Visual Immersion

Graphics technologies are foundational to the creation of immersive and interactive visual experiences in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality systems. In VR, the goal is to create entirely synthetic environments that users can explore and interact with. This chapter covers the engineering principles and computational techniques that underpin real-time graphics rendering in immersive environments. It presents the foundational elements of three-dimensional (3D) graphics, including coordinate systems, transformation pipelines, lighting models, shading techniques, and rendering architectures, with an emphasis on how these components interact to generate photorealistic and perceptually consistent visuals. In computer graphics, coordinate systems define the position and orientation of objects in space. Geometric modeling is the process of creating mathematical representations of 3D objects, enabling the construction, manipulation, and visualization of digital shapes. The rendering pipeline in 3D graphics encompasses a series of computational steps that transform 3D models into two-dimensional images displayed on screens.