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Cited by 1,993Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsSimulation and Modeling ApplicationsAdvanced Optical Imaging Technologies

Enhancing Our Lives with Immersive Virtual Reality

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Slater, Mel, Sanchez-Vives, Maria V.·2016·Frontiers in Robotics and AI
DOI 10.3389/frobt.2016.00074
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Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) started about 50 years ago in a form we would recognize today [stereo head-mounted display (HMD), head tracking, computer graphics generated images] – although the hardware was completely different. In the 1980s and 1990s, VR emerged again based on a different generation of hardware (e.g., CRT displays rather than vector refresh, electromagnetic tracking instead of mechanical). This reached the attention of the public, and VR was hailed by many engineers, scientists, celebrities, and business people as the beginning of a new era, when VR would soon change the world for the better. Then, VR disappeared from public view and was rumored to be “dead.” In the intervening 25 years a huge amount of research has nevertheless been carried out across a vast range of applications – from medicine to business, from psychotherapy to industry, from sports to travel. Scientists, engineers, and people working in industry carried on with their research and applications using and exploring different forms of VR, not knowing that actually the topic had already passed away. \n \nThe purpose of this article is to survey a range of VR applications where there is some evidence for, or at least debate about, its utility, mainly based on publications in peer-reviewed journals. Of course not every type of application has been covered, nor every scientific paper (about 186,000 papers in Google Scholar): in particular, in this review we have not covered applications in psychological or medical rehabilitation. The objective is that the reader becomes aware of what has been accomplished in VR, where the evidence is weaker or stronger, and what can be done. We start in Section 1 with an outline of what VR is and the major conceptual framework used to understand what happens when people experience it – the concept of “presence.” In Section 2, we review some areas where VR has been used in science – mostly psychology and neuroscience, the area of scientific visualization, and some remarks about its use in education and surgical training. In Section 3, we discuss how VR has been used in sports and exercise. In Section 4, we survey applications in social psychology and related areas – how VR has been used to throw light on some social phenomena, and how it can be used to tackle experimentally areas that cannot be studied experimentally in real life. We conclude with how it has been used in the preservation of and access to cultural heritage. In Section 5, we present the domain of moral behavior, including an example of how it might be used to train professionals such as medical doctors when confronting serious dilemmas with patients. In Section 6, we consider how VR has been and might be used in various aspects of travel, collaboration, and industry. In Section 7, we consider mainly the use of VR in news presentation and also discuss different types of VR. In the concluding Section 8, we briefly consider new ideas that have recently emerged – an impossible task since during the short time we have written this page even newer ideas have emerged! And, we conclude with some general considerations and speculations. \n \nThroughout and wherever possible we have stressed novel applications and approaches and how the real power of VR is not necessarily to produce a faithful reproduction of “reality” but rather that it offers the possibility to step outside of the normal bounds of reality and realize goals in a totally new and unexpected way. We hope that our article will provoke readers to think as paradigm changers, and advance VR to realize different worlds that might have a positive impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide, and maybe even help a little in saving the planet.

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  • Equipment such as handheld controllers affords participants features such as illusionary agency over the avatar they embody in the virtual environment.

    “Parallels between this finding and previous research exploring the applications and implications of IVR can be made, with equipment such as handheld controllers affording participants features such as illusionary agency over the avatar they embody in the virtual environment [5].”

    From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [5]

    Section 2.1.1, “The Virtual Body” (page unavailable), reports illusory agency over speech by an embodied virtual body after participants saw it move synchronously with their movements. It does not attribute that agency to handheld controllers; the equipment described for tracking movement is a data glove or motion capture. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Slater, M., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V.
Affiliations
Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
Corresponding author
Slater, Mel
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2016-12-19
Volume
3
ISSN
2296-9144 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/frobt.2016.00074
OpenAlex
W2562199918
Cited by
1,993
References
340
Citations by year
2026: 393 · 2025: 361 · 2024: 256 · 2023: 233 · 2022: 212 · 2021: 192 · 2020: 155 · 2019: 110 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 1
FWCI
99.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Robotics and AI (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Simulation and Modeling Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › Advanced Optical Imaging Technologies
Keywords
virtual reality, immersive virtual reality, presence, virtual reality applications, scientific visualization, surgical training, sport and exercise, social psychology, cultural heritage preservation, moral behavior, medical ethics education, virtual reality therapy, virtual reality in education

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