Virtual reality gains a small foothold in the enterprise

As a result, virtual reality became limited to high-end, narrowly focused applications such as military simulations, movie special effects, and training and simulations in manufacturing, oil, and the medical industries, says Jacquelyn Ford Morie, formerly a virtual reality expert at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies. Virtual reality immersion therapy has been used for a decade now to treat Post Traumatic StressStress Disorder, and to manage the pain of burn victims. Alles zu Stress auf CIO.de

"Now we have this second wave of virtual reality," says Morie. "The difference between then and now is that it's affordable. Instead of a $30,000 head-mounted display, you now have a $300 head-mounted display."

The general population is also more used to technology than they were 20 years ago, she adds, and there are more companies creating content for the new virtual reality platforms. Her own company creates applications in virtual worlds for NASA and other enterprise clients.

"We're doing things like making virtual worlds that will help astronauts on long-duration space flight missions," she says.

Today, most enterprise virtual reality is internally focused, she says. That is likely to change as more of this technology gets into the hands of consumers, and she's looking forward to working on consumer-focused projects.