Virtual reality
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Virtual reality (VR) is a
simulated A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...
experience that employs
3D near-eye display A 3D display is a display device capable of conveying depth to the viewer. Many 3D displays are stereoscopic displays, which produce a basic 3D effect by means of stereopsis, but can cause eye strain and visual fatigue. Newer 3D displays such ...
s and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world.
Applications of virtual reality Virtual reality applications are applications that make use of virtual reality (VR), an immersive sensory experience that digitally simulates a virtual environment. Applications have been developed in a variety of domains, such as education, arch ...
include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical, safety or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings). VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as
augmented virtuality Mixed reality (MR) is a term used to describe the merging of a real-world environment and a computer-generated one. Physical and virtual objects may co-exist in mixed reality environments and interact in real time. Mixed reality is largely synony ...
and
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...
. Currently, standard virtual reality systems use either
virtual reality headset A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR ...
s or multi-projected environments to generate some realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display with a small screen in front of the eyes, but can also be created through specially designed rooms with multiple large screens. Virtual reality typically incorporates auditory and
video feedback Video feedback is the process that starts and continues when a video camera is pointed at its own playback video monitor. The loop delay from camera to display back to camera is at least one video frame time, due to the input and output scanni ...
, but may also allow other types of sensory and force feedback through haptic technology.


Etymology

" Virtual" has had the meaning of "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact" since the mid-1400s. The term "virtual" has been used in the computer sense of "not physically existing but made to appear by software" since 1959. In 1938, French avant-garde playwright
Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...
described the illusory nature of characters and objects in the theatre as "la réalité virtuelle" in a collection of essays, ''Le Théâtre et son double''. The English translation of this book, published in 1958 as ''
The Theater and its Double ''The Theatre and Its Double'' (''Le Théâtre et son Double'') is a collection of essays by French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud. It contains his most famous works on the theatre, including his manifestos for a Theatre of Cruelty. Composi ...
'',
Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...
, ''The Theatre and its Double'' Trans. Mary Caroline Richards. (New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1958).
is the earliest published use of the term "virtual reality". The term "
artificial reality ''Artificial reality'' is a book series by Myron W. Krueger about interactive immersive environments (or virtual realities), based on video recognition techniques, that put a user in full, unencumbered contact with the digital world. He started ...
", coined by
Myron Krueger Myron Krueger (born 1942 in Gary, Indiana) is an American computer artist who developed early interactive works. He is also considered to be one of the first generation virtual reality and augmented reality researchers. While earning a Ph.D. ...
, has been in use since the 1970s. The term "virtual reality" was first used in a science fiction context in ''The Judas Mandala'', a 1982 novel by Damien Broderick. Widespread adoption of the term "virtual reality" in the popular media is attributed to Jaron Lanier, who in the late 1980s designed some of the first business-grade virtual reality hardware under his firm VPL Research, and the 1992 film '' Lawnmower Man'', which features use of virtual reality systems.


Forms and methods

One method of realizing virtual reality is through simulation-based virtual reality. For example, driving simulators give the driver the impression of actually driving a vehicle by predicting vehicular motion based on the driver's input and providing corresponding visual, motion, and audio cues. With avatar image-based virtual reality, people can join the virtual environment in the form of real video as well as an avatar. One can participate in the 3D distributed virtual environment in the form of either a conventional avatar or a real video. Users can select their own type of participation based on the system capability. In projector-based virtual reality, modeling of the real environment plays a vital role in various virtual reality applications, including robot navigation, construction modeling, and airplane simulation. Image-based virtual reality systems have been gaining popularity in computer graphics and
computer vision Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the hum ...
communities. In generating realistic models, it is essential to accurately register acquired 3D data; usually, a camera is used for modeling small objects at a short distance. Desktop-based virtual reality involves displaying a 3D virtual world on a regular desktop display without use of any specialized VR positional tracking equipment. Many modern first-person video games can be used as an example, using various triggers, responsive characters, and other such interactive devices to make the user feel as though they are in a virtual world. A common criticism of this form of immersion is that there is no sense of peripheral vision, limiting the user's ability to know what is happening around them. A head-mounted display (HMD) more fully immerses the user in a virtual world. A
virtual reality headset A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR ...
typically includes two small high resolution OLED or
LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...
monitors which provide separate images for each eye for
stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...
graphics rendering a 3D virtual world, a binaural audio system, positional and rotational real-time
head tracking Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
for six degrees of movement. Options include motion controls with haptic feedback for physically interacting within the virtual world in an intuitive way with little to no abstraction and an omnidirectional treadmill for more freedom of physical movement allowing the user to perform locomotive motion in any direction.
Augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...
(AR) is a type of virtual reality technology that blends what the user sees in their real surroundings with digital content generated by computer software. The additional software-generated images with the virtual scene typically enhance how the real surroundings look in some way. AR systems layer virtual information over a camera live feed into a headset or smartglasses or through a mobile device giving the user the ability to view three-dimensional images. Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of the real world and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. A
cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...
is sometimes defined as a networked virtual reality.
Simulated reality The simulation theory is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by quantum computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds that may or may not know that they live i ...
is a hypothetical virtual reality as truly immersive as the actual reality, enabling an advanced lifelike experience or even virtual eternity.


History

The development of perspective in Renaissance European art and the stereoscope invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone were both precursors to virtual reality. The first references to the more modern-day concept of virtual reality came from science fiction.


