The Benefits Of Virtual Environment

Virtual environment technologies are developed with intended purposes and goals to achieve. Virtual environments are intended to advance various fields and efforts made in the development of virtual environment technologies are expected to bear fruits. Nevertheless, these expectations are not always met as some of the virtual environment technologies end up not realizing their intended purposes, and consequently, they do not meet expectations. In his article, Stanney (1995) acknowledges that often, virtual environments fail to realize their full potential. According to the article, this can be attributed to various human factors, issues that hinder the virtual environment technologies from achieving the intended purposes. In the article, the

The issues here relate to the skills required to execute tasks, the level of resolution needed, the level of interaction required with the real objects as well as the task interference by the virtual enviornment system. They mainatin that it is difficult to achieve precise registration and alignment of virtual objects in relation to the real world due to deficieinecis in existing equipments. This is due to the fact that the human visual system detects even tiny errors that may occur in registration and thus most applications maintain a static viewpoint. It is for this reason that augmenetd reality is considered inapropriate for tasks that need dynamic viewpoints or precise registration. These problems can however minimized by using werable equipment. The researchers applied an empirical approach through the consideration of technological perspectives aimed at improving the efficiency of virtual environment technology in manufacturing activities. In the study, the researchers developed a three-step framework for analysis involving the evaluation of flexibility, assessment of the potential benefits and a cost-benefit analysis that ought to be considered in deciding on the ideal virtual environment to adopt in the manufacturing tasks

The study finds that systems are not ideal and thus sensorimotor skills, which include special anticipation of movement and control of rotations, are necessary in the interaction with telepresence systems. In this manner, users that have lower sensorimotor skills should be in a position to attain good results if the interfaces facilitate rotational movements. The rotations and translations perceived by human operators are independent of each other but the device is the main element that determines whether the control is integrated or separated. It is due to such issues that the information obtained from task analysis should be used to determine the sensation of presence and the level of performance of the user. Deml (2007) worked towards the provision of guidelines relating to the design of telepresence systems from the point of view of human factors. It is worth noting that in the development of most telepresence technologies, the users are considered to be homogenous and there exist no standard input devices as well as design guiding principles. Additionally Barbara concluded two experiments focusing on different aspects of interface design (Deml, 2007). Therefore, from the study, the author clearly brings out the fact that in the development of the different telepresence technologies, human factors ought to be considered to ensure efficiency of telepresence