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Are We in the Metaverse Yet?

Crypto people say they’re building it. Gamers might already be living in it. The art world is cashing in on it. Web veterans are trying to save it. But what is it?

By John Herrman and Kellen Browning

The biggest ideas in tech often lurch into the lexicon before they are truly coherent. Jargon appears out of nowhere, underexplained and overused: the internet of things, the sharing economy, the cloud.

In some rare cases, the terminology sticks. A lot of people talk a lot about a lot of loosely related things, and then those things merge into a single semi-comprehensible thing. Then we live our lives within that thing forever. Remember hearing about “the internet”? Get ready for “the metaverse .”

The term comes from digital antiquity: Coined by the writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, “Snow Crash,” then reimagined as the Oasis in the Ernest Cline novel “Ready Player One,” it refers to a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the analog one in which we live.

In fiction, a utopian metaverse may be portrayed as a new frontier where social norms and value systems can be written anew, freed from cultural and economic sclerosis. But more often metaverses are a bit dystopian — virtual refuges from a fallen world.

As a buzzword, the metaverse refers to a variety of virtual experiences, environments and assets that gained momentum during the online-everything shift of the pandemic. Together, these new technologies hint at what the internet will become next.

Video games like Roblox and Fortnite and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, in which players can build their own worlds, have metaverse tendencies, as does most social media. If you own a non-fungible token or even just some crypto, you’re part of the metaversal experience. Virtual and augmented reality are, at a minimum, metaverse adjacent. If you’ve attended a work meeting or a party using a digital avatar , you’re treading into the neighborhood of metaversality.

Founders, investors, futurists and executives have all tried to stake their claim in the metaverse, expounding on its potential for social connection, experimentation, entertainment and, crucially, profit.

Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist and prolific essayist, describes the metaverse not as a virtual world or a space, but as “a sort of successor state to the mobile internet” — a framework for an extremely connected life. There “will be no clean ‘Before Metaverse’ and ‘After Metaverse,’” he writes . “Instead, it will slowly emerge over time as different products, services and capabilities integrate and meld together.”

Speaking to CNET in May, Mark Zuckerberg shared his own Facebook -centric view: “We want to get as many people as possible to be able to experience virtual reality and be able to jump into the metaverse and to have these social experiences within that,” he said, referring to the company’s experimental virtual reality environment, Horizon, which he hopes people will explore using Facebook ’s Oculus headsets.

In a June interview with VentureBeat , Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, which makes computer chips, shared more of a vibe than a vision: “We’ll be able to almost feel like we’re there with each other.”

If all that sounds too heady, for now this might do: The metaverse is the internet, but so much more. And though it may still be in the future, if it materializes at all, it seems closer than it’s ever been.

A World Built on Blockchain

Earlier this year, in the midst of a crypto boom, the price of a currency called MANA began climbing the charts in Coinbase, a popular exchange for digital currencies.

MANA is the currency of a virtual world called Decentraland, where in March plots of digital land were going for the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (After two years bouncing around 10 cents, MANA briefly broke $1.60 in April, pushing the combined value of all the tokens past $2.4 billion.)

By size, Decentraland is more of a commune — as of July, just a few hundred people are logged in at a time, down from a March peak in the low thousands — made up of user-generated NFTs. Its creators have described the platform less as a place than as infrastructure upon which to build a place. (Decentraland’s currency and land contracts run on the Ethereum blockchain.)

Denizens of Decentraland are constantly creating scenes and experiences for other users, like concerts and art exhibits. There are casinos where you can gamble in MANA, with croupiers who are paid in MANA to show up for work. The sense that Decentraland is a work in progress pervades the sparsely populated grid of half-developed plots and themed zones. Between events, users are mostly left to wander and wonder: What now?

Speculators seem less confused; after all, Decentraland is first and foremost an experiment in scarce digital property. This month, Republic Realm, which calls itself a “digital real estate firm,” purchased an NFT of a 259-parcel virtual estate in Decentraland for more than 1.2 million MANA, or, at contemporaneous exchange rates, more than $900,000.

Sotheby’s, which acquired a small plot in Decentraland’s arts district and constructed a replica of its London galleries, recently closed its first show in the metaverse. Michael Bouhanna, who ran the sale, estimated that 90 percent of the galleries’ 3,200 visitors had little sense of what Sotheby’s is or does, but said the exercise was useful for helping existing customers conceptualize NFTs, which the auction house is already selling.

What separates Decentraland from its predecessors like Second Life, a virtual world owned and operated by a private company called Linden Labs, is that it is indeed fairly decentralized. The plan, according to Decentraland’s founders, was always for its users to take ownership of the world, building and doing what they please.

By contrast, Dave Carr, a spokesman for the Decentraland Foundation, said, “Fortnite is a centralized experience,” meaning that it functions top-down, with major decisions coming from its developer, Epic Games. “Here, you feel like you have a definite part in it.”

‘More Than a Game’

When Epic was developing Fortnite, its plan was not to create a metaverse. But what started in 2017 as a tower defense-style game where players fought zombies exploded, just a year later, into an international phenomenon .

“It took off in a way none of us quite anticipated,” said Donald Mustard, the chief creative officer of Epic.

As millions of players flocked to Fortnite Battle Royale, a game mode that is a bit like “The Hunger Games,” the company rushed to add social features, like voice chatting and dance parties. In financial documents made public in federal court in May as part of an antitrust suit against Apple, Epic said Fortnite made more than $9 billion in revenue in 2018 and 2019 combined. Players spend money to dress up their characters in superhero costumes and banana suits .

Now, Epic markets Fortnite as not just an interactive experience but as a metaverse .

“It’s more than a game,” Matthew Weissinger, the vice president of marketing at Epic, said in court. “We’re building this thing called the metaverse — a social place.”

A Travis Scott concert held within Fortnite last April drew more than 12 million concurrent views, the company said. And nearly 50 percent of players are using the game’s creative mode, which allows users to populate their own islands with buildings and games, said Tim Sweeney, the chief executive of Epic.

For Mr. Sweeney, the formation of the metaverse also entails a fight for its independence. Without specifically referring to Epic’s lawsuit against Apple, which is set to be decided in the next few months, he alluded to it several times.

Defining the metaverse was difficult, he said, but he knew what it was not: “The metaverse is not an App Store with a catalog of titles,” Mr. Sweeney said. “In the metaverse, you and your friends and your appearance and cosmetics can go from place to place and have different experiences while remaining connected to each other socially.”

Could it be possible one day to have a tunnel from Roblox to Fortnite and other games, connecting them all in some sort of futuristic world? Mr. Sweeney said yes.

Minting Teenage Millionaires

Roblox, a platform where independent developers create games popular with children, may be the nearest and most expansive vision of the metaverse.

In the first quarter of 2021, people spent nearly 10 billion hours playing Roblox , according to the company’s earnings report, and more than 42 million users logged in each day. Players also spent $652 million on the site’s virtual currency, Robux, which can be used to purchase hats, weapons, hot air balloons and other digital items for their characters. After going public on March 10, the company’s valuation shot to $45 billion; as of this week, it’s closer to $50 billion.

Dave Baszucki, Roblox’s co-founder and chief executive, whose shares in the company were suddenly worth $5.5 billion when the market closed that day, expressed his appreciation on Twitter.

Mr. Baszucki declined to be interviewed for this article, but he has spoken widely and ambitiously about Roblox as a metaverse. He has said his goal is to reach billions of people with Roblox, not just children. At an investor presentation in February, he said the company holds its business meetings on the platform.

