Case study 10 



Virtual Reality Technology 



The photograph shows an investigator, with a head-mounted display and a force-feedback manipulator con- 

 trolling the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) probe, exploring the surface of a sample of materi- 

 al. The image projected on the wall Indicates the view that the investigator sees and changes as his head 

 position and orientation change. The region of the surface shown is 25 Angstroms on a side. 



Virtual reality (VR) is the human experience of 

 perceiving and interacting through sensors and 

 effectors with a synthetic (simulated) environ- 

 ment containing simulated objects as if it were 



real. It is supported by advances in simulation 

 technology that allow linking human capabilities 

 and computational resources, sensor systems and 

 robotic devices for real-time tasks. VR technol- 



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