How Virtual Reality Technology Has Changed Our Lives: An Overview of the Current and Potential Applications and Limitations

Abstract

Despite virtual reality (VR) being initially marketed toward gaming, there are many potential and existing VR applications in various sectors and fields, including education, training, simulations, and even in exercise and healthcare. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of general understanding of the strengths and limitations of VR as a technology in various application domains. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to contribute to the library of literature concerning VR technology, its applications in everyday use, and some of its existing drawbacks. Key VR applications were discussed in terms of how they are currently utilized or can be utilized in the future, spanning fields such as medicine, engineering, education, and entertainment. The main benefits of VR are expressed through the text, followed by a discussion of some of the main limitations of current VR technologies and how they can be mitigated or improved. Overall, this literature review shows how virtual reality technology has the potential to be a greatly beneficial tool in a multitude of applications and a wide variety of fields. VR as a technology is still in its early stages, but more people are becoming interested in it and are optimistic about seeing what kind of changes VR can make in their everyday lives. With how rapidly modern society has adapted to personal computers and smartphones, VR has the opportunity to become the next big technological turning point that will eventually become commonplace in most households.

Community Services and Social Involvement in COVID-19 Governance: Evidence from China

“…Therefore, the care services in Community F contributed to the maintenance of the social involvement of care-dependent older people and helped to fulfill their care needs, autonomously. Although the isolation measures restricted these people to their homes, the smart digital technology connected them to the social networks [ 74 ].…”

“…Previous studies have focused on the COVID-19 governance measurement of either the traditional community or the smart community, but they lack comparative outcomes between the different types of communities, either in China or through conducting global comparative research for community development in different countries. Additionally, the literature has focused on the impact of the technological applications of smart community services [ 55 , 73 , 74 ]. However, a systematic analysis of the relationship between the community services and social involvement during health emergencies is lacking.…”

“…Although Chinese communities made significant contribution to controlling the spread of the virus, thus allowing residents to return to normalcy more quickly than they have done in most of the other countries [ 75 , 76 ], their residents still suffered due to the restricted social involvement. We propose that traditional and smart communities differ in terms of their pandemic governance, and thus, the social involvement of their residents also differs through there being a greater reliance on either human resources or technology, respectively, in offering the community services [ 74 ].…”

A Virtual Reality 360 Video to Introduce Second-Year Student Pharmacists to Sterile Compounding Prior to Course Activity

“…All VR programs have inherent limitations, this VR 360 video was immersive but passive education; other programs in the future may offer interactive VR options, however, these videos may then have increased user difficulty and higher production times. 12…”

Development of a VR Head-mounted Display Strap Modification for Use by Individuals with a Cochlear Implant

“…COTS VR systems have been produced by various manufacturers and have gone through multiple iterations since the release of the Oculus Rift in 2016 (Hamad & Jia, 2022; VR Space, LLC, 2022). While many individuals with disabilities believe they will never access or experience VR (Andrade et al, 2019; Mott et al, 2020), there have been some positive accessibility trends for VR hardware.…”