Virtual reality on five dollars a day
Randy F. Pausch · 1991
Virtual reality systems using head-mounted displays and glove input are gaining popularity but their cost prohibits widespread use. We have developed a system using an 80386 IBM-PC TM , a Polhemus 3Space Isotrak TM , two Reflection Technology Private Eye TM displays, and a Mattel Power Glove TM . For less than $5,000, we have created an effective vehicle for developing interaction techniques in virtual reality. Our system displays monochrome wire frames of objects with a spatial resolution of 720 by 280, the highest resolution head-mounted system published to date. We have confirmed findings by other researchers that lowlatency interaction is significantly more important than high-quality graphics or stereoscopy. We have also found it useful to display reference objects to our user, specifically a ground plane for reference and a vehicle containing the user. KEYWORDS: Virtual reality, head-mounted display, glove input, computer graphics, teleoperation, speech re...