Virtual reality is poping up almost everywhere in mainstream media, with companies like Oculus VR and Sony creating a new generation of affordable hardware and software aimed squarely at the mainstream and the future for virtual environment research and technologies is bright. The new Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications, Second Edition Edited by Kelly S. Hale, Kay M. Stanney extensively covers the primary areas of research and development in the field of virtual environments with contributors providing detailed insights into the their given areas of expertise. Based on many years of experience doing research in the fields of audition, virtual environments, and haptic and touch technologies, Dr. Brian Simpson, Jeffrey Cowgill, Dr. Robert Gilkey, and Dr. Janet Weisenberger discuss the questions and challenges of designing virtual environments that present real multisenory experiences to users in Chapter 13, Technological Considerations in the Design of Multisensory Virtual Environments: How Real Does It Need to Be? Dr. Brian Simpson is Technical Advisor and Senior Engineering Research Psychologist in the Battlespace Acoustics Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory and he is an alumni of the Wright State University Ph.D. program in Human Factors and Industrial Organizational Psychology. Jeffrey Cowgill is the Manager, Multimedia & Technology in the Wright State University College of Science and Mathematics and alumni of Wright State University. Dr. Robert Gilkey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Wright State University. Dr. Janet M. Weisenberger is a Professor and Senior Associate Vice President for Research at The Ohio State University.