“Just as the mail, the telegraph, the telephone, text and video are utilities for collaborative work, we believe Roblox and the metaverse will join these as essential tools for business communication,” Mr. Baszucki said. “Ultimately, someday we may even shop within Roblox.”

Indeed, in May, a digital Gucci bag sold on the platform for more than $4,100 , exceeding the price of the physical object. (There’s also a darker side to Roblox, not condoned by the company, that includes strip clubs, sex parties and Nazi re-enactments .)

There are millions of games created on Roblox each year, and much of the money they generate — through the sale of digital items and upgrades — goes to independent developers. In some cases, game makers in their teens have become millionaires.

Ammon Runger, a 16-year-old, and his colleague Stefan Baronio, 23, have made six-figure salaries producing the prison-escape game Mad City, which attracts more than 200,000 players a month. Mr. Baronio bought a new car and paid for college with the money. He said the experience has been “life changing” but stopped short of calling Roblox a metaverse.

“I definitely feel like they’re getting there, but I still think they’re pretty far away from it,” Mr. Baronio said. Half of the platform’s players are 13 or younger, the company said.

In any case, the company is forging ahead. Craig Donato, the chief business officer of Roblox, said that 17- to 24-year-olds are the platform’s fastest-growing consumers, and the company is adding more languages as it expands its user base around the world.

Mr. Donato said that during the pandemic he spent so much time meeting in the company’s virtual office that upon returning to the physical space, he had to remind himself that he could not do the same things as his Roblox character.

“I was like, ‘Gosh, I have to make sure I don’t jump out the window,’” he said.

But Is It a Metaverse?

While there is a lot of corporate interest in the metaverse, skeptics abound.

Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive of the game publisher Take-Two, said in a May earnings call that he was “allergic to buzzwords,” and suggested the metaverse could be all hype. “If you take metaverse, SPAC and cryptocurrency, in five years, will any of this matter? I’m not sure it will,” he said.

Then there are those who wonder whether interest from the tech sector is simply opportunistic, or missing the point entirely.

Evo Heyning, for instance, has been working and playing in the metaverse for two decades. The State Department even hired her to help build its presence on Second Life.

In earlier virtual worlds, Ms. Heyning said, “it was always seen as people participating in a new type of public commons. Now, obviously lots of companies are going to assert dominance.”

Hopes and assurances from tech executives are nice, but private platforms are private platforms. “Right now, I can create an avatar, but I can’t jump from one world to the next,” Ms. Heyning said, describing a concept known as “interoperability.” The metaverse, in her view, isn’t a single firm or organization’s product or space, or even all of them together —   it’s the way they’re connected.

In pursuit of that connection, Ms. Heyning, 45, has joined a few volunteers to form the Open Metaverse Interoperability Group, which seeks to establish technological standards for “bridging virtual worlds,” in the hope that metaverse players will adopt them.

Robert Long, who is also part of the group, compared his hopes for the fledgling metaverse to the early web. “There is no single owner of the whole thing,” he said. “It’s decentralized in the same way the web is, with lots of different people hosting it. We’re looking for the HTML of the metaverse.”

Kayvon Tehranian, a founder and the chief executive of Foundation, a marketplace for NFTs, also sees building the metaverse as a chance to get right what he believes former stewards, and users, of the internet got wrong. The key, he said, is blockchain technology. How people engage with the metaverse is secondary.

“The fact that we’re surrounded by a global layer that’s there at all times,” Mr. Tehranian said, referring to the Ethereum blockchain, “where there’s no central party that determines whether or not something is available or not?” That, he said, is the antidote to the digital world we already live in — one that he describes as akin to a metaverse but “with dictators” (Apple, Google, Facebook).

His metaverse hews to a particular definition of freedom. “The thing I really care about is that you as an individual own objects,” he said. “Property ownership is a tool. It works. It brings financial incentives.”

This may sound, depending on your ideological orientation, more dystopian than utopian. To Mr. Tehranian, it’s merely realistic.

“We’re still talking about human nature, which is greedy and selfish,” he said.

Indeed, many are looking at the metaverse as a financial opportunity. Mike Winkelmann — a.k.a. Beeple, the guy who sold an NFT of his artwork for $69 million — is working on a start-up called Wenew, which will sell NFTs associated with moments in time, creating, in the company’s words, “the memory palace of the metaverse.” (Its early offerings include moments from the tennis star Andy Murray’s career.)

Despite his stake in the crypto-oriented vision of the metaverse, Mr. Winkelmann’s sense of what it might be, or already is, remains wide. Whatever the metaverse is, it’s not just virtual reality, or augmented reality, or the blockchain and NFTs, or virtual worlds and games.

“People are very much looking at it as this ‘Ready Player One’ thing, or a V.R. thing,” he said.

“That’s just about how close that screen is to your face,” he continued, holding his phone up to his eyes. “This doesn’t change the fact that a lot of these things are happening in a space that is already virtual.”

It’s just going to continue the blend, he said, until we’re all wearing goggles, or living in tanks of goo, after a gradual and disorienting transition from the internet of today, which is, perhaps, more metaversal than it gets credit for.

“It’s a primitive version of what’s coming,” Mr. Winkelmann said.

John Herrman covers tech and media for Styles and the Magazine, and was one of the first three recipients of The Times’s David Carr Fellowship. Previously, he was a reporter for the Business section. More about John Herrman

Kellen Browning is a technology reporter in San Francisco, where he covers the gig economy, the video game industry and general tech news. More about Kellen Browning

Technology Enhanced Learning pp 97–107 Cite as

Virtual Worlds for Learning

• Maggi Savin-Baden 4 ,
• Liz Falconer 5 ,
• Katherine Wimpenny 6 &
• Michael Callaghan 7  
• First Online: 14 May 2017

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1 Citations

This chapter examines four papers that have been influential in the use of virtual worlds for learning, but also draws on a range of other research and literature in order to locate virtual world learning across the landscape of higher education. Whilst there is sometimes a misconception that research into learning in virtual worlds is very new, the field began to develop in the late 1990s and has continued since then. Typical examples of the first iterations of virtual worlds include Second Life, Active Worlds, and Kaneva, which have been available for up to 20 years. The second generation is currently being developed, examples being High Fidelity and Project Sansar. The chapter reviews the literature in this field and suggests central themes that emerge are: Socialisation; Presence and immersion in virtual world learning; Learning collaboratively and Trajectories of participation.

• Virtual worlds
• Immersive environments
• Socialisation
• Presence and immersion
• Learning collaboratively
• Trajectories of participation

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Savin-Baden, M., Falconer, L., Wimpenny, K., Callaghan, M. (2017). Virtual Worlds for Learning. In: Duval, E., Sharples, M., Sutherland, R. (eds) Technology Enhanced Learning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02600-8_9

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Virtual World: Second Life Essay

This virtual environment was based on the idea of Philip Rosedale which he unveiled to the world in 2003 through his company called Linden Lab (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). Despite numerous improvements in navigation, display, and popularity the program is still very much in its developmental phase. It has been argued that it is likely that the opportunity presented through this concept is likely to grow just as the internet and outgrow initial misconceptions.

In this concept, the use of a 3D simulator allows subscribers a platform that enables real-time interaction within the virtual environment. The virtual environment can be used to market real-world products, market virtual products, and participate as a developer or owner (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). The user can make use of the search tool incorporated in the software to locate various locations, institutions, cities, churches, etc. After identifying an appropriate location the user can enjoy the facilities just as if they were actually at the physical location (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). From the onset, it is clear to see that this virtual environment allows the owners to provide a much greater variety than a ‘real world’ physical experience.

