Reality built for two: a virtual reality tool

Researchers have been working with head mounted displays and virtual reality (VR) since 1965 when Ivan Sutherland published his first paper on the subject1. This work has centered on a single user within virtual space. The literature has covered applications such as telerobotics, virtual control panels, architectural simulation and scientific visualization.Several factors now militate toward broadening the range of VR applications: developments in hardware and software, as well as a growing readiness in many fields to incorporate VR. User interface constraints of VR systems need to change in response to this changing user profile. Design of environments and behaviors in virtual worlds should be simple and accessible to experts in many fields. With the advent of multi-user systems, communications will become a major application of virtual reality.VPL has recently developed a system that allows more than one user to share a virtual space. The forms and behaviors of virtual worlds are specified graphically, so that non-programmers can design them. The system, called Reality Built for Two, will be demonstrated at the Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics.