Head Mounted Display
VR is currently created by head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift. HMDs utilize stereoscopic displays and specialized lenses along with motion tracking hardware to give the illusion that the user is physically inside the virtual world.
To create the illusion of depth, a display is placed very close to the users' eyes, covering their entire field of view. Two images that are very similar but have different perspectives are channeled into each eye to create parallax, the visual phenomenon where our brains perceive depth based on the difference in the apparent position of objects.
Specialized lenses are placed between the display and our eyes. The lenses allow our eyes to focus on the images on the display, even though the display is only a few inches in front of our faces. Without lenses, our entire VR world would become blurry because human eyes have trouble focusing on things that are very close.
The headset tracks the movement of your head and changes the images shown on the display based on it. This process creates the sensation that users are located within the virtual environment. Users of these devices are not only able to experience the computer-simulated environments but also interact with them. Various input methods, from the traditional game controllers and keyboards to the futuristic hand gestures and voice commands, are available or under development.