To create a second life one is required to register with Linden Lab and provide their real name, create a log-in name and a password to access their account, and accept the company terms of service (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). Registration is free but billing information is required to allow for payment for any purchases made within the virtual environment (Hodge, Collins & Giordano, 2011). If the user is interested in the virtual environment for business purposes the orientation island is the destination of choice. Here they receive various tips and information on how to go about their business. Additional help is available via chat from experienced users and new users should consider building such contacts.

Though most newcomers join the second life via Linden Lab’s orientation island several other portals have been developed by collaborators such as NMC Virtual worlds, Big Pond, the NBA, the L Word, and CBS’s CSI: NY among others (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). There are other examples of virtual environments existing such as project wonderland, active worlds (Hodge, Collins & Giordano, 2011). These entry points are the most popular means of doing business in the second life environment.

It allows the business to set up shop and allow the customer much more in service than is normally available (Mahar & Mahar, 2009). For example, a motorcycle dealer can allow customers to build their virtual motorbike from available parts. The more exciting the venue the more business it is likely to create thus suggesting the business should enlist the services of a qualified 3D graphics technician.

The virtual environments reported having over 17 million avatars registered by 2007 (Hodge, Collins & Giordano, 2011). This suggests that these environments are gaining popularity. Among the major reasons, people visit these environments is to use facilities such as virtual conference facilities. One disadvantage of this use is the need to have several users that are conversant with computers and the software. These individuals can be useful in controlling traffic and acting as guides on the conference site (Hodge, Collins & Giordano, 2011). Other groups that have begun to use these environments increasingly include medical trainers, interior designers, hotels, though this should not be taken to suggest second life is only suited to these categories.

Hodge, E., Collins, S., & Giordano, T. (2011). The Virtual Worlds Handbook: How to use second life and other 3D virtual environments . Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC.

Mahar, S. M., & Mahar, J. (2009). The unofficial guide to building your business in the second life virtual world . New York: Amacom Books.

• Chicago (A-D)
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IvyPanda. (2022, March 24). Virtual World: Second Life. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-world-second-life/

"Virtual World: Second Life." IvyPanda , 24 Mar. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-world-second-life/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Virtual World: Second Life'. 24 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Virtual World: Second Life." March 24, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-world-second-life/.

1. IvyPanda . "Virtual World: Second Life." March 24, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/virtual-world-second-life/.

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How Virtual Reality Technology Has Changed Our Lives: An Overview of the Current and Potential Applications and Limitations

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No new data were created or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.

Despite virtual reality (VR) being initially marketed toward gaming, there are many potential and existing VR applications in various sectors and fields, including education, training, simulations, and even in exercise and healthcare. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of general understanding of the strengths and limitations of VR as a technology in various application domains. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to contribute to the library of literature concerning VR technology, its applications in everyday use, and some of its existing drawbacks. Key VR applications were discussed in terms of how they are currently utilized or can be utilized in the future, spanning fields such as medicine, engineering, education, and entertainment. The main benefits of VR are expressed through the text, followed by a discussion of some of the main limitations of current VR technologies and how they can be mitigated or improved. Overall, this literature review shows how virtual reality technology has the potential to be a greatly beneficial tool in a multitude of applications and a wide variety of fields. VR as a technology is still in its early stages, but more people are becoming interested in it and are optimistic about seeing what kind of changes VR can make in their everyday lives. With how rapidly modern society has adapted to personal computers and smartphones, VR has the opportunity to become the next big technological turning point that will eventually become commonplace in most households.

1. Introduction

This literature review aims to contribute to the library of literature on the applications of virtual reality (VR), how they are currently used and can be used in the future, and some of the strengths and difficulties that come with using VR.

Virtual reality (VR) refers to a computer-generated, three-dimensional virtual environment that users can interact with, typically accessed via a computer that is capable of projecting 3D information via a display, which can be isolated screens or a wearable display, e.g., a head-mounted display (HMD), along with user identification sensors [ 1 ]. VR can mainly be divided into two categories: non-immersive, and immersive [ 2 ]. Non-immersive VR utilizes a combination of screens surrounding the user to present virtual information [ 3 ]. A typical example of this is driving or flight simulations in which the user sits in a chair with multiple screens around them, giving them the feeling of being in the cockpit or driver’s seat without being fully immersed. Immersive VR refers to using a wearable display, e.g., HMD, to track a user’s movement and present the VR information based on the position of users [ 4 ], which allows them to experience 360 degrees of the virtual environment. This immersive experience is what most people think of when it comes to VR and is one of the most marketable aspects of VR technology. In between immersive and non-immersive VR, there is also augmented reality (AR). AR makes use of computer-generated imagery that is overlayed on physical elements in the real world, which can be found in many applications, such as stores providing a virtual fitting application for people to “try on” clothes. Mixed reality (XR) represents the spectrum between the physical and digital worlds, combining AR and VR to allow users to both immerse themselves in a virtual world while also being somewhat grounded in reality.

The concept of VR was first introduced in the 1960s, with Morton’s creation of the Telesphere Mask and the Sensorama [ 5 ]. The original technologies served the purpose of immersing the user in the video display around them, making them feel like they are a part of the video. The Ultimate display was an idea developed by Ivan Sutherland [ 6 ], operating on a similar concept of allowing the user to feel immersed in a computer-generated environment using multiple input and output devices [ 7 , 8 ]. Following the creation of the Sensorama and the idea of the Ultimate display in the 1960s, the next large boom in VR technology development occurred in the early 2010s. During this period of time, VR was still considered a gimmick—it was expensive and was not considered a technology that would ever become popular with the general public. This, however, started to shift in 2012, when Palmer Luckey debuted his prototype for the first Oculus [ 9 ]. In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus after seeing the interest it garnered, leading to a significant increase in the popularity of VR devices for home use. Since then, VR has grown to become more popular and accessible to the everyday consumer, with more VR headsets available on the market, such as the HTC Vive, Samsung VR, Oculus, Google Cardboard, and more.

Despite VR being initially marketed toward gaming, there are many potential and existing VR applications in various sectors and fields, including education, training, simulations, and even in exercise and healthcare. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of general understanding of the strengths and limitations of VR as a technology in various application domains. Some of the largest issues with current VR technology are hard to overcome and can span from technical to financial and health issues. Technological limitations regarding users feeling uncomfortable or ill while using a VR headset, the inaccessibility of this technology to most people due to the high price of the associated hardware, and the lack of technical standardization are all current issues that the tech industry is hoping to overcome with research and future improvements.

Overall, this literature review serves the purpose of covering how different types of VR applications can be utilized, as well as providing information on the advantages and drawbacks of using VR technology in various application domains.

In order to present a reliable literature review, an extensive search was performed using common journal search engines/websites, e.g., Google Scholar, JSTOR, MDPI, ResearchGate, PubMed, and Science Direct, which includes peer-reviewed studies and articles. Keywords and phrases used in searching for sources include a combination of “VR” or “virtual reality” with “Education”, “Simulation,” “Games”, “Virtual”, “Immersive”, “Non-immersive”, “Training”, “Application”, “Manufacturing”, “Industrial”, “Medical”, “Healthcare”, and “Entertainment”. The variety in keywords helped yield different results for VR not only as a technology but also in major use cases where it has already been utilized for different industries and fields. The gathered papers and articles were then reviewed to further select representative and up-to-date evidence.

