The Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook

This complete, do-it-yourself kit is crammed with construction projects and easy-to-use software for creating realistic virtual worlds with a minimum of equipment. The package includes 26 illustrated projects for building the basic VR hardware, from head-trackers and head-mounted displays to the 6D joystick and glove. A key feature of the text is its extensive survey of gear you can buy, from low-cost hardware to world-building software. Also included in the book are the essentials of 3D graphics programming, neat demo programs, and toolkits on CD, for programming in C or Turbo Pascal and tips for enhancing your virtual worlds, covering topics such as terrain mapping and simulation. If you want to know more about the basic principles, each project gives a good insight into the workings of professional systems. Only standard components are used and a list of parts sources is supplied.