Virtual Cards

More and more people are sending virtual greeting cards. Not only are they easy and fast, but they can be animated and musical in ways that traditional paper cards are not. There is potential for the use (and abuse) of virtual reality to the arena of social relationships. There are many modes of virtual social relationships, but one type that is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds is virtual dating. Advantages of virtual dating include: transcending geographic boundaries to connect with people in far away places (particularly useful to find others who have similar advanced or unusual interests); focusing on words and thoughts (which might be lost in the hustle and bustle of loud, image-driven bar settings); convenience, efficiency, and date screening techniques which simply do not exist in an actual setting. Nonetheless, there are potential negatives as well. Identity deception with harmful intent remains a problem with online relationships. Then too, it is not unusual to have a disappointing reality shock when you meet someone in person after having only known them online. 3D imaging using micro-mirror arrays provides additional information on VR.

Computer interpretation of hand gestures and facial expressions currently happens and will probably lead the formation of optical information transferral from humans to computers. Gesture interpretation is built on computer operating and three-dimensional modeling of the structure and motion by the one's hands and face. This combines conceptual components from anatomy, kinesiology, and human vision. Human body language can be measured via computer directly through a mechanical hand device or indirectly via the optical interpretation of video pictures. There is considerable potential for further development of optical monitoring of lip, facial, eye, head, hand, and body motion. Several challenges remain. Computers cannot now monitor objects that are hidden from the line of sight by other objects, insufficiently lit, or too complex. Future progress concerning methods to translate optical images into virtual 3D things should open the door for much greater accuracy in optical measurement of human motion. Linked page optical methods of tracking human movement also provides developments on this.

Humans connect with computers in many different ways. When one watches a digital watch or hears a digital recording, one is interacting with a computer. A requirement for the nature of this connection to move into Virtual Reality (VR), the artificially-simulated elements should be perceptually more important than the real-world elements. For instance, when someone views a traditional computer screen within the genuine world, the computer screen picture is only a minor feature of the high priority physical setting, but if the screen is sufficiently surrounding to have top priority with respect to a high percentage of the total human range of sight and the picture that it displays responds naturally to our movement, then the computer created picture becomes perceptually dominant. If additional senses are also engaged, then the latter moves into the realm of virtual reality. Also consider defining virtual reality by degree of interaction for related subjects.

To achieve communication, a setting must respond to human action with a high enough level of correctness and speed to instill a participating human a sense similar to interaction with actual things. With current technologies, this customarily involves achieving a specific level of computer reaction to the location, motion, and angle of the participating person's head or eyes and that of more than one hand. Computer reaction to the location, orientation, and configuration of the rest of the participating person's body is important. In any event, this is not currently included in the minimal specification for virtual reality. This also will change as there is further progress. virtual education provides additional discussion.