Papers were selected with the goal of providing sufficient coverage of the topic by presenting an overarching summary rather than an exhaustive review of every type of application within VR. Having a large variety of papers does not guarantee that every particular use case of VR is covered, but it does provide a wide breadth of use cases of VR that are currently applied, as well as opportunity spaces for VR applications in the future. As shown in Figure 1 , 145 papers were initially collected, but only 77 were thoroughly reviewed to provide enough coverage without unnecessary advanced technical details. Five additional papers and articles were added after review to accommodate additional information, resulting in a total of 82 sources used for the final literature review.

General structure of the paper selection and literature review.

Included papers were those that clearly presented a specific VR application, those that showed clear negative or positive outcomes of VR usage, or papers that provided relevant background information on a specific VR technology. Exclusion criteria included disregarding papers that had an overt focus on VR hardware components, excluding studies that may have mentioned VR without it being the focus, and rejecting papers that became repetitive after utilizing other papers on similar topics. The following sections provide detailed reviews based on various VR applications and domains.

3. Reviews of VR Technology Applications

The technological applications of VR have advanced to a point where they can be applied to an extensive range of fields and industries outside of just gaming or entertainment. Many have started to take advantage of VR in performing tasks that are hard to practice due to limited resources or the inherent risks and dangers associated with said tasks that can sometimes lead to catastrophic consequences. The greatest strength of VR is that it opens up opportunities for people to practice these tasks in a safe capacity while also being immersed enough for it to feel realistic and transferable to the real world and depict almost any situation accurately [ 10 ]. This section covers some of the main categories of VR applications and provides examples of how these applications are applied or can be applied to different use cases across various fields.

One of the most widely used and largely applicable applications of VR is the simulation aspect, which can be uniquely created and customized to suit users’ needs. There are two main types of simulations: immersive and non-immersive. As mentioned above, non-immersive VR simulations usually include multiple screens and some type of platform or apparatus that mimics the activities or tasks in reality [ 3 ]. Immersive VR simulations differ in terms of using HMDs in place of screens and can either utilize a control platform or apparatus such as the ones used in non-immersive simulations [ 11 ] or can instead be fully contained within a virtual setup and require no external setups or platforms. Whether users opt for immersive or non-immersive VR simulations, there is no significant difference in the performance, and the results appear to be very similar in fulfilling the simulation’s purpose [ 12 ]. There is, however, a slight advantage to using immersive VR simulations with HMDs, as they are capable of fully immersing the user in the simulated environment and giving them a more thorough experience [ 13 ].

3.1. Industrial Simulation Applications

VR simulations have many applications that can span from training simulation to prototyping, designing, and testing tools and objects. Some commonly used VR simulations in the industrial domain include driving simulators, flight simulators for pilots, and combat simulators for military personnel, all of which provide training to users in highly dangerous circumstances without putting them at risk during the training process [ 14 ]. Among the many use cases, two typical simulation applications are further discussed in the following sections.

3.1.1. Driving Simulations

One major use of VR simulations is driving simulations for both driving training and within the automotive industry; VR provides the ability to create driving simulations in which users can be placed in risky driving scenarios without real danger [ 15 ]. Driving simulators can be useful in multiple capacities, such as observing driving behavior to collect data or training inexperienced drivers in a low-stress environment.

VR driving simulations can be used to train young or novice drivers and help them understand their mistakes or point out some bad driving habits they need to adjust. Within a simulation, drivers can be placed in a virtual vehicle within an environment resembling a cityscape, with their behaviors and actions observed and recorded to later analyze for any issues or mistakes or to see if the drivers made the correct decisions in a given scenario [ 16 ]. After conducting the simulation, drivers can be informed of their mistakes and receive feedback about how to improve their behaviors in an actual driving situation. These driving simulations can also be beneficial in training young drivers with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [ 17 ], who may otherwise have difficulties learning in an uncontrolled environment.

Another application of VR driving simulations is the ability to collect real-time data on how users react to different scenarios as drivers on the road in a simulated environment. This data can be used in multiple capacities, such as designing better safety features in a vehicle, providing a better user experience for drivers, developing training modules for drivers, and for use in autonomous vehicle (AV) research and development. AVs have been an emerging field of technology that will continue to develop and advance, with VR simulations continuously providing opportunities for safe and efficient data collection and user testing [ 18 ]. One common issue in the field is developing trust between users and autonomous vehicles and understanding how to mitigate the distrust most people have in this technology [ 19 ]. It is important to ensure users have a certain level of trust in an AV so as to ensure drivers take over when appropriate. Accordingly, putting users in a VR driving simulation in which they interact with an autonomous vehicle virtually can yield substantial amounts of data on how users behave within that environment while also ensuring that users feel safe in the process and can become accustomed to being in an AV [ 20 ].

3.1.2. Product Design and Prototyping

One application of VR that can be useful is the ability to look at 3D models in a virtual space in a way that is difficult to visualize via a screen. Prototypes or preliminary designs for products can be modeled and shown in a virtual environment for test and evaluation purposes [ 21 ]. One significant advantage of showing these models in VR is presenting a virtual prototype or part without spending a lot of time, money, effort, or material on building the prototype in real life. Through simulations, VR can also show how the product would react under different conditions. Simulations can be run in VR to show the effect of different interactions between the prototype and surrounding subjects [ 22 ]. This can help the prototype designers determine if any areas of the prototype need to be improved based on the simulated interaction results. The ability to see the product in a virtual environment can also provide the ability to make changes to VR design for a quick turnaround and faster results, which could increase the speed of prototyping, reduce prototype production waste, and increase the understanding of the functions of the prototype.

3.2. Education

Educational applications of VR have not been utilized much yet, but there are many promising examples and studies of how beneficial VR can be in an educational environment. Using VR can help increase student attention by keeping them engaged with what is happening inside the VR environment [ 23 , 24 ]. Most teenage students find it challenging to pay attention in class, especially when they feel that the discussed topics are not relevant to them. When students use exciting technologies such as VR, they are more interested and engaged with what they are learning while immersed in a virtual environment [ 25 , 26 ]. VR headsets are also useful in blocking out visual and auditory distractions, creating an opportunity for the student to focus on teaching materials better. Such VR approaches open up more opportunities for teachers to interact one-on-one with students and have more useful and beneficial teacher–student interactions [ 27 ].

VR also provides the opportunity for students to construct and practice their own knowledge by being able to engage in meaningful experiences. Students are able to immersively engage in educational activities and gain a better understanding of the topic at hand [ 28 ]. VR also has the capability of transporting students to different environments, allowing them to learn and explore various concepts safely and efficiently. This can be especially useful to demonstrate environments that are impossible to visit in reality, such as underwater or space [ 29 , 30 ].

Mixed reality can be considered an extended VR application, which can be applied to real learning environments, such as exploring laboratory experiments [ 31 ]. Students can wear an HMD that shows information and instructions about the laboratory they will experience and can interact with items in reality to recreate what is simulated to them in VR. Essentially, students are still fully aware of their surroundings while also having a better visual understanding and representation of their task, which can help reduce mistakes, allow students to be more independent, and keep students interested and engaged.

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a sudden increase in virtual learning, with many classes being held via online meeting platforms and others being fully asynchronous. VR offers a new, unique approach to asynchronous learning; VR can create a learning environment in which a student can participate in lectures and ask questions to virtual instructors with pre-generated answers [ 32 ]. It is particularly important for students to feel immersed in the virtual environment in order to keep them engaged [ 33 ]. Virtual environments can be created to look just like real-life classrooms where students can walk around and work with other students on assignments [ 34 ]. The issue with asynchronous classroom experiences is that not all of a student’s questions will necessarily be answered; information will be limited to what is currently updated within the virtual experience. Thus, VR-based virtual education does provide a better experience to students than watching videos online, but it cannot replace the experience of being in a classroom with teachers who can directly engage with students.