20th century

Morton Heilig Morton Leonard Heilig (December 22, 1926 – May 14, 1997) was an American pioneer in virtual reality (VR) technology and a filmmaker. He applied his cinematographer experience and with the help of his partner developed the Sensorama over several ye ...
wrote in the 1950s of an "Experience Theatre" that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He built a prototype of his vision dubbed the
Sensorama The Sensorama was a machine that is one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory (now known as multimodal) technology. This technology, which was introduced in 1962 by Morton Heilig, is considered one of the earliest virtual rea ...
in 1962, along with five short films to be displayed in it while engaging multiple senses (sight, sound, smell, and touch). Predating digital computing, the Sensorama was a mechanical device. Heilig also developed what he referred to as the "Telesphere Mask" (patented in 1960). The patent application described the device as "a telescopic television apparatus for individual use... The spectator is given a complete sensation of reality, i.e. moving three dimensional images which may be in colour, with 100% peripheral vision, binaural sound, scents and air breezes." In 1968, Harvard Professor
Ivan Sutherland Ivan Edward Sutherland (born May 16, 1938) is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer, widely regarded as a pioneer of computer graphics. His early work in computer graphics as well as his teaching with David C. Evans in that subje ...
, with the help of his students including Bob Sproull, created what was widely considered to be the first head-mounted display system for use in immersive simulation applications, called
The Sword of Damocles Damocles is a character who appears in an (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the co ...
. It was primitive both in terms of user interface and visual realism, and the HMD to be worn by the user was so heavy that it had to be suspended from the ceiling, which gave the device a formidable appearance and inspired its name. Technically, the device was an augmented reality device due to optical passthrough. The graphics comprising the virtual environment were simple wire-frame model rooms.


1970–1990

The virtual reality industry mainly provided VR devices for medical, flight simulation, automobile industry design, and military training purposes from 1970 to 1990.
David Em David Em (born 1952) is an American artist known for his pioneering breakthroughs in computer art. Early life David Em was born in 1952 in Los Angeles, California. His father was a petroleum engineer and his mother was an illustrator and water ...
became the first artist to produce navigable virtual worlds at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1977 to 1984. The Aspen Movie Map, a crude virtual tour in which users could wander the streets of Aspen in one of the three modes (summer, winter, and
polygons In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
), was created at MIT in 1978. In 1979,
Eric Howlett Eric Mayorga Howlett (December 27, 1926 – December 11, 2011) was the inventor of the LEEP (Large Expanse Extra Perspective), extreme wide-angle stereoscopic optics used in photographic and virtual reality systems. According to Wayne Carlson, pro ...
developed the Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system. The combined system created a stereoscopic image with a field-of-view wide enough to create a convincing sense of space. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth ( field of view) in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned for NASA's Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation) by Scott Fisher. The LEEP system provides the basis for most of the modern virtual reality headsets. By the late 1980s, the term "virtual reality" was popularized by Jaron Lanier, one of the modern pioneers of the field. Lanier had founded the company VPL Research in 1984. VPL Research has developed several VR devices like the
DataGlove A wired glove (also called a dataglove or cyberglove) is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove. Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such a ...
, the EyePhone, the Reality Built For Two (RB2), and the AudioSphere. VPL licensed the DataGlove technology to Mattel, which used it to make the Power Glove, an early affordable VR device, released in 1989. That same year Broderbund's U-Force was released. Atari, Inc. founded a research lab for virtual reality in 1982, but the lab was closed after two years due to the video game crash of 1983. However, its hired employees, such as Scott Fisher,
Michael Naimark Michael Naimark is an artist, inventor, and scholar in the fields of virtual reality and new media art. He is best known for his work in projection mapping, virtual travel, live global video, and cultural preservation, and often refers to this bod ...
, and
Brenda Laurel Brenda Laurel (born 1950) is an American interaction designer, video game designer, and researcher. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in video games, a "pioneer in developing virtual reality", a public speaker, and an academic. ...
, kept their research and development on VR-related technologies. In 1988, the Cyberspace Project at Autodesk was the first to implement VR on a low-cost personal computer. The project leader Eric Gullichsen left in 1990 to found Sense8 Corporation and develop the WorldToolKit virtual reality SDK, which offered the first real time graphics with Texture mapping on a PC, and was widely used throughout industry and academia.


1990–2000

The 1990s saw the first widespread commercial releases of consumer headsets. In 1992, for instance, ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' predicted "affordable VR by 1994". In 1991,
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
announced the Sega VR headset for the Mega Drive home console. It used LCD screens in the visor, stereo headphones, and inertial sensors that allowed the system to
track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
and react to the movements of the user's head. In the same year, Virtuality launched and went on to become the first mass-produced, networked, multiplayer VR entertainment system that was released in many countries, including a dedicated VR arcade at Embarcadero Center. Costing up to $73,000 per multi-pod Virtuality system, they featured headsets and exoskeleton gloves that gave one of the first "immersive" VR experiences. That same year,
Carolina Cruz-Neira Carolina Cruz-Neira is a Spanish-Venezuelan-American computer engineer, researcher, designer, educator, and a pioneer of virtual reality (VR). She is known for inventing the cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). She previously worked at Iowa ...
, Daniel J. Sandin and
Thomas A. DeFanti Thomas Albert "Tom" DeFanti (born September 18, 1948) is an American computer graphics researcher and pioneer. His work has ranged from early computer animation, to scientific visualization, virtual reality, and grid computing. He is a distinguis ...
from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory created the first cubic immersive room, the Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Developed as Cruz-Neira's PhD thesis, it involved a multi-projected environment, similar to the holodeck, allowing people to see their own bodies in relation to others in the room. Antonio Medina, a MIT graduate and NASA scientist, designed a virtual reality system to "drive" Mars rovers from Earth in apparent real time despite the substantial delay of Mars-Earth-Mars signals. In 1992,
Nicole Stenger Nicole Stenger is a French-born American artist, pioneer in virtual reality and Internet movies. In 1989 to 1991, she was a research fellow at MIT (CAVS & Visual Arts Program, now merged into ACT). In 1991 to 1992, she was a visiting scholar at th ...
created ''Angels'', the first real-time interactive immersive movie where the interaction was facilitated with a
dataglove A wired glove (also called a dataglove or cyberglove) is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove. Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such a ...
and high-resolution goggles. That same year, Louis Rosenberg created the virtual fixtures system at the U.S. Air Force's
Armstrong Labs Armstrong Laboratory was a research and development organization operated by the United States Air Force Air Force Materiel Command, Materiel Command. In 1997, the Laboratory was merged into the Air Force Research Laboratory. The Laboratory was n ...
using a full upper-body exoskeleton, enabling a physically realistic mixed reality in 3D. The system enabled the overlay of physically real 3D virtual objects registered with a user's direct view of the real world, producing the first true augmented reality experience enabling sight, sound, and touch.Rosenberg, Louis (1992). "The Use of Virtual Fixtures As Perceptual Overlays to Enhance Operator Performance in Remote Environments.". ''Technical Report AL-TR-0089, USAF Armstrong Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB OH, 1992''. By July 1994, Sega had released the VR-1 motion simulator ride attraction in Joypolis indoor theme parks, as well as the ''Dennou Senki Net Merc''
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
. Both used an advanced head-mounted display dubbed the "Mega Visor Display" developed in conjunction with Virtuality; it was able to track head movement in a 360-degree stereoscopic 3D environment, and in its ''Net Merc'' incarnation was powered by the
Sega Model 1 Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coi ...
arcade system board An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...
. Apple released QuickTime VR, which, despite using the term "VR", was unable to represent virtual reality, and instead displayed 360-degree
interactive panorama VR photography (after virtual-reality photography) is the interactive viewing of panoramic photographs, generally encompassing a 360-degree circle or a spherical view. The results is known as VR photograph (or VR photo), 360-degree photo, photo ...
s.
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
's Virtual Boy console was released in 1995. A group in Seattle created public demonstrations of a "CAVE-like" 270 degree immersive projection room called the Virtual Environment Theater, produced by entrepreneurs Chet Dagit and Bob Jacobson. Forte released the VFX1, a PC-powered virtual reality headset that same year. In 1999, entrepreneur
Philip Rosedale Philip Rosedale (born September 29, 1968) is an American entrepreneur who founded Linden Lab, which develops and hosts the virtual world ''Second Life''. Biography Early life Rosedale was born in San Diego, California, in 1968. He took an inter ...
formed Linden Lab with an initial focus on the development of VR hardware. In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of "The Rig", which was realized in prototype form as a clunky steel contraption with several computer monitors that users could wear on their shoulders. The concept was later adapted into the personal computer-based, 3D virtual world program '' Second Life''.


21st century

The 2000s were a period of relative public and investment indifference to commercially available VR technologies. In 2001, SAS Cube (SAS3) became the first PC-based cubic room, developed by Z-A Production ( Maurice Benayoun, David Nahon), Barco, and Clarté. It was installed in
Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...
, France. The SAS library gave birth to Virtools VRPack. In 2007, Google introduced
Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expan ...
, a service that shows panoramic views of an increasing number of worldwide positions such as roads, indoor buildings and rural areas. It also features a stereoscopic 3D mode, introduced in 2010.


