0.4 Virtual reality  (Page 2/2)

Limited titles. There are limited software ‘realities” available at this time, although the number is growing almost daily.

Integration

The most visible applications of VR have been high-fidelity simulators for airplane and Space Shuttle flight training and tank warfare training. VR also allows people to experience things not possible in the physical world.. They can take a virtual ride through the human circulatory system or can tour an ancient Mayan civilization. VR has also found successful applications in health care, architecture, interior design, city planning, product design, and all sorts of activities involving visualization (McLellan, 1996). One applications found at the school level is the “virtual field trip.” Adaptive technologies for special education are also being developed and tested.

Virtual reality is showing great promise in education because of the availability of software to create the virtual worlds. QuickTime VR utilizes several tools that allow students to create unique realities using simple tools. A digital camera on a special tripod attachment lets the student take photographs of an environment in a 360-degree perspective. Computer software ‘stitches’ the digital pictures together and creates a special movie. When viewing the movie, the user can, with a simple movement of the mouse, move the picture in any direction. This gives the user the feeling of standing in a spot and around looking in any direction.

Virtual reality has shown great promise in the area of medicine. The virtual hospital provides training and updating for medical professionals throughout the country. Given that most hospital staff cannot leave their assigned duties for any length of time, a training climate that simulates the hospital environment while helping staff to upgrade their skills is ideal. The virtual hospital also provides information new techniques and resource that might prove valuable in particular settings.

Some virtual reality applications are appropriate for schools. One example is a math program that lets students explore solutions to problems by actually manipulating the variables. Students experience algebraic concepts by moving numbered cubes in space, thus developing a unique understanding of the concepts.

Beyond simply manipulating the numbers to solve problems, this math program lets the teacher decide if it should correct the students when they make an error. The teacher may decide to let the computer program ignore only certain types of errors to let the students discover the mathematical relationships for themselves.

The three-dimensional rooms, or caves, where the user actually stands within the virtual environment, experiencing it from a total three-dimensional perspective, are often used for scientific study. Such applications as neurobiology and pharmacology have capitalized on this technology. Now scientists can enter a cell and manipulate or insert molecules and then observe the results of these actions.

The potential for this type of technology in the area of special education is exciting. Providing safe yet detailed lifelike learning experiences for students with learning problems has promise. As virtual reality tools improve and their costs decrease, students and teachers will be able to explore ways of using this type of technology in learning. It will become possible for them to create their own unique environments. These types of experiences will add to the dimensions of the classroom in exciting ways.