The
first stage is a simple demonstration of the medium, showcasing
its capabilities and limitations. When moving pictures were first developed,
people were amazed by footage of waves crashing on a beach; in the early
days of virtual reality, looking at a wireframe cube from multiple angles
using an HMD was an impressive display of technology.
The
second stage of most media is the replication of an existing medium.
The first movies were nothing more than recorded stage plays, and a common
exercise for pioneers of virtual reality was the creation of a virtual
reality mock-up of their research lab.
During
the third stage of a medium, techniques unique to that medium are
developed and exploited. Today, the flashback and crosscut are well-acknowledged
idioms of the medium of film, but more than forty years passed between
the introduction of film and the widespread usage of these methods.
Our
group strives to bring virtual reality to the third stage, developing the
lexicon of virtual reality interaction techniques, interfaces, and applications.