With VR technology further advancing, VR could also be used for live, synchronous classes where students can engage with classmates and teachers from the comfort of their homes in real time. This would have been especially beneficial when schools were closed due to the pandemic, but it can also provide a way for students to attend classes while experiencing health difficulties, traveling, or living in other countries, etc. Even though live classes have not yet really been held using VR, such applications can be developed in the future, especially with some of the current development being made in both asynchronous learning and social interaction.

3.3. Public Health

Another domain in which VR has been utilized is within public health and wellness. Due to the immersive nature of VR, it can be used to simulate experiences that can directly impact people’s health. Some examples include providing immersive training simulations to medical personnel, offering a new method of exercise or meditation, and presenting therapists with opportunities to better help and understand their patients.

3.3.1. Medical Training

VR simulations provide the opportunity for medical professionals to practice procedures before operating on a patient, which has proven to help provide patients with better outcomes more consistently and reduce the incidence of mistakes. Preparation and practice in VR help improve patient outcomes because medical personnel are better prepared for each patient’s unique circumstances before operating [ 35 , 36 ].

In terms of learning how to perform procedures, medical students can train in an interactive virtual environment that can be programmed with different scenarios, which allows a student to experience real-life scenarios with virtual patients [ 37 ]. The virtual environment can be programmed in a multitude of diverse ways so the student can be prepared and better accustomed to different types of scenarios they may face with future patients. The simulation can be programmed so that a video can be played, showing how to effectively use a tool or object when the user looks at it [ 38 ]. The simulation can also provide hints or step-by-step instructions to students so they know how to perform the surgery properly. All these practices are much more hands-on than reading a textbook and more realistic than practicing on mannequins with minimal risks to a real patient, which makes VR a perfect tool to assist student learning.

Medical students are not the only ones who can benefit from VR simulations; seasoned medical professionals and surgeons can also benefit from this technology. Patient-specific virtual reality simulations (PSVR) are a technology that allows doctors to practice actual upcoming operations in VR [ 39 ]. This technology allows surgeons to practice customized procedures to match their patients’ specific needs and circumstances. A patient’s medical history and physical attributes can be created in the simulation and programmed with the most likely outcomes. When a surgeon performs a task or action in the simulation, the appropriate or most likely reaction can be programmed to simulate what would occur in real life under the same circumstance. This provides an opportunity for surgeons to plan out their surgery beforehand in a virtual environment, allowing them to be better prepared and more confident in their plan for the surgery ahead [ 40 ].

3.3.2. Exergaming, Fitness and Sports

With the initial focus of VR being on gaming, developers saw an opportunity for the emergence of a genre of games called exergames, in which users participate in physical activities to achieve the goals of the game. “The core concept of exergaming rests on the idea of using vigorous body activity as the input for interacting with engaging digital game content with the hope of supplanting the sedentary activity that typifies traditional game interaction that relies on keyboards, gamepads, and joysticks” [ 41 ]. VR games tend to fall under the category of exergames by requiring the user to stand up and move around in order to interact with the environment. Games such as Beat Saber (Beat Games, Prague, Czech Republic) make the user move around frequently to fulfill the game’s requirements.

Using VR as a workout tool helps gamify exercise, which can greatly assist users in staying motivated and engaged by providing them with goals to achieve during their workout. A study performed by Segura-Orti on dialysis patients shows that patients that used VR exercises instead of conventional physical activities had an increased level of physical activity compared to those who worked out using conventional methods [ 42 , 43 ]. This is probably due to the more enjoyable experience of getting exercise in game form that real life has failed to achieve with exercise apps and challenges. Some current examples include the implementation of treadmills and stationary bicycles with VR applications that allow users to physically run/cycle in place while virtually traveling through a virtual environment. These types of immersive experiences can make users’ workouts more enjoyable and can help encourage those new to fitness to start exercising from home in a new and exciting fashion.

VR technology is also being utilized in sports, where it is used to train athletes to improve their skills and can help provide them with physical therapy and rehabilitation. In terms of athletic training, VR presents a great method of perceptual-cognitive skills training [ 44 ], where users are able to experience and learn from video-based playback in an immersive environment rather than on a screen. This can be especially useful in customizing training for players in large team sports, such as football, basketball, or soccer [ 45 ]. VR allows individuals to repeatedly practice skills with lower risks of harm, which helps reduce injury. When injuries do occur in the real world, VR can be used in the rehabilitation process by allowing athletes to train from anywhere and at any time, even in the absence of a trainer or facility.

3.3.3. Therapy and Meditation

Another use of VR is in mental health therapy and meditation. The immersive nature of VR provides the flexibility to create various types of environments or experiences. Accordingly, VR can be used to experience situations that are hard to come by in real life, or that can be dangerous to go through in real life. For example, for those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), VR can be a way to experience situations that can trigger traumatic events within a safe, controlled capacity. Specific scenarios can be recreated in a virtual environment, and the patient can experience them in the presence of a therapist in order to receive help dealing with their trauma [ 46 ]. This type of therapy is similar to exposure therapy, in which patients confront what triggers them in order to slowly heal from their trauma [ 47 ].

For people who have certain disorders that may be hard to explain with words, VR can be a safe way to put people in scenarios that may trigger their disorders and observe their behaviors. Allowing a therapist to observe the situation can give them a better insight into why their patient is reacting in a certain way, which will allow them to better treat their patient [ 48 ].

Another application of VR is to use the immersive nature of the technology for meditation purposes. With the ability to experience a calm virtual environment that fully blocks distractions, VR presents a unique form of meditation that may be otherwise difficult to achieve at home. Studies on the use of VR in meditation have shown a slight increase in positive effects and a state of mindfulness in users after the meditation experience [ 49 ]. One study showed that VR meditation was more successful in reducing pre-exam anxiety in college students than watching a meditation video, where 71% of those using VR reported lower anxiety levels compared to 47% of the control group [ 50 ]. VR mediation has been shown to be useful in calming healthcare workers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality plus neurofeedback (VR + NF) meditation was shown to decrease the user’s anger, tension, depression, vigor, fatigue, and confusion [ 51 ]. Navarro-Haro et al. experienced an immersive VR mediation simulation and reported an increase in mindfulness and a reduction in negative emotional stress [ 52 ]. They were also less sad and less angry after the simulation. Mediation experts acknowledge that meditation with VR can be an immensely helpful and unique experience that is not yet fully utilized, and studies such as the one discussed here show promising results for this use of VR.

3.4. Social Interaction

VR provides the ability to transport users to a virtual environment in which they can interact with other users. This provides an opportunity to create social connections that may otherwise be hard to create or maintain. Social interaction via VR can be especially helpful for those with autism, as it provides a way for them to practice their communication skills. Users are able to participate in virtual cognition training to better improve their social skills, such as emotion recognition, social attribution, and analogical reasoning [ 53 ]. There are even programs in which young adults with high-functioning autism can participate that are designed with the purpose of increasing their social skills. These programs train users to better recognize facial expressions, body language, and emotions from a person’s voice [ 54 ]. These programs have lasting effects on the users, as they gain the ability to recognize other people’s emotions within the training that they can carry forward in their lives.

