Sensory engineering: The science of synthetic environments

Over the past several months, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts and Sciences have been developing an Interdivisional Sensory Engineering Program. Sensory engineering, an exciting and emerging discipline, incorporates such technologies as virtual environments and virtual reality, data visualization, human sensory system modeling, human-machine interface, and perception, cognition, and performance characterization. In this article, we define sensory engineering and its diverse applied fields: virtual reality, robotic telepresence, teleoperations, visualization, environmental overlays, and sensory enhancement. These fields are illustrated with current projects at the laboratory and in the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts and Sciences. The Interdivisional Sensory Engineering Program is introduced, and plans for developing and implementing the program are presented.