2. Bird's-Eye View

This chapter presents an overview of VR systems from hardware (Section 2.1) to software (Section 2.2) to human perception (Section 2.3). The purpose is to quickly provide a sweeping perspective so that the detailed subjects in the remaining chapters will be understood within the larger context. Further perspective can be gained by quickly jumping ahead to Section 12.2, which provides recommendations to VR developers. The fundamental concepts from the chapters leading up to that will provide the engineering and scientific background to understand why the recommendations are made. Furthermore, readers of this book should be able to develop new techniques and derive their own recommendations to others so that the VR systems and experiences are effective and comfortable.