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What is Virtual Reality (VR)?

Virtual Reality - VR - seems to be slowly taking over the world. More and more schools, companies, hospitals and arcades are switching to Virtual Reality. But what exactly is it? And what can you do with Virtual Reality? In this blog we explain what VR can be used for and what we think Virtual Reality will be used for in the future.

What is Virtual reality?

Virtual Reality (VR) is an environment that is fully simulated with Computers. You can look around in the Computer generated environment via a VR headset. Because the virtual environment is made completely with the Computer, you are no longer limited to the physical logic of the real world. For example, in the virtual world you can spend hours exploring the depths of the ocean, or go back in time to relive the first moon landing. The limitations of Virtual Reality are within the imagination and skill of the developer.

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 with VR games and applications that are indistinguishable from the real thing. There are even manipulations you can add to a VR Headset to make the experience even more realistic, such as a scent mask that mimics the scent of flowers while walking through a field of flowers in VR, or a haptic vest that provides feedback on the places where you are touched in the virtual world.

Curious about all Virtual Reality glasses that are currently on the market? Check out our blog Which Virtual Reality Glasses are there? then once!

What applications are there with Virtual reality?

The most famous 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 a lot of companies that use Virtual Reality to train their employees in special circumstances. Think of flight attendants who have to conduct a fire drill in a virtual environment while the plane is crashing, or police officers who can run through all possible scenarios of a terrorist attack in Virtual Reality.

Schools and universities are already making full use of the possibilities of Virtual Reality. For example, VR glasses offer the possibility to with the whole class to go on a school trip to a country where you would otherwise never be able to visit. For training purposes, VR glasses can be used to teach a virtual lesson, or help students with prepare presentations or give a speech. The VR app VirtualSpeechoffers, for example, the possibility to practice with speaking in front of a large group using mobile VR glasses or Oculus Go.

  • View the medical applications of Virtual Reality
  • View the educational applications of Virtual Reality
  • View the corporate applications of Virtual Reality

What does the future of Virtual Reality look like?

It's hard to say what Virtual Reality will look like in the future. Companies like HTC, Oculus and Valve are subject to stiff competition with each other, so they keep innovating and improving their VR glasses. Oculus seems to be on the right track at the moment with the already released Oculus Quest. These completely wireless VR glasses allow users to experience Virtual Reality without using an expensive gaming PC and without dangling cables. This makes the Oculus Quest the first VR glasses that can be used fully mobile for the Consumer, with enough power to play VR games at high quality.

The size and comfort of VR glasses will also change in the coming years. Where the first commercial VR glasses were relatively heavy and uncomfortable, VR glasses are now becoming lighter and with the eye for wearing comfort. Think of the use of lighter materials, folding screens and getting rid of the headphones. In the course of 2020, Huawei will with release the first IMAX-certified VR glasses: the Huawei VR Glass. VR glasses that are the size of oversized sunglasses.

Professional VR users will have to stick to the wired versions of VR glasses in the near future. This has to do with with the graphical power that some VR games and apps with bring. Practice shows that a graphics card and processor from a Computer gives a much better performance than a chipset processor from a Standalone VR Glasses. So for the real professional gaming experience, Virtual Reality will still have to be wired to a graphics source. There is also a future for the professional VR user with the so-called location-based Virtual Reality (abbreviated to LBVR). LBVR enables multiple VR users to play and interact together - simultaneously - in a virtual environment with. Developers in the VR arcade industry are targeting this area and are increasingly releasing with games specifically aimed at the arcade audience.

Until slot, Virtual Reality will play an increasing role in medical and educational applications. Where schools VR still a bit like gimmick Virtual Reality will continue to develop with specific VR apps in the coming years to bring students - and teachers - together in an educational environment. Who knows, you might be able to stay at home for a day in the future and just put on your VR glasses to show up at school or work ...

Diederik Hermsen- XR Product Specialist

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