Not Just for Gaming: Virtual Reality
When you hear the words, virtual reality what do you think of? Oculus, headsets, Beatsaber, gaming? All of those options are valid, but some words that don’t pop up are health, education, and sports. Before we segway into health and its application in VR, first let’s take a look at what virtual reality is and its many applications.
So, What is Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality, commonly known as VR is a simulated experience that can be similar or completely different from the real world. It uses a headset with two screens (one for each eye) that manipulates your mind to create an immersive 3D environment. It allows you to move around and can transport you to the other side of the world, from the comfort of your living room.
What are the Main Companies?
The company that mainly dominates the VR industry, is owned by Facebook, Oculus. They are the most recognized company in the industry and have 3 headsets. The Oculus Rift, the Oculus Quest, and the Oculus Quest 2 which was recently released in October of 2020. Another big player in VR is Google who had the $15 Google Cardboard and the Google Daydream View.
What Can VR do?
Virtual reality has many applications outside of the gaming world in industries such as sports; education; and health and surgery.
Sports
This hasn’t been implemented yet, but it is possible to use VR in real-time to make one feel they are at a sports game while in the comfort of their home with live, 3D broadcasting and the sounds of an arena using cameras set up in specific areas.
Education
In school, students can go on VR field trips, to places such as the museum which could be awesome during the ongoing pandemic. Another application is in history classes. Imagine going back in time to witness events like the Moon Landing, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Students would see some of the biggest moments in history and great takeaways.
And that leads us to…
Health/Medicine/Surgery
In many developing nations, people are unable to get life-saving surgical procedures. A potential application of VR in this situation could be life-saving. You could connect a VR headset to a robotic arm to perform sugar from a different part of the world. How amazing is that? However, on a large scale, this technology has not yet been implemented.
Get Ready for A Change
The world is about to change in a positive way thanks to virtual reality. It will impact many people worldwide and has such a bright future. So get ready, for a wild ride of VR on its course to change the world.
