Main types of VR
(Classified by display technology)
- Adventure games, MUD/MOO
- Textually described virtual worlds where the user perceives the virtual environment through mental images based on the words read (like reading a novel).
- Desktop
- 3D virtual environment graphically displayed on a desktop computer monitor.
- Projected
- 3D environment projected onto a screen. Enables a single user to demonstrate concepts to a group of people. A CAVE(tm), where several sreens are used to surround the user with images, is the most advanced form of projected VR in use today.
- Semi-immersive
- Most advanced flight, ship and vehicle simulators are semi-immersive. The cockpit, bridge, or driving seat is a physical model, whereas the view of the world outside is computer-generated (typically projected).
- Immersive
- 3D environment seen through a head-mounted display (HMD). In a completely immersive system the user feels part of the environment (experiences a feeling of 'presence'). The user has no visual contact with the physical world.
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