Virtual reality technologies are revolutionizing conventional physical therapy practices. The IREX system was built using virtual reality technologies.It has worked in coordination with highly skilled software; few advanced vision programs and high-level clinical supervisors and has taken thousand hours practice to get IREX to life. The dramatic change that is occurring in IREX system provides the clinical supervisors with a progressive method of managing therapeutic exercise process. This IREX system comes up with a very high level of interaction between the patients and the clinical supervisors which had never taken place before. The following few sentences show us how IREX makes it happen exactly.
The IREX system consists of a complicated camera technology with the help of which the internal camera captures the patients picture and displays it on the computers screen. And with this facility the patients can see themselves, move and interact with the virtual objects. IREX is a wireless system without any peripherals providing the users with total freedom of movement.
The patients are made to stand in front of the screen that is green in color known as the “green-screen”(this screen is digitally removed) allowing only the patients physical body images placed in the videos environment; no wires or headgear are allowed only a light weight glove and no calibration with the system is necessary.
IREX system then provides a guideline to the patient, which is clinically recommended, online physical activities. These physical activities include games such as soccer, volleyball, snow boarding and few adventurous physical activities. These clinically recommended program incorporate many facts of physical movements, which includes balance, eye-hand movement, muscular and joint movements, rotation and few other practical movements.Because of this visually change in the surroundings the IREX system accurately records the patients attention, and their interest as per the recommended physical exercise. This can distract the patient’s attention from the standard pain and frequent working on the recommended exercise is advantageous for them.
The properties of the IREX system can recognize and captures the body movements for the clinical supervisors, which the equipments present today cannot do.
IREX captures the patient’s body movements and its limits within the clinical prescribed area. This information is recorded as an output result, which helps the supervisor to check if the patient is carrying out with the prescribed physical exercises. The technology, which is used for IREX, is in use from years together, by placing it in large number of medical and research centers throughout the world. Our users have offered great interest and approval for this system, and have shown high level of participation, approval.IREX characteristics consists of fully developed and programmable user set-up and instructions display.
Virtual reality is a technology, which allows a high level of interaction between the computers simulated surroundings and the user. Many of these virtual reality environments are among the most important visual experiences, showed on either of the computers screen or on special device through which two photographs of the same object are viewed together (stereoscopic device). But few assumptions also include additional afferent data, such as sound through microphones or speakers. Few high levels and experimental technology includes limited tangible data known as forced feedback.
Users can interact with this virtual environment either with the use of standard device such as mouse, keyboards or through few multimode devices such as wired gloves; the polhenus boom arm, and/or omni directional treadmill.
In practice it is very hard to make a high and accurate virtual reality experience, due to high technical limitations on its functional power, image resolution and the communication frequency. But at the end these limitations can be overcome as a processor. Data communications technologies have become more affective and costly over a certain span of time.
TERMINOLOGY:While virtual reality initially denoted a totally immersive tethered system, since then the termed has been used to describe the systems that are lacking wired gloves, full body touch suites etc, and few technologies that are driven by VRML and X3D on the world wide web and frequently text based interacting systems such as MOOS or MUDS. Non-immersive virtual reality makes use of a basic monitor and the person can make changes in the virtual environment with help of certain input devices such as mouse, joysticks or a similar input device. The term was used in the earlier 1990’s to denote the 3D computers and few video games in specific the first person-shooters.
VR TIMELINE:
Predating digital computing, the Sensorama was a mechanical device, which is still functioning till date. In 1968 Ivan Sutherland with the help of his student Bob Sproull invented what is largely considered to be the first ever Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (AR) and the Head Mounted display system (HDS). It was earliest both in terms of user interface and reality. The HMD that had to be put on by the user was too heavy and had to be suspended from the ceiling of the roof and the graphics, which consisted of the virtual environment, were very simple wire frame rooms. The impressive look of the system has named it to be The Sword of Damocles.
Asper Movie Map, created in the year 1977 is one among the well-known hypermedia and virtual reality systems. The program was a simple virtual simulation of Aspen, Colorado in which the users could easily wander on the streets in the three main seasons viz. summer, winter and polygons. Among the three seasons the first two were dependent on the photographs and there by the investigators would actually capture every possible moment occurring in the city’s grid. And the third season was the basic of the 3-D model of the city.
FUTURE:
It is not sure where exactly is the future of virtual reality heading towards. Within a short span of time the graphics that have been displayed in the HMD will reach a point of reality. The aural feature will move into a new field of three-dimensional sound. The virtual reality is most likely to be used in the form of headphones in the near future.
Within the limits of the technology in this world sight and sound are the only two senses that can be copied easily. To engage the left over senses like touching smell and tasting the brain is to be changed directly. This would move the virtual reality into the field of a powerful dream not different to that of “matrix”. Even though a single part of it has been seriously developed at this stage, Sony has been the company, which has taken the first step.
Cyber walk:
Despite recent improvements in Virtual Reality technology it is at present still impossible to physically walk through virtual environments. The main goal is to significantly advance the scientific and technological state-of-the-art by enabling quasi-natural, unconstrained, and Omni-directional walking in virtual worlds. To achieve this visionary goal we follow a holistic approach that unites science, technology and applications. Cyber Walk will develop a completely novel concept for a high-fidelity Omni-directional treadmill, named Cyber Carpet. This treadmill is envisioned to be a 2D platform that should allow unrestricted Omni-directional walking, permitting the user to execute quick or slow movements, or even step over and cross his or her legs. At the end of the project it is foreseen that we will have an easy-to-use device that has been constructed to fit individual needs. Its widespread use will be facilitated by the fact that users can get quickly prepared to use it: the visual tracking that supports the control operates marker less. One only has to put on a Head Mounted Display, through which the virtual environment is displayed. The concept of motion control behind this treadmill will focus on diminishing the forces exerted on the walking user, by minimizing the overall accelerations. To place the developments on a solid human-centered footing Cyber Walk will continuously push research in the field of cognitive/behavioral science and will determine the necessary psychophysical design guidelines and appropriate evaluation procedures. The cyber walk will show case its developments via a physical walkthrough, most probably through the virtual reconstruction of the ancient city of Saga lassos. However, it seems clear that the Cyber Walk approach will also prove relevant to many other application areas such as medical treatment and rehabilitation (Parkinson’s disease, phobia, etc.), entertainment, sports (training facilities, fitness centers), behavioral science, education, training (maintenance teams, security guards, etc.), and architecture (exploring large virtual construction sites).
Referenced links:
www.gesturetek.com/images/irex/setup.jpg
www.crystalinks.com/virtualarnie.jpg.
www.vision.ee.ethz.ch/research/img/cyberwalk.jpg
