What is virtual reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated reality with features realistic-looking sights and items that engage the viewer totally in their environment. VR world is seen with the help of a special headset. We may utilize VR technology to submerge ourselves in a new environment, learn how to conduct heart surgery, and increase the quality of sports training to boost performance.

Despite the fact that it appears to be quite futuristic, its beginnings are not as recent as we may imagine. Origin roots lead back to Sensorama, a machine that played 3D movies and was definitely one of the earliest VR devices. Further technological and software developments throughout time resulted in a progressive shift in device and user interface.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Although Virtual Reality is a decades-old technology, many people are still unfamiliar with it. It’s also not uncommon to mix up virtual reality with augmented reality.

The fundamental difference between the two is that VR creates a virtual environment in which we may immerse ourselves using a headset. It’s entirely immersive, and everything we see is part of an artificially manufactured environment made up of visuals, sounds, and other elements. In augmented reality (AR), on the other hand, our environment becomes the framework inside which objects, pictures, and other media are inserted. Everything we see is in the real world, therefore wearing a headset may not be necessarily essential.

Mixed reality, on the other hand, is a hybrid of the two worlds. This hybrid technology, for example, allows users to view virtual things in real life and create an impression in which the physical and digital worlds are nearly indistinguishable.

Application of VR

Virtual reality has long been thought to be nothing more than a glorified arcade game—literally a “dreamy escape” from reality. In this respect, the phrase “virtual reality” is a misnomer; suitable names would be “alternative reality,” “manufactured reality,” or “computer simulation.” The most important thing to remember about virtual reality is that it isn’t a passing fad or fantasy that will whisk people away to alternate worlds; it is a hard-edged practical technology that has been routinely used by doctors, dentists, architects, scientists, military, engineers, and archaeologists.

  • Medicine – Virtual reality may be used for things like surgical training and medication discovery, but it can also be used for telemedicine, which allows doctors to watch and operate on patients from a distance. A surgeon connected to a virtual reality control panel in one area and a robot holding the knife in another location is a natural progression of this. The most well-known example is the DaVinci operating robot, which was introduced in 2009 and has already been implanted in thousands of hospitals throughout the world. When cooperation is introduced, a group of the world’s greatest surgeons may be able to collaborate on a particularly challenging procedure.

VR has previously been tried as a treatment for mental disorders, as well as in stroke rehabilitation and degenerative illnesses like multiple sclerosis.

  • Gaming – From flight simulators to racing games, virtual reality has long been on the outside of the gaming industry, never quite good enough to transform the gaming experience, owing to sluggish processors, lackluster screens, and a dearth of reliable HMDs and data gloves. With the introduction of inexpensive new peripherals like the Oculus Rift, all of that may be about to change.
  • Architecture –  Architects used to make models out of cardboard and paper; now, they’re more likely to create virtual reality computer models that you can walk through and explore. Similarly, designing automobiles, aircraft, and other sophisticated, expensive vehicles on a computer screen is often considerably less expensive than modeling them in wood, plastic, or other real-world materials. Instead of merely building an immersive 3D visual model for people to view and explore, you’re generating a mathematical model that can be evaluated for aerodynamic, safety, and other aspects.

The good and bad sides of VR

Virtual reality, like any other technology, has advantages and disadvantages. Critics have long raised the possibility that individuals may be tempted by other realities to the point of disregarding their real-life lives, but this criticism has been made at everything from radio and television to computer games and the Internet. And, eventually, it becomes a philosophical and ethical question: What, exactly, is real? Who’s to tell which is the more enjoyable way to spend your time? Virtual reality, like many other technologies, adds little or no value to the actual world; you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

The promise of virtual reality has hung big over the computing industry for at least the previous quarter-century, but it has yet to be realized. While VR technology is used in a variety of fields such as research, architecture, medicine, and the military, widespread acceptance is still a long way off; we don’t utilize VR in the same way we use computers, cellphones, or the Internet.

While it’s great that Sony has sold several million VR headsets, when you consider how many billions of cellphones have been sold, it’s evident that the technology isn’t nearly as widespread or disruptive as it appears.

It will remain a niche interest for the time being, but one with more innovative applications in science, architecture, medicine, and other fields.