You test the water pressure in the shower and stick your head out the window. You add a greenhouse to the living room, carpet the den and furnish the basement as a playroom for the kids. The growing ability to train, to plan, to visit and to visualize using computer-generated simulations is opening up new capabilities and has already saved companies and municipalities millions of dollars in development. The technology's broad reach, taking the user directly into intimate contact with a three-dimensional environment without distraction, has made it possible for companies to create prototypes without using materials other than those in cyberspace. In a departure from normal practice, the Federal Aviation Administration certified the resulting design months before the plane's first test flight.
Virtual reality is at the center of it all.
Davidson and his students are using it in urban planning, to model the downtown area of Edmonds, a suburb of Seattle. Since late last year, Davidson has compiled hundreds of three-dimensional images of the city's downtown area. Over time, he says, he'll accumulate enough images to compile a virtual, visitable representation of the entire city. Officials will be able to tour their virtual environment in enough detail to plan for economic development, parks and other growth-oriented ventures. Closer to home, Clifford Bragdon at Dowling College's National Aviation and Transportation Center is using virtual reality to develop alternative methods of transportation in and around the New York area.