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History of Virtual Reality

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Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games

Definitions

The term “virtual reality” was coined by Jaron Lanier in 1987 during a period of intense research in immersive technologies (Virtual Reality Society 2017). Lanier owned a research company pioneered in 3D graphics and immersive interactions that produced the first commercially available virtual reality equipment such as virtual reality glasses and data gloves.

Some of the artifacts mentioned in this entry for an historical account of VR (virtual reality) are dated far earlier than 1987, since they were chosen according to criterion that the artifact creates an immersion effect primarily based on sense of vision. Using a technology-oriented approach in relation with the arguments in contemporary research, Garner (2018) suggests that stereoscopy, field of view, and synchronized multimodality are vital contributors to presence and immersion which are two of the most significant elements of VR experience. To enhance immersion and presence, an artifact may also employ auditory,...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Communication Design, Bahcesehir University Faculty of Communication, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mehmet Ilker Berkman

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  1. Mehmet Ilker Berkman
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Correspondence to Mehmet Ilker Berkman .

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  1. Applied Computer Science Department, Woodbury University Applied Computer Science Department, Burbank, California, USA

    Newton Lee

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Berkman, M.I. (2018). History of Virtual Reality. In: Lee, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_169-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_169-1

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