2010–present

In 2010, Palmer Luckey designed the first prototype of the Oculus Rift. This prototype, built on a shell of another virtual reality headset, was only capable of rotational tracking. However, it boasted a 90-degree field of vision that was previously unseen in the consumer market at the time. Luckey eliminated distortion issues arising from the type of lens used to create the wide field of vision using software that pre-distorted the rendered image in real-time. This initial design would later serve as a basis from which the later designs came. In 2012, the Rift is presented for the first time at the E3 video game trade show by
John Carmack John D. Carmack II (born August 20, 1970) is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its 1990s games ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doo ...
. In 2014, Facebook (later Meta) purchased Oculus VR for what at the time was stated as $2 billion but later revealed that the more accurate figure was $3 billion. This purchase occurred after the first development kits ordered through Oculus' 2012
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
had shipped in 2013 but before the shipping of their second development kits in 2014. ZeniMax, Carmack's former employer, sued Oculus and Facebook for taking company secrets to Facebook; the verdict was in favour of ZeniMax, settled out of court later. In 2013, Valve discovered and freely shared the breakthrough of low-persistence displays which make lag-free and smear-free display of VR content possible. This was adopted by Oculus and was used in all their future headsets. In early 2014, Valve showed off their SteamSight prototype, the precursor to both consumer headsets released in 2016. It shared major features with the consumer headsets including separate 1K displays per eye, low persistence, positional tracking over a large area, and Fresnel lenses. HTC and Valve announced the virtual reality headset HTC Vive and controllers in 2015. The set included tracking technology called Lighthouse, which utilized wall-mounted "base stations" for positional tracking using infrared light. In 2014, Sony announced Project Morpheus (its code name for the PlayStation VR), a virtual reality headset for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
video game console. The Chinese headset AntVR was released in late 2014; it was briefly competitive in the Chinese market but ultimately unable to compete with the larger technology companies. In 2015, Google announced Cardboard, a do-it-yourself stereoscopic viewer: the user places their smartphone in the cardboard holder, which they wear on their head.
Michael Naimark Michael Naimark is an artist, inventor, and scholar in the fields of virtual reality and new media art. He is best known for his work in projection mapping, virtual travel, live global video, and cultural preservation, and often refers to this bod ...
was appointed Google's first-ever 'resident artist' in their new VR division. The Kickstarter campaign for Gloveone, a pair of gloves providing motion tracking and haptic feedback, was successfully funded, with over $150,000 in contributions. Also in 2015,
Razer Razer may refer to: * Razer (Canadian TV channel), former name of MTV2, a Canadian digital television specialty service * Razer Inc., a Singaporean-American computer peripherals manufacturer specializing in PC gaming * Razer Phone, a smartphone de ...
unveiled its
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
project OSVR. By 2016, there were at least 230 companies developing VR-related products. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Sony and Samsung all had dedicated AR and VR groups. Dynamic binaural audio was common to most headsets released that year. However, haptic interfaces were not well developed, and most hardware packages incorporated button-operated handsets for touch-based interactivity. Visually, displays were still of a low-enough resolution and
frame rate Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...
that images were still identifiable as virtual. In 2016, HTC shipped its first units of the HTC Vive SteamVR headset. This marked the first major commercial release of sensor-based tracking, allowing for free movement of users within a defined space. A patent filed by Sony in 2017 showed they were developing a similar location tracking technology to the Vive for PlayStation VR, with the potential for the development of a wireless headset. In 2019, Oculus released the Oculus Rift S and a standalone headset, the Oculus Quest. These headsets utilized inside-out tracking compared to external outside-in tracking seen in previous generations of headsets. Later in 2019, Valve released the
Valve Index The Valve Index is a consumer virtual reality headset created and manufactured by Valve. Announced on April 30, 2019, the headset was released on June 28 of the same year. The Index is a second-generation headset and the first to be manufacture ...
. Notable features include a 130° field of view, off-ear headphones for immersion and comfort, open-handed controllers which allow for individual finger tracking, front facing cameras, and a front expansion slot meant for extensibility. In 2020, Oculus released the Oculus Quest 2, later renamed the Meta Quest 2. Some new features include a sharper screen, reduced price, and increased performance. Facebook (which became Meta a year later) initially required users to log in with a Facebook account in order to use the new headset. In 2021 the Oculus Quest 2 accounted for 80% of all VR headsets sold. In 2021, EASA approved the first Virtual Reality based Flight Simulation Training Device. The device, for rotorcraft pilots, enhances safety by opening up the possibility of practicing risky maneuvers in a virtual environment. This addresses a key risk area in rotorcraft operations, where statistics show that around 20% of accidents occur during training flights. In 2022, Meta released the
Meta Quest Pro The Meta Quest Pro is a mixed reality (MR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.). Unveiled on October 11, 2022, it is a high-end headset designed for mixed reality and virtual reality applica ...
. This device utilised a thinner, visor-like design that was not fully enclosed, and was the first headset by Meta to target mixed reality applications using high-resolution colour video passthrough. It also included integrated face and eye tracking,
pancake lenses A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...
, and updated Touch Pro controllers with on-board motion tracking. In 2023, Sony released the PlayStation VR2, a follow-up to their 2016 headset. The device includes inside-out tracking, eye-tracked
foveated rendering Foveated rendering is a rendering technique which uses an eye tracker integrated with a virtual reality headset to reduce the rendering workload by greatly reducing the image quality in the peripheral vision (outside of the zone gazed by the fovea ...
, higher-resolution OLED displays, controllers with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback,
3D audio 3D audio effects are a group of sound effects that manipulate the sound produced by stereo speakers, surround-sound speakers, speaker-arrays, or headphones. This frequently involves the virtual placement of sound sources anywhere in three-dimensio ...
, and a wider field of view. While initially exclusive for use with the
PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
console, a PC adapter is scheduled for August 2024. Later in 2023, Meta released the Meta Quest 3, the successor to the Quest 2. It features the pancake lenses and mixed reality features of the Quest Pro, as well as an increased field of view and resolution compared to Quest 2. In 2024, Apple released the
Apple Vision Pro Apple Vision Pro is an upcoming mixed-reality headset developed by Apple Inc. It was announced on June 5, 2023, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, with availability scheduled for early 2024 in the United States and later that year in ...
. The device is a fully enclosed mixed reality headset that strongly utilises video passthrough. While some VR experiences are available on the device, it lacks standard VR headset features such as external controllers or support for
OpenXR OpenXR is an open, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices. It is developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group consortium. OpenXR was announced by the Khronos Group on February 2 ...
and is instead branded as a “ spatial computer”.


