The Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook [Paperback]

Robin Hollands (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1996 | ISBN-10: 0471958719 | ISBN-13: 978-0471958710

This complete, do-it-yourself kit is crammed with construction projects and easy-to-use software for creating realistic virtual worlds with a minimum of equipment. The package includes 26 illustrated projects for building the basic VR hardware, from head-trackers and head-mounted displays to the 6D joystick and glove. A key feature of the text is its extensive survey of gear you can buy, from low-cost hardware to world-building software. Also included in the book are the essentials of 3D graphics programming, neat demo programs, and toolkits on CD, for programming in C or Turbo Pascal and tips for enhancing your virtual worlds, covering topics such as terrain mapping and simulation. If you want to know more about the basic principles, each project gives a good insight into the workings of professional systems. Only standard components are used and a list of parts sources is supplied.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This complete, do-it-yourself kit is crammed with construction projects and easy-to-use software for creating realistic virtual worlds with a minimum of equipment. The package includes 26 illustrated projects for building the basic VR hardware, from head-trackers and head-mounted displays to the 6D joystick and glove. A key feature of the text is its extensive survey of gear you can buy, from low-cost hardware to world-building software. Also included in the book are the essentials of 3D graphics programming, neat demo programs, and toolkits on CD, for programming in C or Turbo Pascal and tips for enhancing your virtual worlds, covering topics such as terrain mapping and simulation. If you want to know more about the basic principles, each project gives a good insight into the workings of professional systems. Only standard components are used and a list of parts sources is supplied.

From the Back Cover

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, it's all here in one package. You'll 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... Visit our Web page! http://www/wiley.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471958719
• ISBN-13: 978-0471958710
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,713,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Did not teach me anything useful, December 19, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook (Paperback)

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.