Constructing a highly immersive virtual environment: a case study

Virtual reality (VR) applications raise enormous interest inside and outside computer science. Unfortunately, VR systems are rather complex, involving many software and hardware modules being integrated. Theoretical papers are not always of much aid in the actual implementation of VR applications. We try to fill this gap with a case study on a simple example VR system, that is used to demonstrate the most important aspects of a VR implementation, including application design, implementation strategy, selection of hardware and software, rendering, tracking and display technology. Special attention is paid to practical issues that are usually only learned by experience, and on the discussion of devices and methods that are inexpensive and readily available.