Immersive virtual reality: what it is and possible applications

The rise of virtual reality technology has opened up new possibilities in various sectors, including education and business. 

With immersive virtual reality, learners can experience simulations and scenarios that mimic real-life situations, providing an engaging and interactive learning experience. 

Similarly, businesses can use virtual reality to create simulations and training that mimic real-world scenarios. 

This article explores immersive virtual reality, its potential impact in the education and business sectors, and how it can be applied to improve learning and training outcomes.

What is immersive virtual reality?

Immersive virtual reality is a technology that creates a simulated environment that immerses the user in a wholly digital or virtual experience. 

It typically involves wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) that tracks the user’s movements and displays a 3D environment. 

The user can interact with the virtual environment through hand controllers or other input devices, which creates a sense of presence or feeling of being in the virtual world. 

Immersive virtual reality can simulate real-world environments, scenarios, or experiences and can be used for various purposes, including entertainment, education, and training.

Immersive reality vs. non-immersive virtual reality: what’s the difference?

Immersive reality -also known as full immersive virtual reality- creates a virtual environment that entirely surrounds and engulfs the user’s senses. 

As we’ve mentioned, this virtual reality type typically requires specialized hardware, such as a head-mounted display. It often includes interactive elements such as hand controllers or haptic feedback devices. Immersive virtual reality can be highly realistic and provide a sense of presence or feeling of being in the virtual world.

On the other hand, non-immersive virtual reality creates a virtual environment that is displayed on a screen or monitor, without fully surrounding the user’s senses. This type of virtual reality is typically less interactive and requires less specialized hardware than immersive virtual reality. 

Examples of non-immersive virtual reality include video games or 360-degree videos that can be viewed on a computer screen or mobile device.

While both immersive and non-immersive virtual reality can be used for a variety of purposes, including entertainment, education, and training, immersive virtual reality typically provides a more engaging and interactive experience that can be used to simulate real-world scenarios or experiences more effectively. 

However, non-immersive virtual reality can be more accessible and affordable, making it a more practical choice for certain applications.

Immersive technology possible Applications

Although we often associate it with the metaverse or the world of video games and entertainment, immersive virtual reality (IVR) has numerous applications in both the educational and business sectors.

Here are some examples.

Applications of Immersive Virtual Reality in Education

To give you an idea, with this technology, students can interact with virtual environments in a more realistic and immersive way, allowing them to learn more effectively.

• Simulation of scientific experiments: Immersive virtual reality allows students to interact with simulations of scientific experiments that may be expensive or dangerous in real life.

• Training in practical skills: Students can use immersive virtual reality to practice practical skills such as welding, carpentry, mechanics, and more. This allows them to learn more effectively and safely before applying these skills in real-world situations.

• Virtual visits to historical and cultural sites: Immersive virtual reality allows students to visit historical and cultural sites around the world virtually, allowing them to learn more interactively and visually.

• Simulation of emergency situations: This system can also be used to simulate emergency situations, such as earthquakes, fires, and other natural disasters. This way, students can learn to react properly in crisis situations.

• Training in social skills: Finally, this technology allows for training in social skills such as communication and teamwork. Students can interact with virtual characters that simulate real-life social situations.

As you can see, immersive virtual reality has a wide range of applications in the educational world. And many more that we have left out.

Business applications of immersive virtual reality

If you’re part of a business, you should know that immersive virtual reality (IVR) also has a wide range of applications:

• Training and Education: This technology can be used to train employees in dangerous or costly-to-simulate situations, such as workplace safety training or sales practices. IVR can also be used to educate or train employees on new processes and technologies.

• Design and Prototyping: IVR allows product designers and developers to create virtual prototypes of their products. This way, they can experiment with designs and options without creating physical prototypes, which can be expensive and time-consuming.

• Market Research: IVR can also be used to conduct market research, allowing consumers to experience virtual products and provide real-time feedback.

• Collaboration: IVR allows teams within the same company (or from different entities) to work together in virtual environments in real time.

• Advertising and Marketing: Immersive advertising experiences can engage consumers at a deeper level. For example, customers can experience how certain products look and feel before purchasing. This can be particularly useful for clothing and accessory stores.

In summary, IVR has a wide range of applications in the business world. From training and education to market research and advertising, IVR offers new ways for businesses to create immersive and valuable customer and employee experiences.

Immersive Virtual Reality and Security

As we have mentioned before, IVR uses advanced technology to create an immersive experience in a virtual environment, which involves a large amount of data and complex technological architecture.

It is important to ensure that these systems are secure to avoid vulnerabilities and possible cyber attacks that could compromise the privacy and security of users.

Therefore, an appropriate cybersecurity strategy must be implemented to develop and use IVR systems.

This involves using security measures such as user authentication, data encryption, access control, and proctoring to identify and mitigate possible threats.

SMOWL proctoring products can provide that extra level of security you need if you want to start using technological tools in your digital ecosystem.

Request a free demo from us and discover the advantages they can bring to your company or institution.