Companies have dabbled in virtual reality machines before, but with limited success. Nintendo's Virtua Boy has gone down in history as a mistake dyed red and black.
Luckily, 2016 has seen the release of multiple VR headsets and accessories, all of which have shown promise for the technology. It's a given that they'll bring a host of new experiences to the gaming world.
Companies like Valve and Sony have already made commitments with hardware and software alike; when VR takes off, then they won't be the last.
With the technology's potential, VR might be used for more than simply letting players shoot evil robots.
These five (plus a bonus) examples are just a taste of what's to come.
1) Surgical Training
One obvious feature of VR is that it lets its users see what might otherwise go unseen.
Developers can use the machines to create faraway worlds, but medical experts have different plans in mind.
Shafi Ahmed of the Royal London NHS hospital used VR to livestream an operation on a patient with colon cancer.
What normally would be an operation featuring a handful of experts behind closed doors becomes a teaching tool for 13,000 medical students who can see everything the surgeon sees and does, and learn what to do both in terms of planning and in the event of something going wrong.
2) Movie Making
Artists may have a lot of learning to do if VR takes off; plenty of them will have to manage creating their masterpieces in a 3D space instead of a strictly 2D one.
The same applies to moviemakers, especially since the doors have opened on 360-degree cameras.
Facebook, LG, and Samsung have all begun to push those cameras, with YouTube allowing for videos with a full range of motion.
The idea behind it is that the cameras will stitch images together via companion apps. Coupled with VR, it can make for an immersive experience that puts viewers inside movies. Through its range of motion, it allows users to build films to their hearts' content.
3) Tours of Homes Under Construction
Even the fanciest mansion takes time to build, and until all the pieces are in place, it can lack the splendor that'll earn sales.
Fortunately, VR is primed to offer a workaround. Potential buyers can make use of headsets to see a visual representation of the house, even if it barely has the foundation in place.
South Carolina's Kiawah Island Real Estate has already put the technology to use, using digitally assembled images of their properties to create virtual tours at a one-to-one scale.
As others have discovered, it's one thing to see a prospective home on a computer screen, but it's another entirely to walk through it.
4) Designing and Simulating Cars
Even at its early stages, VR headsets have allowed users to craft and sculpt art at their leisure.
It's no small stretch to take that concept and apply it to any industry in need of top-notch models.
BMW has begun to use headsets like the HTC Vive alongside its other equipment to speed up the design and development of prototype cars.
Through a mixture of virtual and physical reality, the company has found ways to test for road noise, wind noise, and more by simulating the driving experience.
The increase in efficiency can potentially boost the speed of updates, and by extension, shorten the time between new models.
5) Reconstructing Crimes in Courtrooms
Modern video games have long since proven their ability to create lavish 3D environments, but while those are regularly used for play, VR could just as easily see use as a tool of justice.
University of Zurich researchers have found that virtual reality helps people clearly see the details of a case and decide on a suspect's guilt. With the ability to render people, objects, evidence, bullet trails, and their relation to one another, it's not hard to understand why.
Allowing users to see the unseen and create content—whether it's an imaginary scenario or a slice of reality—may prove to be VR's strongest selling point. If it finds an audience, then it just might make the world a better place.
[Bonus] Adult Industry
Always one of the first to move in pushing new technology the adult industry, when it comes to virtual reality, has been no slouch.
The past year has seen the release of many VR related intimate products, for both men and women.
To highlight how hot this space is, at the first Adult VR Fest 01 in Akihabara, Tokyo, in June of this year, there were so many people (males of course) that wanted to have a first look at the cutting edge of adult tech police showed up for crowd control: the line to enter—stretching blocks—was sent on their way and only about one third of the hopeful gawkers were able to enter the show, this correspondent being one of them.
The future seems promising in this sub-sector of VR with the potential of some positive social outcomes.
As porn actress Veronica Avluv stated in a previous interview, she shows some concern that this technology will, “....put all the hookers out of work.”
The vice police shouldn’t mind if such a situation comes to pass.