VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual reality-the very name conjures up fantastic visions of computer technology providing the ultimate out-of-body experience. What is VR? And what can we learn from studying the history of its development and the development of its early and present-day applications? The history of modern VR is the history of the technology that makes it possible-the computer, the head-mounted display, and the data glove. It is also the history of the people and organizations that developed the technology, hardware and software, and applications for that technology. And finally, the history of VR is a history of the social use of VR technology for entertainment, education, military, and commercial purposes.
Defining VR
Defining VR is an important first step in presenting a brief history of its development. It may also prove to be the most difficult since the combination of the two terms is itself oxymoronic.

The phrase "virtual reality" is widely credited to Jaron Lanier who coined it in 1989 to describe the experience made possible by the use of the latest generation of goggles, gloves and related technologies.
The role of perception in defining reality raises interesting issues of psychological, sociological, philosophical, and cognitive origins.
In this postmodern age the concept of the real continues to have philosophical and practical significance for those who are engaged in the creation of artificial or virtual representations of reality. For some, the dawn of virtual reality was a necessary response to a world that was insufficiently stimulating. Their motto, "Reality isn't enough anymore," was a call to explore uncharted territory and new social spaces. [14] According to Brenda Laurel, "Reality has always been too small for the human imagination. We're always trying to transcend" (quoted in McCarthy, 1993). Since the beginning of time people have transcended time and space with little more than their imaginations. Artificial experiences have long relied on the generative ability of the human imagination. Some basic external stimulation, e.g., a story delivered orally by a campfire or later through the medium of the printed page, was more than enough to transport the listener/reader to far-away places and through time. All of us have been so captured at one time or another by an engaging book, mesmerizing photograph, or sense-filling motion picture. While these experiences reveal the mind's ability to suspended reality, the burden of creating this state falls squarely on the individual's ability to form a mental construct.
VR Applications
Virtual reality technology could be used in ways beyond gaming, ranging from art to self-expression and empowerment, said D. Fox Harrell, an associate professor of Digital Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The concept of VR has captured the imaginations of people from a diverse spectrum of modern culture. Diverse cultures ranging from cyberpunk to the military collaborated in bringing VR to life.
VR is really about providing an alternative to our mundane, everyday reality. On the other hand, VR applications for business and commercial purposes are promoted for very different purposes. [26] Pioneers and evangelists of VR promise breakthroughs in entertainment, education and training (Patkin, 1996), military, and business applications.
These apparently distinct views of VR, the first as an environment that will allow us to modify our mental or emotional state and the second as an environment that will allow us to manipulate our physical environment, suggest very different uses for VR development.

The Social Uses of VR
In some VR environments interaction is provided by another human who is occupying the same virtual space. In others, such as single player games, all or nearly all of the interaction is supplied by the many lines of computer code that make up the program. Even then is important to understand that this programmed interaction is a product of human invention by a software engineer. Every virtual world has a human creator. While some VR critics warn of the dangers of isolation for those who spend extended lengths of time alone in virtual worlds, others envision a new social context for communication in which global virtual communities are formed around shared interests.

Ethics of Virtual Life
There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself. -Hermann Hesse, Demian (1919).
What do we make of a world where actions have no consequences? Herbert Zettl questioned the ethics of a VR world in which there is no accountability for actions taken and choices made. He wrote,
In a way, virtual reality provides a perfect existential world, in which we can exercise free will and make any number of decisions, however extreme, without the Kierkegaardian 'dizziness of freedom' and the underlying anxiety of accountability (Kaufmann, 1956, p. 17). In effect, we are operating in an amoral environment, an environment free of threats or reprisals, whose virtual character liberates us from feeling any form of existential angst when making choices”.