What Is Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality is a simulated 3D environment that enables users to investigate and interact with a virtual surrounding in a manner that approximates reality, as it is perceived through the users' senses. The environment is created with computer hardware and software, although users might also need to don devices such as helmets or spectacles to interact with the environment. The more profoundly users can immerse themselves in a VR environment -- and block out their physical surroundings -- the more they are able to suspend their belief and embrace it as real, even if it is fanciful in nature.
What Are The Primary Categories Of Virtual Reality?
The VR industry still has far to go before realizing its vision of a completely immersive environment that enables users to engage multiple sensations in a manner that approximates reality. However, the technology has come a long way in providing authentic sensory engagement and demonstrates promise for commercial use in a number of industries.
VR systems can vary considerably from one to the next, dependent on their purpose and the technology used, although they generally fall into one of the following three categories:
Non-immersive
- This form of VR typically refers to a 3D simulated environment that's accessed through a computer screen. The environment might also generate sound, depending on the program. The user has some control over the virtual environment using a keyboard, mouse or other device, but the environment does not directly interact with the user. A video game is an excellent example of non-immersive VR, as is a website that enables a user to design a room's décor.
Semi-immersive
- This type of VR offers a partial virtual experience that's accessed through a computer screen or some type of spectacles or headpiece. It focuses predominantly on the visual 3D aspect of virtual reality and does not incorporate physical movement in the manner that full immersion does. A common example of semi-immersive VR is the flight simulator, which is used by airlines and militaries to train their pilots.
Fully comprehensive
- This form of VR delivers the utmost level of virtual reality, thoroughly immersing the user in the simulated 3D world. It incorporates sight, hearing and, in some circumstances, contact. There have even been some experiments with the incorporation of scent. Users don special apparatus such as headwear, spectacles or mittens and are able to thoroughly interact with the environment. The environment might also integrate such apparatus as treadmills or stationary bicycles to provide users with the experience of moving through the 3D space. Fully immersive VR technology is a field still in its infancy, but it has made critical inroads into the gaming industry and to some extent the healthcare industry, and it's generating a great deal of interest in others.
Augmented reality also is sometimes referred to as a form of virtual reality, although many would argue that it is a separate but related field. With augmented reality, virtual simulations are overlaid onto real-world environments in order to enhance or augment those environments. For example, a furniture retailer might provide an app that enables users to aim their phones at a room and visualize what a new chair or table might appear like in that setting.
Another category that is sometimes considered a form of virtual reality is mixed reality, which combines the physical and virtual realms into a single space. Like augmented reality, however, it is more often considered a separate but related field. In fact, there's been a growing consensus to unite virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality under the umbrella term "extended reality," which provides a convenient way to reference all three, while still delineating among them.
Today's VR technologies and applications have inspired multiple companies and experts to advocate for advanced uses of the metaverse.
How Can Virtual Reality Be Used?
Virtual reality is often associated with gaming because the industry has been at the forefront of the VR endeavor, as evidenced by the prevalence of products such as Beat Saber, Minecraft VR and Skyrim VR. Even so, there has been a growing interest in the potential of VR across a number of other areas:
Training
- VR makes it possible to train personnel safely, efficiently and cost-effectively. It can be especially beneficial to those in high-risk or highly specialized positions, such as firefighters, EMTs, police officers, soldiers, surgeons or other medical personnel.
Education
- VR offers educational institutions new methods for instructing and learning. It can provide students with intimate insights into environments that are typically inaccessible, while keeping them engaged in the learning process. For example, a history teacher might use VR to demonstrate students firsthand what life was like in ancient Greece or China.
Healthcare
- VR has the potential to benefit individuals across the healthcare industry, including patients, practitioners and researchers. For example, VR demonstrates promise in treating disorders such as anorexia, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On the other hand, physicians might be able to use VR when interacting with the patients to elucidate diagnoses or treatment options. VR could also benefit individuals who are physically limited in some fashion.
Retail
- VR has already made some inroads into retail, but the industry has only touched the surface. With the proper applications, consumers will be able to try on garments, decorate their residences, experiment with hair styles, test eye specs and in general make more informed decisions about products and services.
Real estate
- VR can benefit real estate in a number of ways. For example, architects can demonstrate detailed plans in 3D; home purchasers can tour homes virtually; building engineers can tour HVAC systems; and home owners can see what their remodels would look like.
Entertainment
- VR has already had an impact on gaming, but it also promises to transform the film and television industries, providing viewers with an immersive experience that places them right into the scene. VR could also contribute to an entire industry in virtual tourism, making it possible for people to experience locations that they might never be able to see in-person.
The simplest form of virtual reality is a 3D image that can be investigated interactively through a personal computer, usually by manipulating keys or the mouse so that the content of the image moves in some direction or zooms in or out. More sophisticated efforts involve such approaches as wraparound display screens, physical rooms augmented with peripheral devices, or haptic devices that let users "feel" the virtual images.
