ABSTRACT
So far in Part II, everything that we have discussed has essentially been associated with the sense of sight. But, whilst it is probably true that the visual element is the most important component of any VR system, without the ability to interact with the virtual elements, the experience and sense of reality is diminished. We have seen in Section 4.2 that input to a VR system can come from a whole range of devices, not just the keyboard or the mouse. These nonstandard input devices are now indispensable components of any VR system. However, even equipping our VR systems with devices such as joysticks, two-handed game consoles or custom hardware such as automobile steering consoles, we don’t come close to simulating real-world interaction. To be really realistic, our devices need to kick back; they need to resist when we push them and ideally stimulate our sense of touch and feeling. Again, looking back at Section 4.2, we saw that haptic devices can provide variable resistance when you try to push something and force feedback when it tries to push you, thus mediating our sense of touch within the VR.