Technology


Hardware

Modern virtual reality headset displays are based on technology developed for smartphones including:
gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...
s and motion sensors for tracking head, body, and hand positions; small HD screens for stereoscopic displays; and small, lightweight and fast computer processors. These components led to relative affordability for independent VR developers, and led to the 2012 Oculus Rift Kickstarter offering the first independently developed VR headset. Independent production of VR images and video has increased alongside the development of affordable
omnidirectional camera In photography, an omnidirectional camera (from "omni", meaning all), also known as 360-degree camera, is a camera having a field of view that covers approximately the entire sphere or at least a full circle in the horizontal plane. Omnidirection ...
s, also known as 360-degree cameras or VR cameras, that have the ability to record
360 interactive photography VR photography (after virtual-reality photography) is the Interactive computing, interactive viewing of wide-angle photography, panoramic photographs, generally encompassing a 360-degree circle or a spherical view. The results is known as VR pho ...
, although at relatively low resolutions or in highly compressed formats for online streaming of
360 video 360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...
. In contrast,
photogrammetry Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant ima ...
is increasingly used to combine several high-resolution photographs for the creation of detailed 3D objects and environments in VR applications. To create a feeling of immersion, special output devices are needed to display virtual worlds. Well-known formats include head-mounted displays or the CAVE. In order to convey a spatial impression, two images are generated and displayed from different perspectives (stereo projection). There are different technologies available to bring the respective image to the right eye. A distinction is made between active (e.g. shutter glasses) and passive technologies (e.g. polarizing filters or
Infitec Infitec GmbH is a family-owned company based in Gerstetten ( District of Heidenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) that develops, produces and markets products for the projection of 3D content. The registered name INFITEC is an acronym of Interfe ...
). In order to improve the feeling of immersion, wearable multi-string cables offer haptics to complex geometries in virtual reality. These strings offer fine control of each finger joint to simulate the haptics involved in touching these virtual geometries. Special input devices are required for interaction with the virtual world. Some of the most common input devices are motion controllers and optical tracking sensors. In some cases, wired gloves are used. Controllers typically use optical tracking systems (primarily
infrared camera Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
s) for location and navigation, so that the user can move freely without wiring. Some input devices provide the user with force feedback to the hands or other parts of the body, so that the user can orientate themselves in the three-dimensional world through haptics and sensor technology as a further sensory sensation and carry out realistic simulations. This allows for the viewer to have a sense of direction in the artificial landscape. Additional haptic feedback can be obtained from omnidirectional treadmills (with which walking in virtual space is controlled by real walking movements) and vibration gloves and suits. Virtual reality cameras can be used to create
VR photography VR photography (after virtual-reality photography) is the interactive viewing of panoramic photographs, generally encompassing a 360-degree circle or a spherical view. The results is known as VR photograph (or VR photo), 360-degree photo, photo ...
using 360-degree panorama videos. VR cameras are available in various formats, with varying numbers of lenses installed in the camera.


Software

The Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML), first introduced in 1994, was intended for the development of "virtual worlds" without dependency on headsets. The Web3D consortium was subsequently founded in 1997 for the development of industry standards for web-based 3D graphics. The consortium subsequently developed
X3D X3D is a royalty-free ISO/IEC standard for declaratively representing 3D computer graphics. File format support includes XML, ClassicVRML, Compressed Binary Encoding (CBE) and a draft JSON encoding. X3D became the successor to the Virtual Rea ...
from the VRML framework as an archival,
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
standard for web-based distribution of VR content.
WebVR WebXR Device API is a Web application programming interface (API) that describes support for accessing augmented reality and virtual reality devices, such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Google Cardboard, HoloLens, Magic Leap or ...
is an experimental JavaScript
application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...
(API) that provides support for various virtual reality devices, such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard or OSVR, in a web browser.


Visual immersion experience


Display resolution

Minimal Angle of Resolution (MAR) refers to the minimum distance between two display pixels. At the distance, viewer can clearly distinguish the independent pixels. Often measured in arc-seconds, MAR between two pixels has to do with the viewing distance. For the general public, resolution is about 30-65 arc-seconds, which is referred to as the spatial resolution when combined with distance. Given the viewing distance of 1m and 2m respectively, regular viewers won't be able to perceive two pixels as separate if they are less than 0.29mm apart at 1m and less than 0.58mm apart at 2m.


Image latency and display refresh frequency

Most small-size displays have a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which adds about 15ms of additional latency. The number is reduced to less than 7ms if the refresh rate is increased to 120 Hz or even 240 Hz and more. Participants generally feel that the experience is more immersive with higher refresh rates as a result. However, higher refresh rates require a more powerful graphics processing unit.


Relationship between display and field of view

In assessing the achieved immersion by a VR device, we need to consider our field of view ( FOV) in addition to image quality. Our eyes have a horizontal FOV from about 107 or 110 degrees to the temporal side to about 60 or 70 degrees toward the nose, and a vertical FOV from about 95 degrees downward to 85 degrees upward, and eye movements are estimated as roughly 30 deg to either side horizontally and 20 vertically. Binocular vision is limited to the 120 or 140 degrees where the right and the left visual fields overlap. With eye movements, we have a FOV of roughly 300 degrees x 175 degrees with two eyes, i.e., approximately one third of the full 360-deg sphere.


