When we talk about Virtual Reality (VR), many of us think of science fiction films like ‘Minority Report’. However, the truth is that nowadays, this technology completely blends in with our daily lives. Video games, medicine, education… Virtual Reality is here to stay. But what is it exactly?

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real, making the user feel they are immersed in their surroundings. This environment is perceived through a device known as a Virtual Reality headset or helmet. VR allows us to immerse ourselves in video games as if we were one of the characters, learn how to perform heart surgery or improve the quality of sports training to maximise performance.

However, there is also a combination of both realities called mixed reality. This hybrid technology makes it possible, for example, to see virtual objects in the real world and build an experience in which the physical and the digital are practically indistinguishable.

MAIN APPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY

That’s enough about the theory that is projecting us into the future. Which sectors is Virtual Reality actually being used in today? Medicine, culture, education and architecture are some of the areas that have already taken advantage of this technology. From guided museum visits to the dissection of a muscle, VR allows us to cross boundaries that would otherwise be unimaginable.The main difference between the two is that VR builds the world in which we immerse ourselves through a specific headset. It is fully immersive and everything we see is part of an environment artificially constructed through images, sounds, etc.

Nowadays, the market is demanding applications that go beyond leisure, tourism or marketing and are more affordable for users. Virtual interfaces also need to be improved to avoid defects such as clipping, which makes certain solid objects appear as though they can be passed through. Or to minimise the effects that VR produces in people, among them motion sickness, which consists of a dizziness induced by the mismatch between the movement of our body and what is being seen in the virtual world.