What is virtual reality?
Virtual Reality - VR - seems to be gradually taking over the world. More and more schools, businesses, hospitals, and arcades are switching to virtual reality. But what exactly is it? And what can you do with virtual reality? Virtual Reality (VR) is an environment that is completely simulated by computers. Through a VR-headset, you can look around the computer-generated environment. Because the virtual environment is entirely created by the computer, you are no longer limited by the physical logic of the real world. In the virtual world, for example, you can explore the depths of the ocean for hours or go back in time to relive the first moon landing. The limitations of virtual reality lie in the imagination and skills of the developer.
Sharper image resolutions
Virtual Reality is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from real reality. The image resolution of headsets is getting sharper, and developers are increasingly coming up with VR games and applications that are indistinguishable from reality. There are even enhancements you can add to a VR headset to make the experience even more realistic, such as a scent mask that mimics the smell of flowers while you walk through a flower field in VR, or a haptic vest that provides feedback on the areas where you are touched in the virtual world.
Curious about all the Virtual Reality-brillen currently on the market? Check out our blog What Virtual Reality Headsets are available? here!
What are the applications of virtual reality?
The most well-known application of Virtual Reality is, of course, gaming. But did you know that VR can be used for many more applications? For example, there are already many companies using virtual reality to train their employees in special circumstances. Think of flight attendants who have to perform a fire drill in a virtual environment while the plane is crashing, or police officers who can go through all possible scenarios of a terrorist attack in virtual reality.
Schools and universities are also fully utilising the possibilities of virtual reality. A VR-bril, for example, offers the opportunity to go on a school trip with the whole class to a country you would otherwise never be able to visit. For training purposes, a VR-bril can be used to give a virtual lesson or to help students prepare for presentations or giving a speech. The VR-app VirtualSpeechoffers the opportunity to practice speaking in front of a large group using a mobile VR-bril or Oculus Go.
- Check out the medical applications of Virtual Reality
- Check out the educational applications of Virtual Reality
- Check out the business applications of Virtual Reality
What does the future of virtual reality look like?
It is difficult to say what virtual reality will look like in the future. Companies like HTC, Oculus, and Valve are subject to fierce competition with each other, which means they continue to innovate and improve their VR-brillen. Oculus seems to be on the right track at the moment with the already released Oculus Quest. This completely wireless VR-bril offers users the opportunity to experience Virtual Reality without using an expensive gaming-PC and without loose cables. This makes the Oculus Quest the first VR-bril that is fully mobile for the consumer, with enough power to play VR-games in high quality.
Professional VR users
The size and comfort of VR-brillen will also undergo changes in the coming years. Where the first commercial VR-bril was relatively heavy and uncomfortable, VR-brillen are now becoming lighter and designed with comfort in mind. Think of the use of lighter materials, foldable screens, and the elimination of headphones. For example, Huawei will come out with the first IMAX-certified VR-bril in 2020: the Huawei VR Glass. A VR-bril that is the size of oversized sunglasses.
Professional VR users will still have to stick to the wired versions of VR-brillen for the time being. This is due to the graphical power that some VR-games and -apps require. In practice, a graphics card and processor from a computer provide much better performance than a chipset-processor from a standalone VR headset. So for the true professional game-beleving, Virtual Reality will still need to be connected to a graphical source. There is also a future for the professional VR user in the so-called location-based virtual reality (abbreviated to LBVR). LBVR allows multiple VR-gebruikers to play and interact with each other in a virtual environment simultaneously. Developers in the VR-arcade industry are focusing on this area and are increasingly coming up with games specifically aimed at arcade-publiek.
Finally, Virtual Reality will play an increasingly important role in medical and educational applications. While schools still use VR a bit as a gimmickgimmick, virtual reality will further develop in the coming years with specific VR-apps to allow students - and teachers - to come together in an educational environment. Who knows, in the future, you might be able to stay home for a day and just put on your VR-bril to appear at school or work...