Applications

Virtual reality is most commonly used in entertainment applications such as video games,
3D cinema 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...
,
amusement park rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...
including dark rides and social virtual worlds. Consumer virtual reality headsets were first released by video game companies in the early-mid 1990s. Beginning in the 2010s, next-generation commercial tethered headsets were released by Oculus (Rift), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR), setting off a new wave of application development. 3D cinema has been used for sporting events, pornography, fine art, music videos and short films. Since 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have incorporated virtual reality to match visual effects with haptic feedback. VR not only fits the trend of the digital industry but also enhances the film's visual effect. The film gives the audience more ways to interact through VR technology. In social sciences and psychology, virtual reality offers a cost-effective tool to study and replicate interactions in a controlled environment. It can be used as a form of therapeutic intervention. For instance, there is the case of the
virtual reality exposure therapy Virtual reality therapy (VRT), also known as virtual reality immersion therapy (VRIT), simulation for therapy (SFT), virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), and computerized CBT (CCBT), is the use of virtual reality technology for psychological o ...
(VRET), a form of exposure therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) and phobias. A VR therapy has been designed to help people with psychosis and
agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can in ...
manage their avoidance of outside environments. In the therapy, the user wears a headset and a virtual character provides psychological advice and guides them as they explore simulated environments (such as a cafe or a busy street). NICE is assessing the therapy to see if it should be recommended on the NHS. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social VR has also been used as a mental-health tool in a form of self-administered, non-traditional
cognitive behavioural therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (su ...
. Virtual reality programs are being used in the rehabilitation processes with elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
. This gives these elderly patients the opportunity to simulate real experiences that they would not otherwise be able to experience due to their current state. 17 recent studies with randomized controlled trials have shown that virtual reality applications are effective in treating cognitive deficits with neurological diagnoses. Loss of mobility in elderly patients can lead to a sense of loneliness and depression. Virtual reality is able to assist in making aging in place a lifeline to an outside world that they cannot easily navigate. Virtual reality allows exposure therapy to take place in a safe environment. In medicine, simulated VR surgical environments were first developed in the 1990s. Under the supervision of experts, VR can provide effective and repeatable training at a low cost, allowing trainees to recognize and amend errors as they occur. Virtual reality has been used in physical rehabilitation since the 2000s. Despite numerous studies conducted, good quality evidence of its efficacy compared to other rehabilitation methods without sophisticated and expensive equipment is lacking for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. A 2018 review on the effectiveness of mirror therapy by virtual reality and robotics for any type of pathology concluded in a similar way. Another study was conducted that showed the potential for VR to promote mimicry and revealed the difference between neurotypical and autism spectrum disorder individuals in their response to a two-dimensional avatar. Immersive virtual reality technology with myoelectric and motion tracking control may represent a possible therapy option for treatment-resistant phantom limb pain. Pain scale measurements were taken into account and an interactive 3-D kitchen environment was developed based on the principles of mirror therapy to allow for control of virtual hands while wearing a motion-tracked VR headset. A systematic search in Pubmed and Embase was performed to determine results that were pooled in two meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed a significant result in favor of VRT for balance. In the fast-paced and globalised business world, meetings in VR are used to create an environment in which interactions with other people (e.g. colleagues, customers, partners) can feel more natural than a phone call or video chat. In the customisable meeting rooms all parties can join using the VR headset and interact as if they are in the same physical room. Presentations, videos or 3D models (of e.g. products or prototypes) can be uploaded and interacted with. Compared to traditional text-based CMC, Avatar-based interactions in 3D virtual environment lead to higher levels of consensus, satisfaction, and cohesion among group members. VR can simulate real workspaces for workplace occupational safety and health purposes, educational purposes, and training purposes. It can be used to provide learners with a virtual environment where they can develop their skills without the real-world consequences of failing. It has been used and studied in primary education, anatomy teaching, military, astronaut training, flight simulators, miner training, medical education, geography education, architectural design, driver training, empathy enhancement training for caregivers and healthcare workers, and bridge inspection. Immersive VR engineering systems enable engineers to see virtual prototypes prior to the availability of any physical prototypes. Supplementing training with virtual training environments has been claimed to offer avenues of realism in militaryShufelt, Jr., J.W. (2006) A Vision for Future Virtual Training. In Virtual Media for Military Applications (pp. KN2-1 – KN2-12). Meeting Proceedings RTO-MP-HFM-136, Keynote 2. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France: RTO. Available from: http://www.rto.nato.int/abstracts.asp and healthcare training while minimizing cost. It also has been claimed to reduce military training costs by minimizing the amounts of ammunition expended during training periods. VR can be used for the healthcare training and education for medical practitioners. Further, several application have been developed for multiple types of safety training. The latest results indicates that virtual reality safety training is more effective than traditional training in terms of knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention. In the engineering field, VR has proved very useful for both engineering educators and the students. A previously expensive cost in the educational department now being much more accessible due to lowered overall costs, has proven to be a very useful tool in educating future engineers. The most significant element lies in the ability for the students to be able to interact with 3-D models that accurately respond based on real world possibilities. This added tool of education provides many the immersion needed to grasp complex topics and be able to apply them. As noted, the future architects and engineers benefit greatly by being able to form understandings between spatial relationships and providing solutions based on real-world future applications. The first fine art virtual world was created in the 1970s. As the technology developed, more artistic programs were produced throughout the 1990s, including feature films. When commercially available technology became more widespread, VR festivals began to emerge in the mid-2010s. The first uses of VR in museum settings began in the 1990s, seeing a significant increase in the mid-2010s. Additionally, museums have begun making some of their content virtual reality accessible. Virtual reality's growing market presents an opportunity and an alternative channel for digital marketing. It is also seen as a new platform for e-commerce, particularly in the bid to challenge traditional "brick and mortar" retailers. However, a 2018 study revealed that the majority of goods are still purchased in physical stores. In the case of education, the uses of virtual reality have demonstrated being capable of promoting higher order thinking, promoting the interest and commitment of students, the acquisition of knowledge, promoting mental habits and understanding that are generally useful within an academic context. A case has also been made for including virtual reality technology in the context of public libraries. This would give library users access to cutting-edge technology and unique educational experiences. This could include giving users access to virtual, interactive copies of rare texts and artifacts and to tours of famous landmarks and archeological digs (as in the case with the Virtual Ganjali Khan Project). Starting in the early 2020s, virtual reality has also been discussed as a technological setting that may support people's grieving process, based on digital recreations of deceased individuals. In 2021, this practice received substantial media attention following a South Korean TV documentary, which invited a grieving mother to interact with a virtual replica of her deceased daughter. Subsequently, scientists have summarized several potential implications of such endeavours, including its potential to facilitate adaptive mourning, but also many ethical challenges. Growing interest in the metaverse has resulted in organizational efforts to incorporate the many diverse applications of virtual reality into ecosystems like VIVERSE, reportedly offering connectivity between platforms for a wide range of uses.


