Why virtual?

Abstract

The ability to imagine alternative futures and to make decisions based on predicted outcomes is uniquely human. Our power to build and track these mental simulations is absolute; our evolved human skill of daydreaming endless possibilities, combined with twenty-first century technological capabilities, may provide us with yet another unique survival edge. We now have at our disposal powerful tools enabling us to unlock our mental simulation capabilities in ways never before imagined – virtual environment (VE) technologies. This paper suggests that VE will be the technology of the early twenty-first century that will most dramatically change the way we live and work by highlighting how we have used VE in the areas such as training and education, product development and entertainment.

Keywords:

• virtual environments
• training
• education
• human
• simulation