The Strange New World of Virtual RealityVirtual reality is the creation of a highly interactive computer-based multimedia environment in which the user becomes a participant with the computer in a "virtually real". We live in an era characterized by 3D virtual systems created by computer graphics. In the concept called Virtual Reality (VR), the virtual reality engineer combines computer, video, image processing and sensor technologies so that a human can enter and react with spaces generated by computer graphics. In 1969-70, an MIT scientist went to the University of Utah, where he began working with vector-generated graphics. He built a transparent helmet that used television screens and half-silvered mirrors, so that the environment was visible through the television displays. It was not yet designed to provide a surrounding environment. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that virtual reality systems began to become more defined. The AMES contract began in 1985 and produced the first glove in February 1986. The glove is made of thin Lycra and is equipped with 15 sensors that monitor flexion, extension, position and orientation of the hand. Connected to a computer via fiber optic cables. sensor inputs allow the computer to generate an image on the screen of the hand that follows the operator's hand movements. The glove also features miniature vibrators on the fingertips to provide feedback to the operator from grasped virtual objects. The system, therefore, guided by special software, allows the operator to interact by grabbing and moving a virtual object inside a simulated room, experiencing the "feeling" of the object. The virtual reality line includes the Datasuit and the Eyephone. The Dtasuit is a full-body instrumented garment that allows full-body interaction with a computer-built virtual world. In one use, this product is worn by film actors to give realistic movements to animated characters in computer-generated special effects. Eyephone is a stereo head-mounted display that shows a computer-created virtual world in color and 3D. Eyephone technology is based on an experimental Virtual Interface Environment Workstation (VIEW) design. VIEW is a head-mounted stereoscopic viewing system with two 3.9-inch television screens, one for each eye. The visualization can be a computer-generated scene or a real environment sent from remote cameras. Sound effects transmitted to headphones increase realism. The glove and software were planned to be used for ideas such as a surgical simulation or "3D virtual surgery" for medical students.