Amarbir Singh

English 113B
Prof. Santosh Khadka
February 25, 2016
The Future of the Virtual Reality- Virtual World
Virtual reality is a new advanced field of entertainment and gaming, also known as VR.
Bhavana Gupta writes in his article the Virtual Reality is an artificial environment that looks like
real, provided to the user by modern computer software and hardware. To enter in the Virtual
Reality environment, we need a VR headset, which is available from many leading Tech
Companies. While in Virtual World, at least, 3 of the five senses of the user are controlled and
monitored by computer hardware and software. The VR was developed for gaming initially, but
advancements in the field are making us realize that VR can affect many other fields including
medical, education, entertainment, construction, designing, and travel. But this technology is not
available to everyone because of limitations of the internet, so if all the big tech companies help
provide this technology to everyone, then it can surely have a significant effect on changing the
world.
Most of the big companies in the technology sector including Google, Samsung,
Facebook, HTC and Microsoft are concentrating on the future of the VR, but it is still hard to say
that the VR technology will take over or not. VR technology is among us for a while now but it
is has not been successful in attracting the consumers yet. Marco Chiappetta, a technology expert
describes some of the shortcomings of VR in an article in Forbes magazine. According to him,
the VR is uncomfortable, its expensive and needs a lot of empty space. But if we talk about a

cellphone, it was also uncomfortable and expensive in the beginning but it has changed to a state
that people are happy with. So if the VR technology will keep developing with time, at one place
we will get used to it like a cellphone.
The Virtual reality was developed as a tool to revolutionize the gaming world, but it was
not widely accepted for that. According to Don Reisinger, writer of the online magazine
SlashGear, he describers that
virtual reality is still so far from
being the future of the gaming. He
describes that many gaming
companies have tried to sell VR
products including Nintendo, but
they ended up in failing because
people didnt think VR is better

Figure 1 President Obama Testing Google Cardboard

than the traditional system of the gaming. According to Don, the same will eventually happen to
Oculus, HTC, Google and Microsofts products, which are pushing VR toward gamers. But the
first thing about new VR tech is that it is so much better than the old products and it is so much
more developed. People are loving the idea of VR not being only used in gaming, but in other
fields too. If the VR is available to everyone, even if they like gaming or not, there is so much
better chances of it reaching the wider population and being a successful product than its parents
products.
The future of the VR is depicted in different ways by different companies. The Sony is
saying it will revolutionize the idea of gaming and the Oculus is saying it will change the way we
watch the videos. But from all other ideas, I liked most the idea of the Microsofts HoloLense. It

is a device that can be used in many different ways other than the gaming, especially in making
the 3D environment. They are depicting the use of VR in design, engineering, tourism and in the
education too. Microsoft is trying to blend the digital world into the real world by its HoloLense
project. We can be present at some another places and we can collaborate with people present
somewhere else with the help of the HoloLense. If this idea turns into reality, then it will be a
game changer.
If we want to talk about the uses of the VR in real life other than gaming, then there are
two main uses in medicine and education. There are a lot of uses of VR in the medication. Some
of the main uses of the VR in medication are exposer therapy, pain management, surgical
training and meditation. It is very useful in the training in medication, because it will provide a
very real looking practical training, and is safer than training on real Human beings. The virtual
reality is already being used in the field of Robotic Surgery, which is also very successful.

The uses of VR in the education and training are very wide. There is a lot of stuff in
physics, geometry and biology which is hard to imagine or to show on a paper, so if we have
some kind of real life 3D example
then it is easier to learn the stuff. In
the design industry, we can make a
model by the help of VR and save a
lot of time and energy. It is also used
in the military training. Rather than
training with dangerous weapons, it
is better to have training with the
machines and have the experience

Figure 2 Students learning complex stuff with help

of VR

like real world. A virtual classroom is a new concept which is similar to the videochatting but it
is more like being physically present in the class and you can look 360 degrees around.
Lawrence Rosenblum describes in his article what can be the future of the VR in next two
decades. According to him, for a good VR technology, we need good computers which is already
available. He says that the future VR headsets will even be smaller and easier to use than the
currently available and even available for cheaper than now. The future VR devices will need
less hardware and it will feel more natural with the help of more sensors tracking the human
body, including force and smell sensors. Now, we need a computer or a cellphone to VR, but in
the future, a VR device will be a computer in itself. Augmented reality will be used for such
applications as maintenance, design, medicine, entertainment, education, tourism (and for some
not anticipated today) (Rosenblum L). The advanced internet technology will also help to make
VR available anywhere in the world.

Even though VR is rising with a very high speed and it is on a new height, we are not in a
virtual world yet. This technology is limited to some specific parts of the world. If we want this
technology to be available for a wider audience, the government and tech leading companies
both have to collaborate. If we can overcome all the obstacles and everything works the way
Rosenblum is thinking, then the future of the VR is not so far.

Work Cited

Gupta, Bhavana. "Virtual Reality." COMPUSOFT : International Journal of Advanced

Computer Technology, 1.1 (2012): 13-17.

Rosenblum, Lawrence. "Virtual and Augmented Reality 2020." IEEE Computer Graphics

and Applications [H.W. Wilson - AST], 20.1 (2000): 38.

Reede, Elizabeth. Bailiff Larissa. When Virtual Reality Meets Education. TechCrunch.

23 Jan 2016. Web. 22 Feb 2016.

Carson, Erin. 10 ways virtual reality is revolutionizing medicine and healthcare. Tech

Republic. 8 April 2015. Web. 22 Feb 2016.

Chippetta, Marco. What's Hot And What's Not In Virtual Reality. Forbes. 31 Jan 2016.

Web. 23 Feb 2016.

Reisinger, Don. Why I refuse to believe VR is the future of gaming. SlashGear. 8 Mar
2015. Web. 23 Feb 2016.