Currently, virtual reality (VR) is a computer technology that is growing in terms of developments and discoveries. Virtual reality has been introduced in different areas due to the growing interest it has caused in people. The development of applications with virtual reality is increasingly varied, covering activities, tasks, or processes of everyday life in the fields of industry, education, medicine, tourism, art, entertainment, design, and modeling of objects, among others. This chapter will focus on describing the latest advances and developments in virtual reality within the scope of representing reality in the process of locating objects. With the support of virtual environments and intelligent virtual agents, the author has managed to develop a computational model that generates indications in natural language, for the location of objects considering spatial and cognitive aspects of the users.
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Currently, Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the technologies with a very broad growth projection within companies and research centers. However, it is contradictory to see that this technology is very alien to certain groups of the population due to various situations, such as: not having a clear idea of what (VR) is, not having accessibility to it, not being within the people's particular interests due to age, among others. Before these situations, it is necessary and useful to specify that the term of Virtual Reality (VR) was popularized in 1989 by Jaron Lanier, emerging in the field of video games and entertainment. Several experts have tried to define the term Virtual Reality. Below are 2 of the definitions of experts that have had more relevance in this area:
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“Virtual Reality is a computer system used to create an artificial world in which the user has the impression of being in that world with the ability to navigate through the world and manipulate objects in the world” (Manetta & Blade, 1995).
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“Virtual Reality is a paradigm that uses computers and human-computer interfaces (HCI) to create the effect of a three-dimensional (3D) world in which the user interacts directly with virtual objects” (Bryson, 1996).
Basing on these definitions, is defined Virtual Reality as the interactive simulation that involves all the senses, generated by the computer, explorable, visually and manipulable in real time, giving the sensation of presence in the environment.
Virtual Reality like a research tool has addressed different uses and generated amazing advantages, to observe aspects never before explored in the development of specialized solutions that respond to the needs of both researchers and industrialists in their various areas. Virtual Reality allows the simulation of spaces that have not been built, is the technology that manages to represent reality where the human being cannot be located for being difficult or risky.
On the other hand, the Virtual Reality is increasingly present in different areas, the main uses and applications of Virtual Reality have been extended to varied fields and sectors such as: a) Simulation: medicine, industrial, military, transportation, education, training and engineering; b) Modeling: particles, physical environments and human characteristics; c) Design: space, products, tools and prototypes; d) Representation of reality: objects, situations and people.
Increasingly, society demands innovative applications with technical support from Virtual Reality, so that users can develop and facilitate the retention of knowledge, better conceive physical spaces, practice risk sports, visit museums or galleries, train personnel in tasks or high risk processes, applying medical treatments to overcome phobias, trauma or disabilities, that is, applications that offer experiences that help and motivate users, beyond just offering entertainment.
In this context and considering that virtual environments are a valuable resource for training within industries, digital education or to carry out virtual visits in museums, was observed the need to support these activities with the location of objects. Therefore, the author of this chapter has developed some mechanisms to simulate this process and thus improve the learning and construction of user knowledge of these activities within Virtual Environments.
In accordance with Manetta & Blade (1995) a Virtual Environment is defined as realistic simulations of interactive scenes. For Vizcaíno (2011) a virtual environment is also recognized as a synthetic environment. Vizcaíno (2011) cited that Virtual Reality allows us to describe visual simulations of the physical reality that surrounds the human being, thus managing to simulate imaginary environments and scenes, or impossible for breaking physical laws. With the use of highly realistic virtual environments, an infinite range of possibilities has been opened to design and develop intelligent virtual systems that answer questions to users about different topics such as: health and diet plans, physical training, search routes or location.
Focusing specifically on the task of locating objects in the real world, it has been working on the development of a computational model for the generation of directions for object location in virtual environments, taking into account the characteristics of the objects, users and the plane of the virtual environment.