Concerts

In June of 2020, Jean Michel Jarre performed in VRChat. In July, Brendan Bradley released the free FutureStages web-based virtual reality venue for live events and concerts throughout the 2020 shutdown, Justin Bieber performed on November 18, 2021 in WaveXR. On December 2, 2021, non-player characters performed at the Mugar Omni Theater with audiences interacting with a live performer in both virtual reality and projected on the IMAX dome screen. Meta's
Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
Super Bowl VR concert performed on Venues. Post Malone performed in Venues starting July 15, 2022.
Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...
performed on AmazeVR at AMC Theaters throughout 2022. On October 24, 2021, Billie Eilish performed on Oculus Venues. Pop group
Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
performed on June 15, 2022.


Concerns and challenges


Health and safety

There are many health and safety considerations of virtual reality. A number of unwanted symptoms have been caused by prolonged use of virtual reality, and these may have slowed proliferation of the technology. Most virtual reality systems come with consumer warnings, including: seizures; developmental issues in children; trip-and-fall and collision warnings; discomfort; repetitive stress injury; and interference with medical devices. Some users may experience twitches, seizures or blackouts while using VR headsets, even if they do not have a history of epilepsy and have never had blackouts or seizures before. One in 4,000 people, or .025%, may experience these symptoms. Motion sickness, eyestrain, headaches, and discomfort are the most prevalent short-term adverse effects. In addition, because of the virtual reality headsets' heavy weight, discomfort may be more likely among children. Therefore, children are advised against using VR headsets. Other problems may occur in physical interactions with one's environment. While wearing VR headsets, people quickly lose awareness of their real-world surroundings and may injure themselves by tripping over, or colliding with real-world objects. VR headsets may regularly cause eye fatigue, as does all screened technology, because people tend to blink less when watching screens, causing their eyes to become more dried out. There have been some concerns about VR headsets contributing to myopia, but although VR headsets sit close to the eyes, they may not necessarily contribute to nearsightedness if the focal length of the image being displayed is sufficiently far away. Virtual reality sickness (also known as cybersickness) occurs when a person's exposure to a virtual environment causes symptoms that are similar to motion sickness symptoms. Women are significantly more affected than men by headset-induced symptoms, at rates of around 77% and 33% respectively. The most common symptoms are general discomfort, headache, stomach awareness, nausea, vomiting, pallor, sweating, fatigue, drowsiness, disorientation, and apathy. For example, Nintendo's Virtual Boy received much criticism for its negative physical effects, including "dizziness, nausea, and headaches". These motion sickness symptoms are caused by a disconnect between what is being seen and what the rest of the body perceives. When the vestibular system, the body's internal balancing system, does not experience the motion that it expects from visual input through the eyes, the user may experience VR sickness. This can also happen if the VR system does not have a high enough frame rate, or if there is a lag between the body's movement and the onscreen visual reaction to it. Because approximately 25–40% of people experience some kind of VR sickness when using VR machines, companies are actively looking for ways to reduce VR sickness. Vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC) is one of the main causes of virtual reality sickness. In January 2022 '' The Wall Street Journal'' found that VR usage could lead to physical injuries including leg, hand, arm and shoulder injuries. VR usage has also been tied to incidents that resulted in neck injuries (especially injures to the
cervical vertebrae In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In ...
).


Children and teenagers in virtual reality

Children are becoming increasingly aware of VR, with the number in the USA having never heard of it dropping by half from Autumn 2016 (40%) to Spring 2017 (19%). A 2022 research report by
Piper Sandler Piper Sandler Companies is an American independent investment bank and financial services company, focused on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, public offerings, public finance, institutional brokerage, investment management an ...
revealed that only 26% of U.S. teens own a VR device, 5% use it daily, while 48% of teen headset owners "seldom" use it. Of the teens who don't own a VR headset, 9% plan to buy one. 50% of surveyed teens are unsure about the metaverse or don't have any interest, and don't have any plans to purchase a VR headset. Studies show that young children, compared to adults, may respond cognitively and behaviorally to immersive VR in ways that differ from adults. VR places users directly into the media content, potentially making the experience very vivid and real for children. For example, children of 6–18 years of age reported higher levels of presence and "realness" of a virtual environment compared with adults 19–65 years of age. Studies on VR consumer behavior or its effect on children and a code of ethical conduct involving underage users are especially needed, given the availability of VR porn and violent content. Related research on violence in video games suggests that exposure to media violence may affect attitudes, behavior, and even self-concept. Self-concept is a key indicator of core attitudes and coping abilities, particularly in adolescents. Early studies conducted on observing versus participating in violent VR games suggest that physiological arousal and aggressive thoughts, but not hostile feelings, are higher for participants than for observers of the virtual reality game. Experiencing VR by children may further involve simultaneously holding the idea of the virtual world in mind while experiencing the physical world. Excessive usage of immersive technology that has very salient sensory features may compromise children's ability to maintain the rules of the physical world, particularly when wearing a VR headset that blocks out the location of objects in the physical world. Immersive VR can provide users with multisensory experiences that replicate reality or create scenarios that are impossible or dangerous in the physical world. Observations of 10 children experiencing VR for the first time suggested that 8-12-years-old kids were more confident to explore VR content when it was in a familiar situation, e.g. the children enjoyed playing in the kitchen context of Job Simulator, and enjoyed breaking rules by engaging in activities they are not allowed to do in reality, such as setting things on fire.


