MY ONE BLOGby Manishdai
Hardware & Industry 4.0

What is Virtual Reality?

Quick answer

Technology that immerses users in a fully computer-generated 3D environment, usually through a head-mounted display.

Virtual Reality, explained

Virtual reality (VR) headsets place a screen in front of each eye and track head movement so the view updates as you look around, creating a sense of presence inside a digital world. Hand controllers or hand tracking let you interact with virtual objects.

Gaming is the best-known use, but VR is also applied in training for pilots, surgeons, and factory workers, where mistakes in simulation are safe and cheap. Architects use VR to walk clients through buildings before construction, and therapists use it in some treatments for phobias. Challenges include motion sickness for some users, headset weight and cost, and limited content. VR differs from augmented reality, which overlays digital content on the real world.

Related terms

Augmented Reality

Technology that overlays digital information such as images, text, or 3D objects onto a live view of the real world.

Haptics

Technology that creates a sense of touch through vibrations, forces, or motions to give users physical feedback.

Metaverse

A loosely defined vision of persistent, shared virtual worlds where people interact, work, play, and trade using avatars.

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