Representing Built Environments with Digital Tools …
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system. One of the first projection displays was the Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE), which took a form of a room-sized cube. On its walls and the ground,
a projection of the visual scene is displayed, with two slightly different images, which
aims to account for the inter-pupillary distance. The user wears stereoscopic LCD
shutter glasses providing a 3D display of the environment. In recently developed
panoramic displays, projection screens wrap around a viewer in the shape of a dome
or curved surfaces. That way the display incorporates the full visual field, allowing
the user to actively move within the setup while maintaining visual association to her
own body. Her movements are only restricted by the range of the projection screens.
Comparing to multi-monitor displays, panoramic projection displays provide significantly more near-space information, which, as already mentioned, is crucial in estimating distance. Likely the only noticeable disadvantage of such displays may arise
in terms of the visual representation of the virtual environment: Depending on the
display’s form, the user’s view can be distorted on surface joints [12].
Head-mounted displays (HMDs) track and render head movements and support
accurate navigation. This type of display was initially developed for entertainment purposes, but this changed quite soon, with devices such as the Oculus Rift,
HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR LeapMotion, Virtuix Omni being
currently reasonably priced, but very efficient research tools. Devices worn on a
user’s head contain either one (monocular HMD) or two small screens that display
an image to each eye (binocular HMD). The two images can either be the same or
support a stereoscopic display. Currently, HMDs can be applied for both virtual and
augmented reality (AR). In the latter, a computer-generated image can be superimposed on a real-world view. HMDs with a nontransparent display only offer limited
visual information to the user, who can see what screen devices show, and nothing
else. HMDs can be combined with a motion tracking system, which updates the
visual image as the user moves her head. Such a possibility compensates for the
limited vertical field of view, allowing the user to see a wider range of the virtual
space than she would be able to in a fully stationary position [12]. This is not the
only limitation this type of display, another being HMD’s weight, which can affect
distance recognition in virtual environments [25].
In terms of immersiveness, two of the above-mentioned displays strongly support
visual stimuli: panoramic displays and head-mounted displays. Both often used as
research tools, they do differ. HMDs offer smaller fields of view, and only allow for
several participants to communicate in one environment through virtual representations of their bodies. Panoramic projection displays offer more possibilities, some of
them supporting full fields of view and providing settings for several participants to
retain visual connections to their physique [8].
State-of-the-art technology can support fully immersive visual substitution with
the following technological solutions: a full field of view, a stereoscopic display,
images of very high-quality, increased mobility within the virtual environment when
wearing an HMD, and integration with sound and haptic equipment.
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system. One of the first projection displays was the Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE), which took a form of a room-sized cube. On its walls and the ground,
a projection of the visual scene is displayed, with two slightly different images, which
aims to account for the inter-pupillary distance. The user wears stereoscopic LCD
shutter glasses providing a 3D display of the environment. In recently developed
panoramic displays, projection screens wrap around a viewer in the shape of a dome
or curved surfaces. That way the display incorporates the full visual field, allowing
the user to actively move within the setup while maintaining visual association to her
own body. Her movements are only restricted by the range of the projection screens.
Comparing to multi-monitor displays, panoramic projection displays provide significantly more near-space information, which, as already mentioned, is crucial in estimating distance. Likely the only noticeable disadvantage of such displays may arise
in terms of the visual representation of the virtual environment: Depending on the
display’s form, the user’s view can be distorted on surface joints [12].
Head-mounted displays (HMDs) track and render head movements and support
accurate navigation. This type of display was initially developed for entertainment purposes, but this changed quite soon, with devices such as the Oculus Rift,
HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR LeapMotion, Virtuix Omni being
currently reasonably priced, but very efficient research tools. Devices worn on a
user’s head contain either one (monocular HMD) or two small screens that display
an image to each eye (binocular HMD). The two images can either be the same or
support a stereoscopic display. Currently, HMDs can be applied for both virtual and
augmented reality (AR). In the latter, a computer-generated image can be superimposed on a real-world view. HMDs with a nontransparent display only offer limited
visual information to the user, who can see what screen devices show, and nothing
else. HMDs can be combined with a motion tracking system, which updates the
visual image as the user moves her head. Such a possibility compensates for the
limited vertical field of view, allowing the user to see a wider range of the virtual
space than she would be able to in a fully stationary position [12]. This is not the
only limitation this type of display, another being HMD’s weight, which can affect
distance recognition in virtual environments [25].
In terms of immersiveness, two of the above-mentioned displays strongly support
visual stimuli: panoramic displays and head-mounted displays. Both often used as
research tools, they do differ. HMDs offer smaller fields of view, and only allow for
several participants to communicate in one environment through virtual representations of their bodies. Panoramic projection displays offer more possibilities, some of
them supporting full fields of view and providing settings for several participants to
retain visual connections to their physique [8].
State-of-the-art technology can support fully immersive visual substitution with
the following technological solutions: a full field of view, a stereoscopic display,
images of very high-quality, increased mobility within the virtual environment when
wearing an HMD, and integration with sound and haptic equipment.