Perspectives on Potential of Sound in Virtual Environments

Sound/3D Sound has been accepted as a significant cue for relaying information in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, multimedia and virtual reality (VR). The paper provides significant perspectives on the potential of sound in the field of virtual environments (VEs)/virtual reality (VR), which unlike other multimedia and visualization technologies aims to completely immerse a user inside a synthetic environment. The paper briefly describes the motivation for using sound in virtual environments and further discusses the applications of sound in VEs in relation to the functions it is expected to perform in the VEs.. Recent related research and solutions offered in using sound in VR are reviewed. Furthermore, challenges and shortcomings in realizing the usefulness of sound are addressed. Views on future directions and areas requiring further research are presented. This literature survey provides a useful source of information for prospective students and researchers interested in the area of sound applied in VEs.