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The term "Virtual Reality" (VR) refers to computer generated worlds that look and feel as if they are real. It also refers to a kind of human-computer interface technology, both hardware and software, that is designed for our natural human capabilities. Today's familiar interfaces – the keyboard, mouse, monitor – are well suited for working in flatland – editing text documents and spreadsheets, but 3D objects must collapse one of their dimensions when they are projected onto a flat 2D screen. VR technology is designed to provide a more intuitive, user-friendly interface for editing and manipulating 3D worlds.

By removing the keyboard and mouse, VR forces you to interact with your data in a more direct fashion. Commercial flight simulators, which reproduce the look and feel of piloting from the cockpit of an aircraft, are one example of a VR application. Advanced interfaces let you look and move around inside a virtual environment or model and experience computer generated graphical objects as though they were real objects and places in the physical world.

Giving the user a sense of immersion (the feeling of being surrounded) is a goal of the VR developer. Immersion refers to your sense of engagement with the virtual model or environment. An immersive application fools you into believing that you’re actually looking at something made from physical atoms instead of digital bits. VR researchers hope that the tools they provide will accelerate and shorten the process of training and discovery.

How Does VR Work?

Immersion can be achieved in several different ways that have one thing in common: all the user can see is the computer simulation. When you look at your computer monitor you see a lot of other things around because in addition to your "normal" vision you have the so-called "peripheral" vision the ability to see things to the sides "out of the corner of your eye."

Peripheral vision emerged in the process of evolution as a defense against a sudden attack from predators, so it does a very good job in tracking moving objects around us. This comes very handy sometimes, for example when driving or playing sports. At other times it’s not used for anything important but, even though you don't realize it, a lot of your brainpower is devoted to processing peripheral vision's input, distracting you from the object you want to concentrate on. Various VR devices work in such a way that your peripheral vision is occupied entirely by the computer-generated image and nothing else (the better the device, the more immersed you feel), allowing your brain to fully concentrate on the virtual world. Follow this link for an excellent way to learn more about the peripheral vision by making an experiment.