Virtual Reality – What is VR & What are its applications?
The term ‘Virtual‘ refers to something which is not real, not physical but something that can only be felt in such a way that the whole scenario ‘seems’ real. Think about the 3D, 4D, 5D movies that you watch today sitting on a seat that provides you the real-like experience. If the movie shows you roller coaster you actually feel like you are sitting right there; if you see water showering upon you or windy weather, you will feel that too.
The video games seen in the shopping malls are based on virtual world where, for example, bike racing is shown on the screen and the controls (like small bike; left, right, forward controls, etc.) are given to the user to race and win. The films like The Matrix, Gamer, Inception, etc. are the prime examples of virtual reality. Virtual reality can change the world in many ways. We list some of its applications below.
1. It helps reducing the extreme pain and can be used by the patients undergoing painful surgeries or burn treatment that includes skin stretching. The reason why it calms down the pain is their diversion towards something else. They can be given virtual games like Snow World in which they have to shoot the penguins using snow balls. This makes them mentally absent in the real world.
2. It can make the medical students learn to operate without actually involving the real human body. While learning how to do the operation there could be so many situations in which a doctor-to-be shall decide how to act. These situations can be better given using virtual reality and then the student can practice the actual scenario.
3. It can provide relief from phantom pain that is a common occurrence among amputee victims. Phantom pain is the feeling that causes absence of an organ physically. In such a situation, the brain sends signals in such a way that the organ is still felt despite of its absence over there. These patients can be given virtual representation of their actual limb. Not only this, some electrodes can be attached to monitor their muscle movements. Virtual reality can help them in this regard.
4. Virtual reality is able to cure extreme stressful cases like post traumatic stress disorder. The persons who face very negative experiences like accidents, wars, witness murders, etc. need special care to cope up with. Virtual reality can show the exact scenario over and over again to get over with the past and deal it with courage.
The above facts and examples clearly show that virtual reality is going to rule the world in the coming years. The researches are still on the rise to make it even better. It also has a few disadvantages like living in a virtual world and leaving the real one where one can make impossible things possible with his or her own imaginations and that could become his/her obssesion.
