Virtual reality technology (VR) is still in its infancy. And as it develops, it finds application not only in the game industry, but also in many areas, ranging from industry to marketing and medicine.
Here are the top 7 unusual uses of virtual reality.
7. Virtual crime scenes
Scientists from Staffordshire University conceived an unusual "criminal" project. It uses green screens, the latest virtual reality headsets and technology borrowed from games.
Researchers are experimenting with a variety of technologies: from laser scanning to unmanned aerial vehicles. The goal is to let the lawyer and the jury “walk” to the scene of the crime, where everything looks incredibly real.
6. Marketing
Advertisements are becoming more ubiquitous and intrusive thanks to the Internet. Most consumer-oriented marketing-related apps aim to eliminate these ads. But what if virtual reality makes advertising interesting and even desirable for users? For example, the auto giants BMW and Volvo have commissioned virtual test drives and races, and this is just the tip of the marketing “virtual” iceberg.
5. Entertainment
At the end of 2015, several Canadian theme parks began experimenting with virtual rides. They used a smartphone-compatible headset that displays scenes synchronized with various attractions.
Such retrofitting allow players to participate in the game "Independence Day", reflecting the attack of aliens and accompany Superman while fending off an attack on Metropolis Lex Luthor.
4. Medical operating simulators
Using NeuroTouch Cranio, a brain surgery simulator, will help inexperienced surgeons learn from their mistakes without any consequences for the patient’s health.
NeuroTouch Cranio can analyze the performance of his user, give recommendations on how to improve it, and even assess whether the user has the necessary skills to be a neurosurgeon.
And in the simulator there is the Kobayashi Maru mode, named after the test from Star Trek. He is needed to evaluate the student’s reaction to the scenario in which the patient always dies.
3. Treatment of phobias
A popular “anti-phobic” method of therapy is to expose the patient to the effects of fear, so to speak, in a dosed manner. Until the patient, under the strict guidance of a psychotherapist, takes control of him. And phobia therapy in a virtual environment significantly reduces such negative effects of the method as stress and anxiety.
The University of West Virginia at Charleston offers BP programs that allow patients to confront a wide range of fears: from public speaking (where a virtual crowd begins to throw things at the patient) to fear of heights.
2. Helping the paralyzed
The second place in the ranking of the amazing possibilities of virtual reality is occupied by the amazing technology created by the neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis and his team from Duke University. They use exoskeletons and a VR headset to allow paralyzed people to walk.
Experimenters placed the subjects in a virtual environment in which they can move with a manual control. Physical movement also occurs due to the exoskeleton.
After a year of therapy, in half of the patients, their health improved so much that their diagnoses were officially changed from “complete” paralysis to “partial”.
1. Police training
The police and military simulators are nothing new. However, the system, called the VirTra 300, has become fashionable among hundreds of police agencies in the United States.
The system offers users unique virtual situations that can end in different ways. Each situation has many scenario branches, which trainers manipulate in real time. The goal is to guide trainees in the direction of conflict de-escalation methods and to teach to use force as the last argument.