Privacy

Digital privacy concerns have been associated with VR platforms; the persistent tracking required by all VR systems makes the technology particularly useful for, and vulnerable to, mass
surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
, including information gathering of personal actions, movements and responses. Data from eye tracking sensors, which are projected to become a standard feature in virtual reality headsets, may indirectly reveal information about a user's ethnicity, personality traits, fears, emotions, interests, skills, and physical and mental health conditions. The nature of VR technology means that it can gather a wide range of data about its users. This can include obvious information such as usernames and account information, but also extends to more personal data like physical movements, interaction habits, and responses to virtual environments. In addition, advanced VR systems can capture biometric data like voice patterns, eye movements, and physiological responses to VR experiences. Virtual reality technology has grown substantially since its inception, moving from a niche technology to a mainstream consumer product. As the user base has grown, so too has the amount of personal data collected by these systems. This data can be used to improve VR systems, to provide personalized experiences, or to collect demographic information for marketing purposes. However, it also raises significant privacy concerns, especially when this data is stored, shared, or sold without the user's explicit consent. Existing data protection and privacy laws like the
General Data Protection Regulation The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and of human rights law, in partic ...
(GDPR) in the EU, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States, can be applied to VR. These regulations require companies to disclose how they collect and use data, and give users a degree of control over their personal information. Despite these regulations, enforcing privacy laws in VR can be challenging due to the global nature of the technology and the vast amounts of data collected. Due to its history of privacy issues, the involvement of
Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) trade name, doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebo ...
(formerly Facebook, Inc.) in the VR market has led to privacy concerns specific to its platforms. In August 2020, Facebook announced that Oculus products would become subject to the terms of use and privacy policy of the Facebook social network, and that a Facebook account would be required to use future Oculus headset models, and all existing models (via deprecation of the separate Oculus account system) beginning January 2023. The announcement was criticized for the mandatory integration of Oculus headsets with Facebook data collection and policies (including the Facebook real-name policy), and preventing use of the hardware if the user's account is suspended. The following month, Facebook halted the sale of Oculus products in Germany due to concerns from regulators that the new policy was a violation of GDPR. In 2022, the company would later establish a separate "Meta account" system.


Cyberattack

In 2024, researchers from the University of Chicago were able to exploit a vulnerability in
Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) trade name, doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebo ...
' Quest VR system to obtain users' login credentials and inject false details during online banking sessions. In another study using Beat Saber, the majority of the participants did not suspect anything when their VR headsets were attacked by the researchers. This hack should be difficult to execute outside research settings but would make its target vulnerable to many risks such as phishing, Internet fraud, and grooming.


Virtual reality in fiction


See also

*
16K resolution 16K resolution is a display resolution with approximately 16,000 pixels horizontally. The most commonly discussed 16K resolution is , which doubles the pixel count of 8K UHD in each dimension, for a total of four times as many pixels. This resolu ...
*
360-degree video 360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...
*
AlloSphere The AlloSphere is a research facility in a theatre-like pavilion in a spherical shape, of opaque material, used to project computer-generated imagery and sounds. Included are ''GIS'', scientific, artistic, and other information. Located at the Uni ...
* Computer-mediated reality *
Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
* Extended reality *
Haptic suit A haptic suit (also known as VR suit, tactile suit, gaming suit or haptic vest) is a wearable device that provides haptic feedback to the body. History Aura Interactor (1994) In 1994 Aura Systems launched the Interactor Vest, conceived by Aur ...
* Holographic principle * Hyperreality * Mixed reality *
Virtual body A virtual body is the state of being when inhabiting virtual reality or a virtual environment. Balsamo, A 2000, The virtual body in Cyberspace, in ''Cybercultures reader'', Bell, D & Kennedy BM eds, Routledge, London, pp. 489-503. A person conne ...
* Virtual globe *
Virtual machining Virtual machining is the practice of using computers to simulate and model the use of machine tools for part manufacturing. Such activity replicates the behavior and errors of a real environment in virtual reality systems. This can provide useful ...
* Virtual reality in nursing * Metaverse * Gustatory technology *
List of virtual reality headsets This is a list of virtual reality headsets, which are head-mounted displays used to present virtual reality environments. There are two primary categories of VR devices: * Standalone devices that have all necessary components to provide virtual ...
* MOO


References


Further reading

*


External links

* Basic Concepts of Virtual Reality along with Research Challenges explained in simple words. * Mixed Reality Scale – Milgram and Kishino's (1994) Virtuality Continuum paraphrase with examples. * Interviews on the history and future of virtual reality by leaders in the field. * {{Authority control 3D GUIs