Virtual Reality Applications in the Real World

Virtual reality (VR) technology lets you immerse yourself in three-dimensional environments and interact with a virtual world in a way that feels real. From gaming and education to health care and remote work, VR applications are revolutionizing how you experience, learn about, and engage with the world.

The concept of virtual reality, or immersing users in a virtual experience, was first introduced in the 1960s. Despite some promising prototypes, VR didn’t experience another significant technical advancement until the early 2010s with the release of the first edition of the Oculus, a headset that used inexpensive smartphone parts to transport its user into the virtual world.

Today, you can choose from a wider variety of VR devices with differing levels of functionality, from simple cardboard viewers to standalone VR platforms. Beyond personal gaming, additional applications exist or are being developed for this technology across industries to make VR safer, more cost-effective, and more efficient. 

Explore virtual reality applications in ten industries, including driving, entertainment, health care, fitness, real estate, architecture, retail, industrial, justice, and national defense. 

What is virtual reality?

Virtual reality is a technology where using a headset and other equipment, you can experience an immersive, computer-generated environment and interact with objects that do not exist in your physical space. While using a headset, you can turn and look around using a natural movement, and the image projected in your headset will be dynamic to your movements. In some cases, VR can be non-immersive, such as accessing a virtual world through a console or other device that doesn’t limit your sensation of the physical world. In other cases, VR equipment and sensors can allow you to sense the virtual space and block out the physical world, such as with a headset that covers your eyes. 

Virtual reality applications

Many industries can use virtual reality to provide novel experiences and risk-free environments that help make educational and other experiences more accessible. Explore virtual reality applications for driving, entertainment, health care, fitness, real estate, architecture, retail, industrial, the justice system, and national defense. 

VR applications for driving

Virtual reality can make cars safer by training new drivers in risk-free environments and by allowing scientists to conduct research about what happens in the moments that lead up to a crash. This can be particularly helpful for new drivers who struggle to learn in uncontrolled environments, such as learners with neurodevelopmental disorders. Virtual reality can also help train autonomous vehicles and their passengers, so these cars are reliable transportation methods when they eventually end up on the road. 

Entertainment VR use cases

VR transforms entertainment by allowing you to experience movies, museums, live events, fantasy places and characters, and more in new and novel ways. Some of the current and future potential VR applications in entertainment include: 

• Virtual parks: Users can virtually explore spaces or spaces modeled after real places.

• Virtual reality movies: Imagine viewing a movie with virtual reality and experiencing it as though you were there.

• Live events: Virtual reality allows more people to attend live events by making them accessible and removing limitations such as travel and the number of people who can fit into a venue.

• Museums: Similar to live events, virtual reality can make museums more accessible and create educational and cultural opportunities for more individuals regardless of where they live.

• Fantasy characters: With virtual reality, you could have a conversation with a fictional or animated character while they promote their new movie or show.

Education and training VR applications

Virtual reality opens the door for many different types of educational opportunities, from virtual field trips and learning experiences for young children to simulated environments for skilled training. VR is an immersive learning tool that can help learners engage with the material in new ways. You can also use VR in various ways to make education more accessible. With VR, you can travel to places that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive. High school students can conduct virtual reality science experiments without using costly resources and eliminating the risk of student scientists who are still learning lab safety protocols. 

Health care virtual reality applications

VR applications are opening new frontiers in patient care. For example, doctors can use virtual reality to meet with patients, which can eliminate some of the barriers that prevent people from getting health care when they need it. Health care professionals can use virtual reality to create interactive models of medical imaging like MRIs or CT scans for a more accurate view. 

Some professionals are using virtual reality to provide occupational health services. For example, patients can engage in more interesting and relevant physical therapies in a virtual environment to help regain motor skills. 

An important application of virtual reality in health care may also be the training opportunities it offers medical students. You can practice procedures and test your knowledge in risk-free environments without endangering patient health. 

