Knowledgeable from Today Series Tokoton yasashii VR no hon (Extremely Easy Book on VR)

This book has been written by members of the projects related to the Virtual Reality Educational Research Center to mark the first anniversary of the center. Extremely Easy … is a series printed in the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun and all the articles are presented in two facing pages (one page for text and the other for figures). It is not easy to summarize difficult content in about eight hundred characters, but as this has been composed by professionals, the volume has turned out to be very understandable. Figures used for explanation are not dry ones that are usually found in academic books and are in fact quite interesting and reflect an element of manga (comics). The Extremely Easy… series has quite a history and it covers a wide range of topics including lighter subjects and is not restricted simply to cutting-edge technology as seen in the Extremely Easy Book on Trains. I would like to thank the publisher for including virtual reality (VR) in this series.
 
VR saw the second boom around the year 2016. In contrast to the first VR boom which was focused on technical trials, this one is more realistic and displays a deeper involvement with the business world. Therefore, there is a need to enhance and fine-tune technology. The philosophy that underpins the structure of the book is that there is fundamental difference between the first and second VR boom. After you read the volume, it will be evident that the second boom is not a simple “reinvention of the wheel.”
 
VR tends to be seen as cutting-edge computer technology. However, the range of disciplines that support this technology is very wide. For example, in the second VR boom, there is a strong focus on dealing with illusion. In contrast to the first VR, in which sensory signals were forcibly synthesized, the current phase is far more ingenious. One of the key features of the volume is the way in which a series of topics that are related to the interdisciplinary field of computer science and psychology, are treated as “science of five senses.”
 
Furthermore, currently there is emphasis on complete development of peripheral technology that is not the same as before. This book takes up the latest topics on the relationship between information technology and VR, that are attracting attention now, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) , IoT (Internet of Things), and 5G. This reflects the book’s light footwork.
 
I would urge students to compare this with Virtual Reality Studies, an authoritative textbook on VR. By doing so, you will be able to develop an understanding of how the field of VR has been evolving dynamically.
 

(Written by HIROSE Michitaka, Professor, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology / 2020)