Virtual reality,where it started and where its goingVirtual reality,where it started and where its goingBy: Thomas HydeGaming technology has been getting more and more advanced over the years. Originally when video games were just getting off the ground people could play short repetitive games with chunky unrealistic graphics. Today we can create longer, more open ended games with stunning high quality graphics and more enjoyable content. Even the way we play games has moved from controller based gameplay to, in some cases, gameplay using motion detection like the Wii or Xbox Kinect. If this level of progress is made in the future we could be playing photorealistic games with little or no movement based input.The concept of virtual reality has been floating around since the 1970s and since then virtual reality has even been attempted (although in most cases rather poorly). Virtual reality is basically described in its name, it is a virtual (virtual meaning that which is not real) world or reality that can be interacted with. Some noteworthy examples of virtual reality in popular culture are The Matrix, the .Hack universe and Tron. Having any experience with those examples already gives you an idea of what this technology could mean for gaming.Imagine if you will being able to explore the world of your favourite novel or movie. Someday in the future, and maybe not as long as people expect, the technology to make that possible will exist.The first working virtual reality technology was the Virtual Boy released in August 1995 by Nintendo. The Virtual Boy allowed you to look into a headset that would put you in a world of 3D graphics, using the same format as the red/blue 3D movies. Although the Virtual Boy was a working virtual reality, it was viewed as crude because the graphics were rather weak and the device was extremely hard on the users eyes, giving users headaches and sore eyes. Looking past Nintendos Virtual Boy, many modern attempts at virtual reality have been working much more sufficiently albeit not necessarily in gaming. Military forces are, in some situations, training with the aid of virtual reality simulations. A good example of this is parachute training or flight simulations, and now virtual reality is even being used therapeutically to help treat sufferers of PTSD. Should virtual reality turn out as many gamers would hope then people will one day have the ability to connect, play, and enjoy interacting with each other in a virtual world.