A mature and practical virtual reality system is generally composed of a software part (content development engine, such as VRPlatform), a hardware part (content output display and interactive control end) and a system part (interactive content), and the three parts support each other, restrict each other, and are indispensable.
Only by choosing the right hardware equipment that matches the content and application scenarios can the virtual reality system be maximized!
Virtual reality is a common form of hardware
Virtual reality hardware can be divided into two parts: the display system (content output) and the interactive control system (action input).
In the last issue, we looked at display systems.
In this issue, we will introduce you to the interactive control system.
01 Data gloves
Data glove is a kind of multi-modal virtual reality hardware, through software programming, it can be used to grasp, move, rotate and other actions of objects in the virtual scene, and can also be used as a tool to control scene roaming by using its multi-modality.
Current products are already able to detect the curvature of the finger and use magnetic positioning sensors to pinpoint the position of the hand in three-dimensional space. This data glove, which combines a finger curvature test and a spatial positioning test, is called a "real glove". Data gloves provide operators with a versatile, direct way to interact with each other, especially for virtual reality systems that require multi-DOF hand models to perform complex manipulations of virtual objects.
Classification of data gloves:
General VR data gloves: the price is affordable, it can collect VR data and provide analysis, but the experience is less realistic;
Force feedback data glove: The experience is realistic, and the data collection is more accurate, but the price is high and the application is relatively cumbersome.
02 Optical motion capture system
Motion capture is a high-tech technology that accurately measures and records the movement trajectory or posture of an object in real 3D space in real time, and reconstructs the movement state of a moving object at every moment in virtual 3D space. It is equipped with motion capture systems in holographic tables, CADWALL, CAVE, and other systems.
Optical motion capture is a technology based on the principle of computer vision, which is used by multiple high-speed cameras to monitor and track target feature points from different angles. The acquisition sensors of this type of system are usually optical cameras, but the difference is that the type of target sensor is different. One is to add additional markers to the object, based on the two-dimensional image features or three-dimensional shape features extracted joint information as the detection target, this kind of system can be collectively referred to as marker-free optical motion capture system, the other is to paste marker points on the object as the target sensor, this kind of system is called marker-point optical motion capture.
At present, the commonly used optical motion capture systems include Optitrack, ARTtrack, etc.
03 VR gimbal treadmill
The VR gimbal treadmill can synchronously feed back the user's movement to the virtual scene, and it will record all the people's orientation, speed and mileage data and transmit them to the virtual scene, making a realistic simulation of the response to reality in the virtual world. Combined with optional VR glasses or Microsoft's Kinect accessories, users can control the virtual character's walking and movement in 360° in real life, which is widely used in security drills, individual training and other application scenarios.
OMNI VR和KAT WALK VR是目前市面上两款最常见的万向跑步机。
(Swivel treadmill for fire emergency training)
04 Miscellaneous
A. Semi-physical virtual simulation platform
The semi-physical virtual simulation platform simulates a real cockpit, allowing the experiencer to feel the visual, auditory and somatosensory driving experience close to the real effect in a virtual driving environment. The platform comprehensively uses 3D image real-time generation technology, vehicle dynamics simulation physical system, large field of view display technology (such as multi-channel stereo projection system), six-degree-of-freedom motion platform (or three-degree-of-freedom motion platform), user input hardware system, stereo sound, central control system, etc.
The semi-physical virtual simulation platform is generally used for virtual driving training, such as automobile driving, virtual driving of large machinery and equipment, ship driving simulation training, etc.
(Semi-physical virtual simulation training platform for rock chisel trolley)
B. Fully automatic circumferential photography system
The automatic circumferential photography system is mainly used to scan the shape, structure and color of the object space and establish the three-dimensional data of the object surface, which is a commonly used means of virtual reality data acquisition and information input.
Its significance lies in the fact that it can convert the three-dimensional information of the physical object into a digital signal that can be directly processed by the computer, which provides a very convenient and fast means for the digitization of the physical object. It is often used in the digitization of cultural relics, product display and other fields.