Virtual Reality

 The features of virtual reality include:

» the ability to take the user out of the real-world environment into a virtual
(unreal) digital environment

» in contrast to AR, the user is fully immersed in a simulated digital world

» users must wear a VR headset or a head-mounted display which allows a 360°
view of the virtual world (this ‘fools’ the brain into believing they are walking
on an ocean bed, walking in an alien world or inside a volcano)

» this technology can be used to good effect in: medicine (teaching operation
procedures), construction, engineering and the military.

In the future, virtual reality will have an impact on all the following areas:

» military applications (for example, training to operate a new tank)

» education (for example, looking inside an ancient building as part of a history
lesson)

» healthcare (for example, as a diagnostic tool to recommend treatment)

» entertainment (for example, games where gloves, goggles or helmets are worn
to fully immerse players and make it seem very real)

» fashion (for example, to do fashion shows before doing the real thing – see
the clothes on people, check out the venue and so on)

» heritage (for example, allowing users to walk around and close up to
monuments like Stonehenge)

» business (for example, training courses and role-playing scenarios for staff)

» engineering (for example, seeing how new designs like bridges will look in an
existing environment)

» sport (for example, a golfer trying to improve his swing can use this
technology and get feedback to improve his game)

» media (for example, interactive special effects in movies)

» scientific visualisation (for example, part of a molecular structure in
chemistry, or a cell in biology).