Experiencing and programming the ENIAC in VR

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) applications are applied in various domains (e.g. education, training, engineering or entertainment) and offer new possibilities especially when it comes to training of complex tasks which are not suitable or available in a real physical environment. In this paper, we present a VR application which supports experiencing and learning basic steps in programming the ENIAC in a virtual environment. The ENIAC is one of the world’s first general-purpose programmable electronic computers which occupied a 40 x 60 foot room, weighed 30 tons, and was programmed using knobs, switches, and cables. Our implemented VR application has twofold goals. On the one hand it enables to re-experience an early computer and understand its historical context and architecture. On the other hand it demos how to program a computer in a completely different "language" (i.e., knobs and switches) by guiding the user step-by-step through a predefined configuration of the ENIAC.