The Virtual-Reality Peripheral Network (VRPN) is a set of classes
within a library and a set of servers that are designed to implement a
network-transparent interface between application programs and the set
of physical devices (tracker, etc.) used in a virtual-reality (VR)
system. The idea is to have a PC or other host at each VR station that
controls the peripherals (tracker, button device, haptic device,
analog inputs, sound, etc). VRPN provides connections between the
application and all of the devices using the appropriate
class-of-service for each type of device sharing this link. The
application remains unaware of the network topology. Note that it is
possible to use VRPN with devices that are directly connected to the
machine that the application is running on, either using separate
control programs or running all as a single program.