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- TOOLKIT/APPLICATION PROVIDERS
-
-
- The category TOOLKIT/APPLICATION PROVIDERS includes
- organizations whose products have been specifically designed to
- address the demanding systems integration requirements of
- VR based development. Tools are evolving to allow VR system
- designers to rapidly and accurately configure unusual controls and
- human interface devices into complex multi-dimensional platforms.
-
- VR Toolkits, if properly designed, accommodate the need for
- dynamics (how things physically interact in nature), special
- purpose image generator needs such as level of detail database
- swapping and visual blending and last but most importantly,
- multiparticipatory intersystem networking (which includes
- system status message passing, collision detection and
- decisioning). Designing a multiparticipatory, full immersion VR
- network is probably one of the most challenging tasks that has
- ever been defined. The tools that are only now evolving will
- undoubtedly evolve to enable such development. At the moment,
- system designers can relax because hardware availability which
- can meet the challenge is rare, expensive and difficult to work.
-
- As low-end price / performance improves and VR platforms
- become more common, VR Toolkit developers will be willing to
- design products that will assure a return on their investment.
- This is a little bit of the old "chicken and egg" syndrome which
- pervades VR development at every level. In spite of this, a lot of
- great theory and prototyping work is being done by a few clever,
- enthusiastic innovators. It is those that are listed here.
-
- If you are aware of other related products and organizations which
- have VR toolkit based systems to offer, please contact us so they
- will be added to future revisions of this guide.