Photos: Inside the Virtual Reality lab

The VirtuSphere is a large plastic globe in which people, wearing a head-mounted display, can put themselves in any kind of virtual environment. The VirtuSphere is shown here at the University of Washington at Seattle being used in a military simulation.

The HiSpace Table at the University of Washington's Human Interaction Technology laboratory allows users to manipulate objects simply by moving their hands in the air over the surface. Here, HITLab interim director Suzanne Weghorst demonstrates.

HITLab's technology can be used to help people overcome fears and phobias, including fear of spiders.

A sign over the Pain and Phobia Lab hints at what the technology in this room is about.

This head-mounted display is designed to help people with reduced vision see things around them by detecting and superimposing objects onto the user's field of vision.

Ani Vijayakanthan, a graduate student in the HITLab, demonstrates the Magic Book, a system that makes printed books interactive by superimposing digital video onto what a user sees when wearing a head-mounted display.