User:Joseita Tesolin/Virtual reality

Applications

Main article: Applications of virtual reality

Virtual reality is most commonly used in entertainment applications such as video games, 3D cinema, and social virtual worlds. Consumer virtual reality headsets were first released by video game companies in the early-mid 1990s. Beginning in the 2010s, next-generation commercial tethered headsets were released by Oculus (Rift), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR), setting off a new wave of application development. 3D cinema has been used for sporting events, pornography, music videos and short films. Since 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have incorporated virtual reality to match visual effects with haptic feedback. There are a wide range of applications for this technology, which include but are limited to, therapy and rehabilitation, various workplaces, fine art, business and marketing, and a wide range of fields in education.

Therapy and Rehabilitation

In social sciences and psychology, virtual reality offers a cost-effective tool to study and replicate interactions in a controlled environment. It can be used as a form of therapeutic intervention. For instance, there is the case of the virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), a form of exposure therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias.

Virtual reality programs are being used in the rehabilitation processes with elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This gives these elderly patients the opportunity to simulate real experiences that they would not otherwise be able to experience due to their current state. 17 recent studies with randomized controlled trials have shown that virtual reality applications are effective in treating cognitive deficits with neurological diagnoses. Loss of mobility in elderly patients can lead to a sense of loneliness and depression. Virtual reality is able to assist in making aging in place a lifeline to an outside world that they cannot easily navigate. Virtual reality allows exposure therapy to take place in a safe environment.

In medicine, simulated VR surgical environments were first developed in the 1990s. Under the supervision of experts, VR can provide effective and repeatable training at a low cost, allowing trainees to recognize and amend errors as they occur.

Virtual reality has been used in physical rehabilitation since the 2000s. Despite numerous studies conducted, good quality evidence of its efficacy compared to other rehabilitation methods without sophisticated and expensive equipment is lacking for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. A 2018 review on the effectiveness of mirror therapy by virtual reality and robotics for any type of pathology concluded in a similar way. Another study was conducted that showed the potential for VR to promote mimicry and revealed the difference between neurotypical and autism spectrum disorder individuals in their response to a two-dimensional avatar.

Immersive virtual reality technology with myoelectric and motion tracking control may represent a possible therapy option for treatment-resistant phantom limb pain. Pain scale measurements were taken into account and an interactive 3-D kitchen environment was developed bases on the principles of mirror therapy to allow for control of virtual hands while wearing a motion-tracked VR headset. A systematic search in Pubmed and Embase was performed to determine results that were pooled in two meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed a significant result in favor of VRT for balance.

Workplace Applications

In the fast-paced and globalised business world meetings in VR are used to create an environment in which interactions with other people (e.g. colleagues, customers, partners) can feel more natural than a phone call or video chat. In the customisable meeting rooms all parties can join using the VR headset and interact as if they are in the same physical room. Presentations, videos or 3D models (of e.g. products or prototypes) can be uploaded and interacted with.

U.S. Navy medic demonstrating a VR parachute simulator at the Naval Survival Training Institute in 2010

VR can simulate real workspaces for workplace occupational safety and health purposes, educational purposes, and training purposes. It can be used to provide learners with a virtual environment where they can develop their skills without the real-world consequences of failing. It has been used and studied in primary education, anatomy teaching, military, astronaut training, flight simulators, miner training, architectural design, driver training and bridge inspection. Immersive VR engineering systems enable engineers to see virtual prototypes prior to the availability of any physical prototypes. Supplementing training with virtual training environments has been claimed to offer avenues of realism in military and healthcare training while minimizing cost. It also has been claimed to reduce military training costs by minimizing the amounts of ammunition expended during training periods. VR can also be used for the healthcare training and education for medical practitioners.

Fine Art

The first fine art virtual world was created in the 1970s. As the technology developed, more artistic programs were produced throughout the 1990s, including feature films. When commercially available technology became more widespread, VR festivals began to emerge in the mid-2010s. The first uses of VR in museum settings began in the 1990s, seeing a significant increase in the mid-2010s. Additionally, museums have begun making some of their content virtual reality accessible.

Business and Marketing

Virtual reality's growing market presents an opportunity and an alternative channel for digital marketing. It is also seen as a new platform for e-commerce, particularly in the bid to challenge traditional "brick and mortar" retailers. However, a 2018 study revealed that the majority of goods are still purchased in physical stores.

Education

When VR technology is applied to education and instruction, it has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning processes. VR simulation gives a participant the chance to try out different options without the dangers, expenses, or time consumption the ‘real thing’ might involve. In the case of education, the uses of virtual reality have demonstrated being capable of promoting higher order thinking, promoting the interest and commitment of students, the acquisition of knowledge, promoting mental habits and understandings that are generally useful within an academic context. Researchers have found that users are generally more motivated to participat in a virtual environment, which can be instantly adjusted based on the level of challenge and differing cognitive abilities. VR technology has been progressively implemented in almost all fields of education including science and technology, computer science and engineering, health sciences, psychology and surgical education, anatomy, military, aerospace, the humanities, as well as music and design. Through a study involving 50 experts in VR education from all over the world, researchers found that there is a hope that VR will change the structure of the classroom, the curriculum, and student's learning styes of students. Moreover, they acknowledge the potential for VR to help students to cope with various learning disabilities.

