Applications drive VR interface selection

Physical interfaces to virtual environments fall into two broad categories: devices for navigation and physical interaction (such as deskbound and flying “mice”, gestural devices and navigation controls built into viewing devices); and viewing devices (such as head-mounted displays, counterbalanced displays, shutter glasses and a new class of immersive “desktop” viewers). The visual image is critical to creating an effective virtual experience. Beginning with immersive displays, this survey describes the range of available devices and discusses how application considerations affect the selection of components when configuring a virtual reality (VR) system