Social virtual reality also provides a new way for people to connect over long distances. Virtual spaces can be created in a VR environment and allow users to interact with each other in a realistic setting; users can have realistic avatars and talk to each other as if they were face-to-face [ 55 ]. This method of communication can be as effective as talking to another person in real life as long as the users feel immersed in the environment. When the users are immersed in the virtual environment, they have a better sense of presence, and their responses are more genuine [ 56 ]. This was especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic when social distancing and travel restrictions made it much harder for people to see and speak with their loved ones [ 57 ]. Being able to attend events and experience activities with others via VR has provided a substitute for real-life interactions that is more realistic than merely speaking over the phone or via video chat [ 58 ].

3.5. Entertainment

The most prominent application of VR among the general public is within the sphere of entertainment, with VR offering new ways for users to experience several types of media in an immersive capacity.

One such form of media consumption within VR is watching movies, shows, or videos. VR offers new ways for users to experience visual media due to its ability to immerse users in a virtual world. VR displays are able to play 360° videos and allow the users to move around in the virtual environment, which provides the user with a more immersive experience and allows them to interact with the world as they see fit [ 59 ]. Users now have more control over what they want to pay attention to in a video and can experience videos in a whole new way.

Another application is virtual travel and tourism. Virtual tourism allows users to experience immersive tourism in simulated environments based on real landscapes or locations. This can make travel attainable to many people that would otherwise not be able to afford the time or money needed to physically visit faraway destinations. Examples of VR tourism include virtual museum visits, navigating areas using applications such as Google Street View, and virtual tours of popular destinations such as the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall of China. The concept of virtually visiting other countries or worlds has existed since the 90s [ 60 ], but there was a boost in interest recently due to travel constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 61 ], with more people seeking travel experiences from the confines of their homes.

Live music is another form of entertainment that seems to be gaining traction as another large application of VR. Virtual reality has the ability to change the way people experience concerts, offering users the ability to attend and enjoy concerts from anywhere in the world. Prerecorded concerts are already available as a VR experience, with videos of the concerts filmed in 360 using omnidirectional cameras, allowing users to move their heads around and feel like they are physically present at the concert [ 62 ]. This can be an opportunity for users who do not have the ability to travel or could not get tickets to still enjoy the show. This will also allow users to see parts of the concert they could not see even if they were there due to cameras either being positioned on stage or close to the stage. The livestreaming of concerts in VR is still not technologically applicable, but it seems like the music industry is aiming to make it a reality at some point in the future with further VR development. As part of the most significant applications of VR, gaming has gained huge popularity recently, with headsets becoming more accessible and game developers investing more in the VR landscape. Many users have purchased VR headsets to play popular games such as Beat Saber , Super-Hot , and Job Simulator (Menlo Park, Prague, Czech Republic), some of the top-selling VR games. Besides designated VR games, many other games that were not initially made for VR are also being developed to include this capability and expand the options gamers have concerning their in-game experience. The rise of VR gaming popularity in recent years owes to the immersive capabilities of HMDs to immerse the users in the game environment, blocking out all external distractions [ 63 ] and giving the users a better sense of presence [ 64 ]. Players can experience the game from their point of view, which allows users to experience games in a whole new way [ 65 ].

4. Limitations and Side Effects of VR

Despite VR being a powerful and versatile tool, current VR technology has some evident limitations and drawbacks. These limitations include technological limits on what VR can do, how accessible VR is to the general public, and some of the side effects of using VR devices.

4.1. Technological Limitations

As a technology still in the earlier stages of development on a grand scale, VR has made significant leaps in evolution. Still, more substantial progress must occur before VR can be fully utilized in all possible applications and purposes.

Right now, the standardization of VR technology and presentation is still limited [ 66 ]; every developer may have their own interface specifications and functionality associated with their technology, and applications are not easily transferable between devices. The only standardization that can be observed as of now tends to be with popular games that are developed to be used across different VR platforms. It is also hard to troubleshoot bugs and receive proper support for any issues due to the lack of standardization. Hopefully, with time and progress in VR development, the technology can become more streamlined and provide better usability for users and transferability between devices. There are currently efforts to standardize VR, but these efforts are new, and the process is still in its infancy [ 67 ].

Other issues include hardware and software requirements for professional VR development, as most VR development software tends to take up a lot of data space on computers and have high-power consumption [ 68 ]. VR headsets also tend to be very heavy and can cause physical strain on users, causing headaches and pain, especially around the neck and shoulders [ 69 ]. As of now, it is not yet known what kind of detrimental effects VR use will have on users’ eyesight, but it is known that it can cause strain, especially with prolonged usage [ 70 ].

Another common issue is the lag between the user’s movements and the visual display within a VR headset [ 71 ]. A lot of the time, the headset’s tracking does not keep up properly with the user’s movements, which not only decreases their immersion but can also cause dizziness or “cybersickness,” which is explained in more detail below [ 71 , 72 ].

Cybersickness

One of the crucial issues with VR usage is VR-induced motion sickness, or “cybersickness” [ 73 , 74 ]. Cybersickness is a phenomenon where users will feel symptoms similar to motion sickness (i.e., nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness) as a result of using a VR device [ 71 ]. It is not yet known exactly why this occurs, but there are a few theories to explain this phenomenon. The most likely theory is known as the “sensory conflict theory,” which states that the excessive mismatch between the motion a user perceives visually and the lack of the corresponding movement in their body causes a conflict [ 71 , 72 , 75 ]. This happens when there is a disparity between the user’s visual system and vestibular system, which is the sensory system responsible for providing the brain with information about motion, head position, and spatial orientation [ 76 ]. Another explanation for cybersickness is the “ecological hypothesis”, which states that when people are not able to perceive or react to new dynamic situations, postural instability occurs [ 77 ].

Cybersickness does not always come with virtual experiences, but the issue can be exacerbated by several factors. Some individual factors include prolonged VR exposure; the user’s predisposition to motion sickness, fatigue, or nausea; and how adapted a user is to VR applications [ 71 , 78 ]. Cybersickness symptoms also seem to be less frequent when users are sitting instead of standing. Symptoms tend to worsen when a user is experiencing a high-speed simulation or game. Being a passive participant makes users more susceptible to symptoms than when they are in control of the simulation [ 71 , 79 , 80 ].

There are also some technical factors that can increase the likelihood of cybersickness occurring. These issues include noticeable lags (delays in the visual display can cause symptoms), position tracking errors (better head tracking reduces symptoms), and flicker in the visual display [ 71 , 72 ].

Cybersickness is one of the most uncomfortable issues that comes with VR usage, and if users continue to experience these uncomfortable symptoms, this can present a huge hindrance to the widespread development and utilization of VR applications [ 72 , 77 ].

4.2. Accessibility

As VR technology evolves, it is becoming more accessible, especially compared to its earlier stages. The cost of VR headsets on the market is still higher than most people can afford, but their current pricing is on par with most gaming consoles. Headsets such as Oculus Quest 2 cost about $300 for the base model and can be fully operated without the need for a computer, making it one of the more accessible headsets on the market. Most other headsets require using a computer that is “VR-ready”, meaning a high-end computer with a powerful graphics card that can manage VR applications. VR-ready computers tend to be more expensive than most computers, making this type of VR headset more expensive overall and out of reach for most people. This makes cost one of the larger barriers for people to get into VR as regular consumers, which is a hindrance to the growth of VR as a household technology.

VR as a field also includes augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (XR), which are less immersive forms of virtual experiences where users still operate in the real world with a virtual overlay. AR and XR applications are more accessible to people due to their development for use on mobile devices, which are much more common with most people owning or having access to one. A common example of this type of application is AR games such as the popular Pokémon Go , which combines using a smartphone with a physical exploration of the real world [ 81 ] in search of “Pokémon” around them that can only be observed via their phones. Distances are tracked based on a user’s steps, and users can connect fitness apps to the game in order to increase rewards gained from crossing long distances. These types of games and applications can encourage people to be more physically active by gamifying the walking experience [ 82 ]. Similar smartphone games and applications can be a more accessible entry point for people interested in VR but who lack the funds to invest in an immersive headset and computer setup.

