ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the technological challenges inherent in the design of multisensory virtual environments (VEs). In this context, multisensory VEs are viewed as closed-loop systems comprised of humans, computers, and the interfaces through which continuous streams of information flow. More specifically, VEs are distinguished from other
simulator systems by their capacity to portray three dimensional (3-D) spatial information in a variety of modalities, their ability to exploit users’ natural input behaviors for human-computer interaction, and their potential to “immerse” the user in the virtual world. Accordingly, the primary objective of multisensory VEs is to provide users with salient and meaningful information that affords veridical perception and permits adaptive, goal-directed behavior in the VE, ultimately enhancing operator efficiency in a wide variety of application domains, including training, information visualization, product development and testing, entertainment, medicine and health care, and teleoperation. However, despite significant advances in human-computer interface (HCI) technology over the past decade (e.g., head-mounted displays [HMDs], spatial audio displays, and haptic interfaces), compelling and useful multisensory VEs are sparse, and the purported advantages of the technology have yet to be realized.