VR use cases for health and fitness

In addition to the virtual reality applications for health care as a whole, you can also use virtual reality to help you improve your fitness and physical health with exercise. Exergaming, or the combination of exercise and gaming, can help people stay active by making exercise more entertaining. Using stationary equipment like a treadmill or bicycle, you could use VR to explore real trails using a virtual reality headset. 

Real estate and architecture VR uses

Real estate agents and architects can use virtual reality to design, showcase, and market properties. Architects can create virtual mockups of their plans and tour customers through the space virtually, offering a whole new level of feedback and collaboration. Using VR, a real estate agent can give you a tour of a property anywhere in the world. Interior designers can also use virtual reality to demonstrate a proposal to their customers, allowing for enhanced feedback that helps designers deliver exactly what their customers want. 

Retail VR applications

When it comes to shopping, virtual reality offers an experience that combines the ease and accessibility of online shopping with the feel and atmosphere of a brick-and-mortar location. Potential customers can tour a virtual store and interact with products in a more engaging way than scrolling through a traditional online portal. 

Industrial virtual reality applications

Virtual reality applications in the industrial and manufacturing industry include the enhanced ability to prototype and design, view workflows, identify safety concerns, and train machine operators. 

Some products, like new cars, can be expensive and labor-intensive to create. Virtual reality offers a risk-free environment to prototype vehicles, allowing designers to try new ideas without wasting resources on a non-viable product. 

Virtual reality can also minimize risk from workplace hazards and improper training. You could use VR technology to examine the workflows of an industrial floor or how specific machines operate to find ways to reduce risk and keep workers safe. VR can also help support training efforts to ensure employees understand how to operate equipment and move around the space safely. 

VR in the justice system

Virtual reality could add a new level of interaction to the justice system process regarding witness testimony and crime scene reconstruction. Witnessing the recreation of a crime in virtual reality would allow jury members and detectives new ways to examine the evidence and come to an informed verdict.

National defense VR applications

Virtual reality can also help our military and civilian police forces train for dangerous scenarios in risk-free settings. This can help build technical skills and knowledge without placing service members or civilians in danger. Finally, VR can help speed up the training process, especially for law enforcement.

How to get started in virtual reality

Entering the VR industry on a professional level requires a blend of technical knowledge and creative skills. If you’d like to explore a career in virtual reality, consider working as a 3D artist, business development manager, or software engineer. 

3D artist

Median annual salary in the US: $79,108 [1]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 4 percent [2]

Education requirements: Bachelor’s degree in animation, graphic design, or computer science

As a 3D artist, you will create 3D models, animations, and special effects using computer programs and editing software. In this role, you may work with a team of other artists to create digital art for movies, games, virtual reality experiences, and more. You will conceptualize your art with storyboards and other visualization techniques, present your drafts to clients for comment, and deliver a final creative product with the right specifications. 

Business development manager

Median annual salary in the US: $101,045 [3]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 7 percent [4]

Education requirements: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, or finance

As a business development manager, you will help direct corporate strategy by looking for new markets and business opportunities, analyzing sales performance, and looking for ways your company can maximize profits and meet its business goals. In this role, you may work with a software company to determine methods for increasing the sales of the organization’s VR products.

Software engineer

Median annual salary in the US: $118,467 [5]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 17 percent [6]

Education requirements: Bachelor’s degree in software engineering

As a software engineer, you will develop, design, and create software programs for clients, video games, business uses, specialized applications, or more. You may work with a large or small team of developers; in some cases, you may work remotely as a software engineer. In this role, you will build software that helps solve a problem or provides a service either for your company, clients, or a broader group of consumers. 

Continue exploring virtual reality applications on Coursera. 

As virtual reality advances, you may find more and more applications for virtual reality technology. If you want to learn more about virtual reality, consider the Virtual Reality Specialization offered by the University of London, where you’ll start your journey in virtual reality, develop your knowledge, and create your own VR application.