In recent years, virtual reality (VR) technology has been rapidly spreading, due mainly to commodity VR hardware devices. Naturally, VR-based scientific visualization is also becoming more easily available than ever. However, it is still unknown how and how much such visualization is advantageous over conventional non-VR visualization. In this article, merits of scientific visualization using VR technology are discussed, by introducing a variety of studies in the literature.

This paper presents an experimental-base traffic noise evaluation system using virtual reality technology. The system exposes to the users the computed noise level with both the auditory information using sound source signal and the visual information using CG image. The computation of noise level is performed by the geometric acoustic theory based on ASJ-RTN Model 2013. In order to realize the stereo sound field, we introduced the ambisonics based on the spherical surface function expansion to realize the stereoscopic sound field. The present system is shown to be a useful tool for planning and designing tool for various constructions works in an urban area, and also for consensus building for designers and the local residents.

In order to understand various phenomena contained in data obtained by high-performance computer simulations and highly accurate observations, it is important to visualize only necessary information from a large quantity of numerical value. As one approach to data visualization, we are conducting R & D on 3-D visualization using the CAVE-type virtual reality (VR) systems, and development of VFIVE, which is a visualization software for these systems, is also included. In this paper, we introduce Oculus Rift and HTC Vive as HMD-type VR devices with remarkable development in recent years and porting of VFIVE to HMD-type VR devices.

  With the spread of personal computers and smartphones, opportunities to casually experience AR technology, wherein CG is superimposed in real-time over landscape images captured with a camera, have increased. Thus, AR is widely used to present information in various fields including education, medicine, manufacturing, and games. However, many AR systems superimposed CG on a maker perceived by image processing therefore we had to be careful that a camera did not miss the maker. However, a device was launched that allowed AR without being aware of the existence of marker using a technology that could perceive three-dimensionally in 2016. One was a HMD type of device named HoloLens from Microsoft and another was a phablet named Tango from Google with a spatial perception technology implemented. Both of them attract a lot of attention as the next generation AR device at this moment. Therefore, we present an overview of these devices with several usage examples.

In recent years, the application area of VR/AR has been expanding due to the impact of low-price and high performance VR/AR devices on the market one after another. One of the newly exploited fields is educational use. In this paper, I introduce examples of easy, simple and quick content development using such AR/VR systems and examples of development of inexpensive handmade stereoscopic system.