The Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook |  | Author: Robin Hollands
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Category: Book
List Price: $115.00
Buy New: $9.95
as of 9/9/2010 12:23 CDT details
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Seller: anyandallbooks
Rating:  1 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 380
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 7.5 x 1
ISBN: 0471958719
Dewey Decimal Number: 006
EAN: 9780471958710
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Virtual Reality/Programming A Little Imagination, The Right Tools, and You Can Have a Virtual World at Your Fingertips… This complete. do-it-yourself kit is a great starting point for exploring virtual worlds of your own design. Taking you through the basic principles of virtual reality [VR] technology, full of useful facts on the components you can buy, crammed with original construction projects and easy-to-use software, this all-in-one handbook is an excellent source of information and ideas for building VR systems simply and inexpensively. Whether looking for new ways to build the hardware, a quick introduction to 3D graphics, or tips for creating more sophisticated worlds, its all here in one package. Youll find:- 26 illustrated projects for building the main VR hardware - from head-tracker and head-mounted display to joystick and data glove
- an extensive survey of the gear you can buy from low-cost hardware to world-building software
- a concise and readable 3D graphics tutorial
- tips for enhancing your virtual worlds, covering topics such as terrain mapping and simulation
- heaps of free software on CD: three complete toolkits [including RVRIL, successor to REND386] and much more, for C and Turbo Pascal programmers
Projects are easy to build using readily available, standard components. Each gives good insight into how the professional systems work and will inspire you to build with confidence on your own experiments and ideas! Robin Hollands is chairman of the UH Virtual Reality Special Interest Group, and a regular Garage VR magazine columnist. Includes CD packed with demos and toolkits: AVRIL, VR386, VROOM, 3D-Ware, WorldToolkit, Virtus Player, RenderWare and much more
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| Customer Reviews:
Did not teach me anything useful December 20, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was written in 1996, and it shows. All the hardware it teaches to use is terribly outdated and may not even exist anymore (the CyberMaxx HMD it teaches you to program is an example). If you believe this book will make you able to build a VR deck to experience in virtual reality every computer game you have... forget it.
The projects in this book are very much like Physics demonstrations at school: cute bute useless ways to teach any concept, and sometimes non-standard terms are intentionally used to generate confusion. For example: a portable TV strapped to your eyes and viewed through a lens is called a "biocular display" and made to look like a homemade version of a real VR helmet; a flimsy thing made of wood that holds a Fresnel lens in front of your screen is called a projector; the "flying joystick" is just a standard 1996 disemboweled joystick, held together with duct tape.
If you want to illude some Lawnmower Man fans, convince them to buy this book.
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