5. Conclusions

This literature review has shown how virtual reality technology has the potential to be a greatly beneficial tool in a multitude of applications and a wide variety of fields. Current applications span different domains such as engineering, education, medicine, and entertainment. With VR technology gaining popularity and traction, more VR applications can be further utilized in the future, both in improving current use cases as well as expanding to more domains. The hope is that with more VR technological breakthroughs and development, the current limitations and issues can be overcome, making long-term VR usage more realistic and accessible to more people.

Overall, VR as a technology is still in its early stages, but more people are becoming interested in it and are optimistic about seeing what kind of changes VR can make in their everyday lives. However, more and more application scenarios are under development by experts from different fields, which allows for more specific applications and development. With how rapidly modern society has adapted to personal computers and smartphones, VR has the opportunity to become the next big technological turning point that will eventually become commonplace in most households.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.H. and B.J. methodology, A.H. and B.J. validation, B.J.; formal analysis, A.H.; investigation, A.H.; resources, A.H.; data curation, A.H.; writing—original draft preparation, A.H.; writing—review and editing, B.J.; visualization, A.H.; supervision, B.J. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Virtual world.

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            ISSUE: "Should We Live in the Real World or a Virtual One?-.              The article is all about the thin line that now lies in between the real world and the virtual one. As the title of the article speaks for itself, it is letting the reader choose between the two - living in real world or the virtual one. The technology, nowadays, is becoming more and more sophisticated and powerful, making it a big part of our daily lives, gulping down the traditional way of living that we got used to. The fact that in this present time, our world is already generated by high fuss of modern breakthroughs is something we cannot withstand. We are already starting to live in a virtual world somehow. With this, the issue tingles, as to whether we are ready for this big event "the virtual world.              Basically, what is a virtual world? The word virtual began to denote created by computer networks, related to computers, the Internet'. A long line of new words has been coined to define new things and phenomena of the virtual world just to oppose the real reality (virtual environment, virtual game, virtual workspace, virtual office, virtual parent, virtual doctor ,virtual cash, etc.).'Cyber', 'virtual', 'digital', 'online' are opposed to real', 'physical', 'bricks-and-mortar', 'flesh-and-blood'. The real world finds its projection in the virtual world. Communication requirements and existing communication technologies (phone, fax, printmedia, TV, radio) find their counterpart in the virtual world of the Internet. In contrast to existing communication technologies in the real world people can create their individual living space in the virtual reality - the medium has become habitable. Some people doubt whether there is a distinction between the virtual and real world. (USA Today - Sept.30, 2001.).              Technology is binding the world of work and the world of home in ways that redefine what is means to be in each. Some changes are dramatic, others are subtle, but the changes are experienced in the mundane activities of everyday life.

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Essays Related to Virtual world

1. dark world of virtual reality.

Main goal of Virtual Reality is to produce a simulation so realistic and appealing that a person would have trouble differentiating between real world and virtual world. Primary strength of virtual reality is that virtual world can not only imitate real world, but also it can make virtual world more appealing. This can cause a normal person to prefer virtual world to real world; eventually, a person will deny the genuineness of real world. ... Virtual world will become a tempting substitute of real world. ... A crime committed in virtual world can go unpunished since there are no rules or laws...

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2. Virtual Reality

As technical definition of Virtual Reality, virtual realities are computer-generated worlds, which can be explored in real time. A virtual world is not like a CD or film, which plays a set pre-recorded experience. ... The computer will respond to whatever you do inside the world. ... Virtual reality models allow the user to interact with the world. ... Virtual reality is becoming widely accepted in the western world as a high technology visualized tool. ...

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3. Virtual Reality

What is Virtual Reality? Virtual reality is the computer generated simulation of a real or imagined environment or world that is graphics based or text based. ... Virtual Reality existed long before it was classified as "virtual reality" in the way that the public now perceives it. ... The virtual reality that generally comes to mind is the 3-D imaging one runs into in a flight simulator or walking inside a virtual house. ... The medical applications of virtual reality are being used world-wide from medical schools, such as East Carolina University, to many large centers that spe...

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4. Virtual Reality

Perhaps, this is mainly because of all the possibilities which virtual reality creates. ... The idea of a man and woman being in a virtual world and a man fondling the womans breasts was probably, although very much possible, not a great first impression. ... That is one of the drawbacks of virtual reality. ... This brings up another key controversy as to who should be in control of limiting this virtual world. ... Perhaps in the coming years, new technology will come out and people will learn more about this virtual world. ...

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6. Virtual Reality Technology

They spend increasing amounts of time in the virtual environment, which has a detrimental effect on their real world life" (Virtual Reality, 2009). Another issue that occurs due to the cyber-addiction is the question of how violence in a virtual reality can affect a person in their real world. Virtual Reality asks a question along the lines of, can a person experience an injury or some type of emotional distress as a direct result of an act of violence occurring in a virtual world (Virtual Reality, 2009). ... This would result in possible crime and violence, which if the user had not prev...

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To be in a world of their imagination and escape reality for a while is probably a dream of many and we might be a lot closer then we think. ... This was the first attempt at Virtual reality type device. ... With virtual reality, someone who is afraid of heights can face his or her fears gradually by using virtual reality simulators to experience them without actual danger. ... This technology will allow people to connect in the virtual world and be in the same room or a different planet altogether interacting in a social environment. ... With a virtual reality that may be something easily a...

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8. Analysis Of Rise Of The Virtual State

"Critical Analysis of The Rise of the Virtual State- The central idea in of Richard Rosecrance's book entitled, The Rise of the Virtual State, is that power is shifting once again, this time to nations whose people are most adept at summoning global financial capital and turning it into conceptual insights for sale around the world. ... In Rosecrance's view "China may become the production plant for the world, but China's industries would only attain completeness when mated to research, development, product design, marketing, and financing provided by other nations."" (171) Th...

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9. The Rise of the Virtual State

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Essay on Virtual World Boon Or Bane

Students are often asked to write an essay on Virtual World Boon Or Bane in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Virtual World Boon Or Bane

Virtual world: boon or bane.

The virtual world has become an integral part of our lives. We use it to stay connected with friends and family, learn new things, be entertained, and even work. But is the virtual world a boon or a bane?

On the one hand, the virtual world has many benefits. It can help us connect with people who live far away, learn about different cultures, and access information that would otherwise be unavailable to us. It can also be a great source of entertainment, providing us with games, movies, and music.

On the other hand, the virtual world can also have negative consequences. It can lead to addiction, isolation, and a decline in our mental and physical health. It can also be used to spread misinformation and propaganda.

Ultimately, whether the virtual world is a boon or a bane depends on how we use it. If we use it wisely, it can be a powerful tool for good. If we use it unwisely, it can be a source of harm.

250 Words Essay on Virtual World Boon Or Bane

Virtual world: a double-edged sword.

Virtual worlds have become an integral part of our lives. From online gaming to virtual reality experiences, these digital realms offer endless possibilities for entertainment, education, and social interaction. But what impact do these virtual worlds have on our lives? Are they a boon or a bane?

Benefits of Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can provide a multitude of benefits. They can offer escapism from the pressures of real life, allowing us to explore new worlds and experiences. They can also be educational, providing interactive and immersive learning environments. Additionally, virtual worlds can foster social interaction, allowing users to connect with others from around the globe, forming communities and friendships.

