Title: Gaps in Research into Human Responses
to Virtual Environments
Abstract: In this paper, we sketch the history
of artificial reality (AR) that leads from early flight simulators to out-of-this
world experiences of the present day virtual environments (VEs). We
discuss issues currently of shared interest to educators, the medical profession,
the military and business. The shared interest has come about because developments
in military tools, techniques and hardware, have spread into business, health
and leisure areas. The VE research has expanded from a focus on hardware
to theories of sickness to mental health, recreational games, business, design,
building and education. The current literature on VEs is diverse and voluminous.
From the selected research papers, we present a summary of gaps in the literature
related to the use of VEs in education settings. We see these gaps as constituting
an identifiable research agenda. Among other gaps, we find low cost flight
simulators in need of research.
Authors: C.H. King and R.H. Barbour