In our journal Virtual Reality Technology, a special issue is calling for papers about hardware and software in Virtual Reality (VR).

There are two categories of VR components needed to build and experience: Hardware and Software. Hardware includes sensory displays, computers, process acceleration cards, tracking systems, and input devices. The software includes 3D modeling, 2D graphics, digital sound editing, and VR simulation.

Input devices form the final category of VR hardware. To interact with a virtual environment, you may wish to use a joystick (sometimes called a wand in VR systems), instrumented gloves, a keyboard, voice recognition, or other types of input devices. These devices allow you to travel through the virtual environment, manipulate objects, and perhaps even build in the virtual world. Tracking devices are sometimes used in conjunction with input devices, adding a spatial (3-dimensional) component to their operation.

To create a virtual environment, you usually need supplementary software to create the objects that go into the virtual environment and set their characteristics. 3D modeling software allows you to construct the geometry of objects and specify some of their visual properties. 2D graphics software allows you to manipulate the textures applied to objects, which can often greatly enhance their visual detail. Digital sound editing software allows you to mix and edit the sounds emitted by objects. All these software have other commercial uses besides building VR, so there is plenty of varieties to choose from.

In this issue, we are soliciting papers about VR hardware and software. Potential topics are recommended: VR glasses, VR headsets, VR development platforms, modeling software, tracking devices, etc.

VR glasses, VR headsets, VR development platforms, modeling software, tracking devices, etc.