Virtual reality is set to enter your home with a computer-generated environment that lets you experience a different reality. V.R. headset fit around your head and over your eyes, and visually separates you from whatever space you’re physically occupying. Images are fed to your eyes from two small lenses.

Through V.R. you can virtually sit and gaze at the Taj Mahal, tour Bangkok bars, experience a movie as if you are part of it, and immerse yourself in a video game without leaving your chair.

If it seems like you’ve been hearing about virtual reality (V.R.) a lot lately, it’s not your imagination; 2016 has been a pivotal year for “New Reality” or “Plurality” technologies, also including augmented reality (A.R.) and mixed reality (M.R.).

A staggering $1.2 billion flowed into the industry in the first quarter of 2016 alone, millions of H.M.D.s (head-mounted displays) such as H.T.C. Vive, Oculus Rift, and Samsung Gear have entered households (with P.S.V.R. poised for infiltration in mere weeks), and of course, Pokémon GO ran into the city square and changed mobile gaming forever.

The Investment world is watching with eager anticipation, and expect the same kind of hysteria not seen since the I Pod launch, and an unprecedented wave of creativity has been happening in this arena for the three years where many have fixated on developing and discussing the wealth of amazing new tech.

Here are a few of the ways V.R. will be change our lives in the very near future:

Entertainment

Movies made by Hollywood to live-streamed concerts and theatrical experiences through V.R., have become the new way to view videos. New cameras are being created to capture the stories in V.R., with tools to upload live stream films growing in number. Expect these experiences to not even seem like films at all but like actually being there.

Artistry & design

Architects could soon be building a real home with virtual tools, or engineers designing parts for new cars as if it already existed in the real world. Imagine painting a 3D masterpiece with friends around the globe in real time. Apps and wand-like controllers are already making V.R. an amazing playground. Such tools will become indispensable for a new generation of 3D design.

Gaming

V.R. was original borne of the gaming industry; V.R. will give game designers the freedom to take games to incredible new realities. The gaming modules are now so realistic where people can touch and almost feel others in the game that it is ringing alarm bells with health campaigners, however the games makers insist that their games can actually get people out of the chairs and use their bodies.

Education & simulation

The areas of; medicine, chemistry, physics, astronomy are looking to grow fast using V.R., giving teachers and educators a new way to immerse students into a world where even the most boring text can be explained in real world circumstances. Students could take a class trip to ancient Pompeii; Medical students can try complex surgery without any risks: V.R. simulations can give hours of practice at techniques, designs and ideas.

Tourism & exploration

Virtual tourism is the next best thing to the real experience. You could visit exotic places you have only ever dreamed of without the jet lag; you could walk on the Moon, or give poorer students and the third world more Geo-political experience by visiting Moscow or Washington from the school desks.

One day, you may be able to explore your own memories as well — imagine recording your son walking for the first time with a 360-degree camera, then looking around to see what your spouse’s face in that moment, twenty years later.

Psychology & meditation

V.R. has many applications in alternative medicines a place for you to relax and think and develop meditation skills. Or it can be a place to help rid one’s self of phobias like; flying, or spiders in a protective simulation. Virtual worlds can be labs to explore human behavior. Studies have shown that V.R. is so distracting, it can be an effective painkiller compared with traditional medicine.

Real estate & shopping

Real Estate agents will soon be able to take a potential buyer into a new home from miles away, walking right through the property as if you were there. You could even place life-size models of your own furniture into that house, to see if they fit and colours match.

The online shopping and E commerce industries are salivating at the idea of virtual dressing rooms and spinning around in the mirror actually wearing the clothes without even stepping out of the office.

The Deli however is millennia away from getting you to taste their specials of the day through VR!

Social & Tele-presence

Virtual Lunches are already something many Asian teenagers are dreaming about, for most of us grown men who, in this present social media age, sadly have to sit and wait whilst wifey takes a photo of dinner before we are allowed to eat, soon; in the virtual world your friends will be able to sit next to you and watch as you eat, quite sad really!

Yet V.R. can expand our relationships and minimize distance by taking people with you when you go on trips, if your family could experience and  see what you seeing in real time whilst you are, say; at the Grand canyon, it could mean a whole new world opening.

To find out more about investing in V.R. and streaming entertainment technology that will without doubt change the world we live in for the better, click here:

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