VIRTUAL REALITY

VR is simply a digital escapist fantasy that allows users to be whoever they want and do whatever they want away from the restrictions of the real world.
VR impacts the way we behave or interact in the real world and has consequences in the virtual as well as the physical world.

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL REALITY

• Memory Retention
The memory retention of subjects after a VR experience tends to be higher than after viewing video or text-based learning materials.

• Controlled Exposure to Emotional, Stressful Situations
Research shows that VR can be used to treat phobia disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. During a VR experience, patients can be repeatedly exposed to a stressful stimulus in safe conditions. Over time, this sort of experience reduces the stress or fear response to that stimulus.

• Isolation From phone
The more engagement and interactivity users experience, the less they are to feel the urge to check their phones.

• Training
VR provides many of the same benefits of training in a physical environment but without the accompanying safety risks.
Healthcare, military, police, and so on should find ways to use VR for training.

• Conferencing
VR has the potential to bring workers together in digital meetings and conferences. There will be real-time event coverage, with the rise of the freelancer economy; virtual meetings may become the norm rather than the exception.

• Convenience
VR can save organizations’ time and money and make work more convenient. Workers won’t have to travel in order to make decisions and complete projects. For example, architects from across the globe can use virtual reality to evaluate designs.

The Hidden Danger of Virtual Worlds

Virtual reality long-term effects on either the body or the mind are still unknown.
The consumption of violent, frightening, and sexually explicit content depends on the end user’s moral code.

• Porn
Pornographic content outside of virtual reality has already been found to have brain damaging effects. With immersive technology as VR, one could only imagine how much more damaging that could prove.

• Injuries
Fatigue, paranoia, depression, schizophrenia, psychotic episodes, extreme sleepiness, sensory distortions, changes in respiration.

• Loss of Spatial Awareness
After being exposed to more than 30 minutes of VR, lots of people tend to forget about their surroundings including little objects that might cause them to fall over.

• Getting Pranked
VR is a great way to leave you open to pranks from roommates, family members, and so-called friends.

• Nausea
“Cybersickness” is supposedly super common with this technology.
With digital motion sickness, you see movement, (turns and twists) that you do not feel actually. These result with sensory conflict that can make you feel nauseous.

• Seizures
If you are prone to seizures then you should probably just stay away because the technology may invoke a response.

• Eye Soreness
Just as watching too much television or staring at a computer screen, short-term eye strain is normal in VR.

PREVENTION
AR/VR devices should have sensors that monitor brain wave activity, heart rate, and blood cortisol levels.

Sources: Td.org, livetiles, medium, technorms, Cheatsheet, resourcemagonline, entrepreneur.