Many people are familiar with the term ‘virtual reality’ but are unsure about the uses of this technology. Gaming is an obvious virtual reality application as are virtual worlds but there are a whole host of uses for virtual reality – some of which are more challenging or unusual than others.

Where is virtual reality used?

Here is a list of the many applications of virtual reality:

• Virtual Reality in the Military
• Virtual Reality in Education
• Virtual Reality in Healthcare
• Virtual Reality in Entertainment
• Virtual Reality in Fashion
• Virtual Reality and Heritage
• Virtual Reality in Business
• Virtual Reality in Engineering
• Virtual Reality in Sport
• Virtual Reality in Media
• Virtual Reality and Scientific Visualisation
• Virtual Reality in Telecommunications
• Virtual Reality in Construction
• Virtual Reality in Film
• Virtual Reality Programming Lanuges

Some of these will be more familiar than others but visit any of these to find out more about a particular use of virtual reality.

There are many more uses of VR than first realised which range from academic research through to engineering, design, business, the arts and entertainment.

But irrespective of the use, virtual reality produces a set of data which is then used to develop new models, training methods, communication and interaction. In many ways the possibilities are endless.

The only stumbling blocks are time, costs and technological limitations. Virtual reality systems such as a CAVE system are expensive and time consuming to develop. Plus there are issues of ergonomics, specifically the need to design systems which are ‘user friendly’ and not likely to cause problems such as motion sickness.

But if these problems are solved then there is an exciting future for virtual reality.