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Virtual and Augmented Reality

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Encyclopedia of Multimedia

Definition

Virtual Reality is the technology that provides almost real and/or believable experiences in a synthetic or virtual way, while Augmented Reality enhances the real world by superimposing computer-generated information on top of it.

Introduction

The term Virtual Reality (VR) was initially introduced by Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research in 1989. This term is a contradiction in its self, for nothing can be both real and virtual at the same time. Perhaps Real Virtuality would be a better term, because this is what new technologies have been giving. Other related terms include Artificial Reality (Myron Krueger, 1970s), Cyberspace (William Gibson, 1984), and, more recently, Virtual Worlds and Virtual Environments (1990s). Virtual Reality may be considered to have been born in the mid-1960s, based on the work of Van Sutherland from the University of Utah [1]. A paper, published in 1972 by D. L Vickers, one of Sutherland’s colleagues, describes an interactive computer graphics...

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References

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Shen, X., Shirmohammadi, S. (2008). Virtual and Augmented Reality. In: Furht, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Multimedia. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78414-4_253

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