Full immersion in virtual reality: the present and the future

What is total immersion? This is when the difference between the virtual and real worlds is not felt. That is, you do not feel in which of the worlds you are.

In the article we will talk about what technologies are now for total immersion in virtual reality at the present time, about the pros and cons of different types of tactile feedback and about the future of total immersion.

The material was prepared on the basis of a lecture by Denis Dybsky, which was held at the VR-Today conference as part of our educational program “Game Management Management” at the VSBI. Video and abstract under the cut.
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Components of complete immersion

• The first and most important point is the visual picture . Everyone is accustomed to being immersed in virtual reality using virtual reality helmets. As a rule, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Gear VR, PS VR and other helmets that are currently on the market.
• The second important point is sound . Without sound, virtual reality cannot be immersed at the moment, since the picture must be fully combined with sound. In order that the user, being in virtual reality, could position himself in space and know where he is.
• The next, even more important point is tactile communication or haptic . In Western terminology, it is called haptic feedback - “tactile feedback”.
• Simulation of taste .
• Simulation of smell .
• The position of man in space .

These are 6 components that allow a person to fully immerse themselves in VR. Consider the feedback tactile relationship (haptic) . This technology allows to obtain tactile information through touch. This is a rather complicated technology, at the moment there are several variations of its implementation on the market, which allow transmitting the touch, sensation and so on in different ways.



Types of feedback tactile communication:

• The first of these is force feedback . For example, in car simulators using the steering wheel, the reverse tactile feedback from it is felt in collisions, and so on. This is force feedback. It allows you to feel pressure on your hands (usually) or on your body.
  
  
• The next and most common type of tactile feedback feedback currently studied is vibro-tactile feedback . The most vivid example is the vibration of a smartphone. She lets us know when a message arrives or a call arrives.
  
  
• The next type is quite complicated and not widely spread on the market at the moment - this is ultrasound . It allows you to feel the shape and texture of an object by generating high frequency sounds. At the moment there are a couple of solutions on the market that allow using this technology.
  
  
• Thermal feedback is another type of feedback. It allows in virtual reality to feel cold, warm, the transition from heat to cold and vice versa.
  
  
• Probably the most accurate way to transmit sensations is electrostimulation . For example, belts in order to get in shape, which are positioned as belts for burning excess subcutaneous fat, electrostimulation is used. These are small electrical impulses that work, as a rule, at different frequencies, amplitudes and currents. In VR, a chemical reaction is rather difficult to simulate, but electrical stimulation is very easy to reproduce. You can adjust the individual electric signal for each sensation and feel the touch, the ball hit any part of the body or even rain.

Existing problems

1. Now for immersion in virtual reality only 2 senses out of 5 are stimulated - this is sight and hearing.
   
   
2. An even bigger problem than the previous one is the presence of wires in the PC and console helmets. A large amount of data passes through the virtual reality helmet, and for this you need wires. In order to feel completely free in virtual reality, you need to remove them.
   
   
3. The problem of interaction with the virtual world . As a rule, in order to fully interact with it, we need controllers. Now, different manufacturers are Vive, Oculus Touch, etc. controllers. But in order to fully interact with objects, be able to touch them, turn, take, feel its texture, weight, we need virtual reality gloves. What should be included in them: at a minimum, this is a motion capture system in order to track the position of the hand in space, how the fingers move, whether they are compressed, how the hand turns relative to the whole body. Fine motor skills should be monitored. When you touch the virtual object must be feedback. For example, the texture can be done by electrostimulation. If this is some kind of large object, for example, a person stumbles on a wall with his hands, then, naturally, this can be simulated by vibro-tactile feedback.
   
   
4. Due to the fact that at this moment there are solutions on the market that mainly use vibration or power feedback, this reduces the quality of interaction in a virtual environment , because they do not allow to convey all sensations as accurately as possible.
   
   
5. Another point: in virtual reality with full immersion you need to simulate walking . How can I do that? The first way is teleportation. For example, this is implemented in HTC Vive , where using the controller, you can teleport to different places in a virtual environment. The second is direct physical walking around the room. But in order to fully immerse, depending on the volume of the virtual world in which you are immersed, you need a small or large room. But for the full movement in the largest open worlds can not use only a small room. Since you need to walk in all directions, it is not very convenient. The third gadget that solves this problem is the Tread Meal (now there are several offers on the market), which allows you to move right in it, it supports the human body and does not allow people to get tired.

Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that at the moment there is no system of total immersion in virtual reality as such. These systems so far can only be called partial immersion systems. It may seem to someone that it is enough to use only a helmet to plunge into virtual reality, but no, this is not true.

Examples of systems that go to completely immerse a person in VR.

CAVE
This is a project that was launched in 1992. It consists typically of huge displays throughout the room. These include speakers built into the wall, directional sound, a motion capture system and stereoscopic displays.

The void
VR amusement park, opened several years ago in Utah, USA. Physical locations, which you can walk in, fully correspond to the virtual.

Allosphere
10-meter sphere with a variety of stereoscopic displays, built-in motion capture, sound, and so on.

Teslasuit
Suit for full immersion in VR. It looks like a regular suit, has several systems in it.

• The sensation transmission system, that is, the haptic feedback system tactile feedback system. It allows you to accurately convey VR sensations. You can feel how someone touches you, even if it is located 1000 km away from you.
• Motion capture system. Allows the user to track his position in space and move around it. At the moment it is inertial tracking, but a hybrid mocap is being developed, in which optical tracking will be used.
• Climate control. Allows you to feel cold, warm, decrease or increase in temperature.
• The suit is completely wireless.
• In order to allow third-party developers to use the costume, their own SDK was developed.
• Glove with graft.
• 5G and cloud for processing (in plans). Today, all devices require powerful hardware in order to fully run the content and there were no lags. The suit will allow all processing to be transferred to the cloud. This will save users from iron, remove all excess peripherals. Since the periphery greatly reduces mobility in VR, the cloud should be quite powerful, distributed, and many more nuances. Therefore, its creation will take at least 3-5 years.

And now let's take a look into the future.

Now developed systems that will allow you to connect a computer directly to the human brain. They have been developed for quite some time. Well, the most discussed project is Neuralink from Ilona Mask. This is a very difficult project, judging by what the level of technology is now, this will happen no earlier than in 15-25 years, and possibly more.

Costume - a closer option in time. A suit is a system that allows a person to complete a full life training. The developers plan to develop smart clothes, which will be built in various kinds of sensors (temperature, measuring the level of oxygen in the blood, humidity and other sensors that allow you to remove vital signs of the body).

In parallel with the suit a lot of work on gloves. They allow you to interact with objects. Gloves are also crammed with sensors that work on electrical stimulation. In the glove itself there are all the same control systems that are in the suit.

Another important point is the simulation of weight in virtual reality. Everyone wants to not only feel the object, touch it, feel its shape, but also feel how much it weighs. This is real using electrostimulation. Now there are studies that suggest that using electrostimulation can very accurately simulate the weight of the subject. Such a thing will also be timely or a little later.


In the near future we will post on our blog on Habrahabr summaries and recordings of all other lectures from the VR-Today virtual reality conference. Subscribe to get notified when they exit.

In the fall, we start training on our educational program “Game Project Management”, we invite you to open doors on June 28!