alternative methods of motion and touch interaction

Movement and contact are central to interaction from human beings to computers. This happens through keypad strokes, mouse movements, gesture-sensing gloves, and other motion-tracking methods. Motion and touch are also significant for communication from the world to people in an actual environment, but is far less prevalent in Virtual Reality due to the constraints of present day technology. Mechanical devices to track movement of humans can react to movement rapidly and precisely, but are often clumsy to use and limit large-scale movement. Other devices detect motion by the interaction of travelling objects with magnetism, but these can be inaccurate in addition to slow. Other devices use ultrasound to sense the location and motion by the human body. Also consider More Time People Spend Using the Internet for more regarding virtual reality.

Some science and equipment used in Virtual Reality (VR) systems to track our movement for information transmission from humans to computers include: six-dimensional mouse and control levers; instrumented gloves with mechanical, magnetic, ultraaudio or optical sensing devices that record finger, wrist, and hand location and motion; gesture recognition systems that recognize hand gestures and facial expressions using mechanical or optical monitors; head mounted displays in which motion is tracked through mechanical, magnetic, ultrasound or optical monitors; electronically-wired clothing with several data transmitters and/or mechanical, magnetic, ultrasonic or optical position monitors; and omni directional and gyroscopic treadmills. These science and equipment each have pros and cons. Mechanical devices detect motion promptly and precisely. However they are often cumbersome and restrict the scope of body movement due to the tangible connections that they need. Inertial machines require fewer tangible connectors, but respond slowly and with less accuracy. Devices based on magnetism and ultrasound also tend to be slow and magnetic devices can be hindered by nearby ferrous things. One possibility for optical movement measurement involves connecting several LEDs to clothing and then monitoring the motion by the Light Emitting Diodes via computer, but this method only measures a limited number of points on the body. The VR site Virtual Tours Blaine, Minnesota is also useful.

The site Gesture Recognition Systems also provides some useful information.