, we can hope to get even better results expected to bring great changes in almost every field using computer technology. Education is the base for a thriving society, and the transfer of knowledge has been a top priority for civilizations since the very beginning. People are constantly looking for ways to make knowledge transfer more easily, more quickly, and more effectively. In the era of digital devices, we have an opportunity to enable better learning with technology. Virtual Reality (VR) seems to be the natural next step for the evolution of education. In the era of digital technologies, books are being turned into eBooks. Modern search engines make fact-finding really easy with just a few clicks you can discover answers to many questions. While knowledge has become more easily available for more people, the current approach to education has two significant problems:
Visceral reactions to what we are experiencing are fundamental to forming memories. VR in education makes it easy to engage students the whole time, making experiences memorable.
Having virtual reality in education is useful not only for content consumption, but it’s also great for content creation. By giving students powerful tools such as Tilt Brush, you help them boost their creativity.
A lot of people are visual learner’s VR is really helpful for this group of learners. Instead of reading about things, students actually see the things they’re learning about. Being able to visualize complex functions or mechanisms makes them easier to comprehend.
The first idea that pops into anyone’s mind when they think about VR technology is an entertainment experience. Many designers see VR as an extension of the gaming industry. It’s true that VR has historically been dedicated to gaming, but things are changing. According to a recent survey conducted by Greenlight VR, desire for education outweighs desire for gaming content 63.9 percent vs. 61 percent.
VR Edu apps should have the following properties:
The transition from analogy teaching practices to digital ones is going to change what teaching looks like. The role of a teacher will change from content delivery to content facilitation. Teachers will be focused on creating conditions for exploring, rather than providing ready-made knowledge.
It’s clear we’re in the early stages of VR and it’s going to keep changing. However, technology will continue to push boundaries of how immersive VR can become. We’re even going to see advancements in eye tracking and body tracking in coming years. What we consider an immersive experience today will be considered table stakes in the not-too-distant future.
VR has a high price point that is a significant barrier for many users. If we analyse the success of Google Expeditions, it’s clear that Google was able to reach this many student because the hardware was really accessible. To make VR education accessible to a majority of users, it’s important to focus on creating VR experiences for devices users already have and repurpose them into powerful tools for education. A phone we have in our pockets and $20-100 headset devices such as Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR should be enough to give students good VR experiences.