Virtual Reality, or VR, has long been a pipe dream of scientists and futurists since the creation of the ‘moving picture’ or video. Many visions of the future included predictions of mobile phones, flying machines and as of 2017, convincing Virtual Reality systems.

Early attempts at virtual reality were created partly as scientific curiosity, but also for practical military uses: flight simulators were used to train military pilots long before they became mass-market products, using feedback mechanisms that showcased the effects of flight without risking the destruction of a real plane or death of the pilot, as well as simulating combat exercises. The Tech for virtual reality blossomed in the early 80s, allowing for a fully-enclosed simulacrum of an aircraft cockpit and a computer-simulated outside view.

Consumer versions of VR were extremely lacking. The video game industry saw potential for VR all the way back to the 90s, but their efforts were lacklustre: the infamous Virtual Boy, designed by Nintendo, was only able to render its software in red & black, and many of its games were traditional 2D offerings you could find on any games console of the period, taking no advantage of the Virtual Boy’s hardware beyond a shallow ‘2.5D’ effect. Couple that with an uncomfortable and heavy headset, and VR was discredited among gamers until better technology could be developed.

Come 2012, and technology has improved by leaps and bounds. A crowdfunded device known as the Oculus Rift begins development, with development kits sent out to tech publications and those who made a significant contribution to the funding. The Rift presented a massive breakthrough in consumer-focused VR tech, not only working with contemporary games and VR software but also seeing the first games designed solely around VR.

Compared to the 3DTV fad, VR presents way more impressive effects, alongside new challenges and possibilities that will be explored in the future. VR has the capability to change our lives: virtual tourism will soon become a popular way to ‘visit’ far-flung countries without the expense and hassle of travel, VR games and interactive media will provide new levels of immersion and tactile feedback that used to be impossible, and VR will, if Mark Zuckerberg is to be believed, become a new tool to enhance the user’s experience of social media.

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