Virtual and Augmented Reality

Comprehensive and in-depth overview of the fundamental principles of virtual and augmented reality technologies and their key applications Virtual and Augmented Reality presents a treatment of the hot topics of VR and AR technologies, including the advances in 3D motion tracking and semantic scene understanding with artificial intelligence based on deep neural networks, to provide advanced coverage of the fundamental principles of these two subjects, as well as serve as a reference text for both academia and industry practitioners. The book includes necessary derivations, starting from the fundamentals, and builds up step-by-step to more advanced concepts, such as 3D graphics and computer vision techniques, all the way to overall systems architectures and applications. The book also covers historical perspectives, highlighting the seminal developments along the way, as well as look ahead to the future applications beyond the current state-of-the-art commercial deployments to depict the impact that these technologies can make on society in the years and decades to come, in industries including gaming and entertainment, immersive media, medical and health, interactive education, training and simulations, virtual tourism, and e-commerce. Written by an award-winning specialist in the area, Virtual and Augmented Reality includes information on: Details of the system-level requirements from psychophysical and human-factors considerations and the advances in 3D motion tracking with visual-inertial sensing techniques Perceptual computing with 3D graphics processing and rendering methods, spatial-light modulation and display technologies, and 3D audio and immersive sound technologies Human inputs and interactions, semantic scene understanding with artificial intelligence based on deep neural networks, and end-to-end system architectures State-of-the-art and emerging applications towards achieving life-like immersive and interactive experiences Virtual and Augmented Reality is a highly valuable multi-purpose book that can be used as a text by instructors for undergraduate and graduate courses intended to teach the principles and applications of virtual and augmented reality, as well as a reference volume for the researchers and practitioners in the field.