A case has also been made for including virtual reality technology in the context of public libraries. This would give library users access to cutting-edge technology and unique educational experiences. This could include giving users access to virtual, interactive copies of rare texts and artifacts and to tours of famous landmarks and archeological digs (as in the case of the Virtual Ganjali Khan Project).

Engineering Education

In the engineering field, VR applications are becoming increasingly common. The applications of this technology span across a variety of domains including chemical engineering, electrical engineering, construction, and safety using the features of VR technology such as interactivity, visualization, and 3D modelling. The focus on student-centered learning has proven to be a very useful tool in educating future engineers as it facilitates problem-solving and active learning. The most significant element lies in the ability for the students to be able to interact with 3-D models that accurately respond based on real world possibilities. This added tool of education provides many the immersion needed to grasp complex topics and be able to apply them. One example of this type of technology applied to engineering eduction is the prototype called the Virtual Electric Manual (VEMA) developed by AlAwadhi, et al. This prototype allowed students to safely practice Electrical Circuit Theory so that any mistakes made could not harm the students or the facility. Moreover, Guerrero-Mosquera, et al. developed a virtual engineering lab that allowed students to grasp the fundamentals of earthquake engineering. The benefits of VR technology in engineering education have been found to extend beyond students and teachers to universities and institutions as a whole in terms of reduced liabilities, need for specific infrastructures, as well as laboratory costs. Researchers have also established the benefits for students with learning disabilities, and access for students who cannot physically attend lab classes and are therefore participating in distance education using their own VR headset at home.

As noted, future architects and engineers benefit greatly by being able to form understandings of spatial relationships and providing solutions based on real-world future applications.

Physical Education and Sports

File:VRgymclassSK.png

A school in South Korea has implemented VR technology into their gym classes.

The research on the application of VR technology to physical education and sports education in schools suggests that it has many potential benefits. For instance, improving student motivation, curiosity, skillsets, and abstract thinking, prolonging time spent on physical exercise, reducing risk of danger or injury, all while breaking traditional classroom limits in term of access to sports equipment, venues, and safety information. Researchers have also found that students concentration during physical education classes increased, and most students prefer using VR technology in their sports and physical education classes over solely a traditional classroom model. The environments and experiences that schools are able to provide students are limited to the classroom setting. However, with the use of VR technology students who go to school in a city can have unique experience such as a skiing expedition. Students can also practice a skill multiple times, and interact in a VR game in which their technical abilities are assessed. Although the potential for this technology and its application to physical education is great, it is still in its infancy.

Anatomy Education

Teaching anatomy using 3D images boasts great potential for learning. The use of the application VR4Health was studied between December 2018 and February 2019 among a group of nursing students at the Campus Docent Sant Joan de Deu in Barcelona. The application is aimed at allowing students to interact with anatomical structures, while also allowing their teachers to provide them with feedback on their learning through the application. The images are labeled and scalable, and you are also able to slice through the different organs in order to see what's inside. In terms of the mechanisms to involve teachers in the learning, the application registers the following information about each student's activity: what structures the student inspected, how long the student dedicated to each structure and how many times each label into each structure has been required. This way, teachers are able to see where the students needs extra help or guidance. The study found that both teachers and students benefited greatly from both the VR technology and the feedback.

Surgical Education

A surgical student uses VR technology to see into the human knee cap.

The use of VR in surgical education has been in development since the 1990s. Since then, many VR simulations and tools programmed for medical and surgical procedures have been developed. Some examples include the VR2 simulator which is an immersive surgical simulator that has the capacity to generate an interactive VR environment within a virtual operating room.This application can simulate real-world distractions such as phones ringing, pagers beeping, other conversations, and people walking by. It can also simulate more complex scenarios such as fogging of the camera, tool malfunction, and patient physiological instability." Another surgical Vr simulator is The Virtual Electrosurgery Skill Trainer (VEST) which teaches the principles of electrosurgery. This technology uses a 3D immersive display from Zspace and a tissue pad with infrared tracked stylus. The users use this device to learn about the information and techniques used for cutting, coagulation, and fulguration.

In November 2013, a group of engineers, surgeons and educators possessing extensive experience in the application of VR to surgical education convened at a conference called “Innovation, Design, and Emerging Alliances in Surgery” or IDEAS in order to conduct a review and outline the challenges with VR surgical education technology to date. They found many benefits with the use of VR in surgical education, namely for "student, resident and practicing surgeon training in decision making, technical skills, team training and patient safety." For instance, more students would have access as it is a system that is not confined to a physical space. The initial start-up cost is high, but it is also reusable. Moreover, fewer animals would have to be sacrificed for education. There are however, some challenges that must be addressed such as ensuring that the simulations correspond to the curriculum in a given institution, and creating simulations that adapt to the user's inputs.