Drawbacks of Virtual Worlds

Despite their benefits, virtual worlds also come with potential drawbacks. Excessive use of virtual worlds can lead to addiction, affecting real-life relationships, and academic or professional performance. Additionally, the anonymity of virtual worlds can facilitate cyberbullying and other forms of online harassment. Furthermore, virtual worlds can create a false sense of reality, leading to difficulties in distinguishing between the virtual and real worlds.

Striking a Balance

While virtual worlds can offer many positive experiences, it’s crucial to strike a balance between online and offline life. Moderation is key to avoiding the negative consequences associated with excessive use of virtual worlds. Parents and educators play a significant role in guiding children and young adults to navigate the virtual world responsibly, promoting healthy online habits and fostering meaningful offline interactions.

Virtual worlds are a complex phenomenon that can have both positive and negative effects on our lives. By understanding the potential benefits and drawbacks, we can make informed choices about our engagement with these digital realms. With responsible use and moderation, virtual worlds can enhance our lives, providing entertainment, education, and social connections. However, it’s essential to remain mindful of the potential pitfalls and take steps to mitigate them.

500 Words Essay on Virtual World Boon Or Bane

A glimpse into the virtual realm.

The virtual world has emerged as a captivating domain, offering a myriad of opportunities for exploration, connection, and entertainment. It encompasses a vast array of digital environments, including online games, social media platforms, virtual reality simulations, and much more. While the virtual world holds immense potential for fostering creativity, knowledge sharing, and global interconnectedness, it also presents several challenges that must be carefully considered.

Positive Impacts of the Virtual World

The virtual world has undoubtedly brought about numerous benefits. It has enabled people from all corners of the globe to connect, communicate, and collaborate in ways that were previously unimaginable. Social media platforms, for instance, have facilitated the formation of online communities, allowing individuals with shared interests to engage in meaningful discussions and forge lasting friendships. Additionally, virtual worlds have opened up new avenues for education, with online courses and interactive simulations providing accessible and engaging learning experiences.

Negative Consequences of the Virtual World

Despite its many positive attributes, the virtual world also poses several risks. One concern is the potential for addiction. The immersive nature of virtual environments can lead to excessive use, resulting in individuals spending an inordinate amount of time neglecting their real-world responsibilities. Furthermore, the constant bombardment of information and stimuli in the virtual world can contribute to anxiety, depression, and a distorted sense of self. Social isolation is another potential pitfall, as people may find themselves withdrawing from real-world interactions in favor of virtual connections.

Navigating the virtual world responsibly requires a delicate balance. It is essential to recognize both the positive and negative aspects of this digital realm and to make informed choices about how to engage with it in a healthy and productive manner. Establishing clear boundaries, prioritizing real-world relationships, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help individuals reap the benefits of the virtual world while mitigating its potential risks.

The virtual world is an ever-evolving landscape, and its impact on society is still unfolding. While it holds immense potential for progress and innovation, it is crucial to approach this digital realm with mindfulness and discernment. By embracing the virtual world’s opportunities while acknowledging its potential pitfalls, individuals can harness its power for personal growth, connection, and positive change.

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Essay: Virtual Worlds

Past competition, competition has ended, virtual worlds.

The development of intelligent life in our universe has taken billions of years. In order to achieve human-level AI, Lab42 explores creating virtual worlds where AI can evolve much faster. Hereby, we shall not try to replicate the real world, but to create modifiable virtual environments and pose the question:

"Which properties and structures must a virtual world have to enable the successful creation of human-level artificial intelligence?"

Povilas Poderskis

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David Gamez

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Darryl Mathieson

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Interplay and Unique Characteristics

The submissions covered a wide range of issues and highlighted the importance of the environment: an agent never exists for itself but is also always part of its surroundings, and intelligent agents cannot be developed without the right environment. In addition, the relationship between agents is important - not only in regard to communication but also for transferring knowledge (culture), achieving goals that cannot be reached alone, and developing larger structures that are beneficial for the development and survival of agents.

Environments for artificial agents need to take into consideration the aspects crucial for living in a human environment. However, they also require their own specific aspects, as they differ greatly from us humans. Only by combining both considerations will we achieve the successful emergence of intelligent agents in virtual worlds.

Challenge Outline

For humankind.

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Sample Essay on Virtual Worlds and Visual Art: Second Life

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The virtual worlds otherwise known as the multiuser online platforms offer a three-dimensional spatial experiences (Wilks & Jacka, 2013). Following the introduction of computers and other internet-enabled devices, the virtual worlds offer the best opportunity for users to create a virtually personalized communication environment that facilitate multimodal communications and real-time interactions. Such communications are facilitated by the social media; an online platform that has continuously grown to offer affordances for verbal and non-verbal communications characterized by socio-technical interactions. This means that online communication , socialization and corporation for various functions have become common experiences among online visitors and creators of spatial avatars (Gao, 2009). Based on the experiences of online visitors and creators, the need to make internet a more interactive social site arises, hence the streams of technological innovations.

According to the San Francisco Linden Lab, the social semiotic analysis of virtual art can be presented on collaborative designs and practices of virtual worlds known as the Second Life (Wilks & Jacka, 2013). Second Life according to San Francisco Linden Lab is a community-authored virtual worlds developed on interactive places by residents. The SL allows users to navigate and interact with other internet users, communicate through texts or voice chats, hold conferences, create social groups and also generate new digital contents that can be used to co-create a virtual world topology (Wilks & Jacka, 2013).

In relation to virtual art, the SL navigator provides users with the relatively complex 3D modelling tool and techniques. The 3D modelling tool is a specialized programing language that enhances creation of contents for different marketplaces so that the creators can share and sell productions such as personal collections like artefacts, and textured scripts (Wilks & Jacka, 2013).

The Second Life and the implication of media describe the extent to which the virtual world can be constructed as a network of socially interconnected virtual places (Peña, McGlone & Sanchez, 2012). In other words, virtual world links to virtual arts in the sense that the use of virtual world and media as a collaboration is critical towards designing an environment built on virtual places and artefacts (Peña, McGlone & Sanchez, 2012). The link between virtual worlds and virtual arts can be studied as a user generated transformation from one innovation space to another and social semiotic construction with the results of the design approach presented as multimodal sign systems. In the context of virtual arts, the virtual worlds can be categorized as places which have the capacity to accommodate the functional and semiotic dimensions including the experiential view of worlds and space or place in itself (Peña, McGlone & Sanchez, 2012).

Virtual words is identified as a collaborative design environment since as already mentioned, it provides the design tools and platforms that enhances co-creation of 3D models from available software (Peña, McGlone & Sanchez, 2012). This illustrates the extent to which designers can transform ideas into new creations like pictures, paintings and writings without any form of restriction with an inclusion of visual metaphors to guide designers and make them feel comfortable in a fast-growing environment.

In general, the introduction of computers and computer-related services has transformed social roles in real time. This means that the design process is variedly shaped by social relations, power dynamics and patterns of decision-making based on the information obtained from the media.

Gao, N. Koehler. 2009. Comparing role-playing activities in second life and face-to-face environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research , 20 (4), 422-443.

Peña, J., McGlone, M. S., & Sanchez, J. 2012. The cowl makes the monk: How avatar appearance and role labels affect cognition in virtual worlds. Journal for Virtual Worlds Research , 5 (3).

Wilks, J. L., & Jacka, L. 2013. Second Life, First Experiences: Using Virtual Worlds in Teacher Education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education , 38 (4), n4.

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