STATE-OF-THE-ART VIRTUAL-REALITY HARDWARE FOR COMPUTER-AIDED-DESIGN

Virtual reality is an exciting new held which may offer significant im provements in the efficiency of human-computer interface for a wide va riety of computer applications. This paper serves to identify technolo gy developments in virtual reality hardware devices that may allow for development of a more efficient user interface for computer-aided des ign packages for mechanical design functions. Presented is a survey of the current state of the art in the rapidly changing field of virtual reality hardware devices. The devices are broken down into classes th at are related to user interface features that may improve the efficie ncy of computer-aided design functions. Classes of virtual reality har dware devices are identified needing future research and development t o implement the most effective virtual reality computer-aided design i nterface.