Words Worth Knowing: VR
Words Worth Knowing was a vertical I wrote weekly explaining key pieces of gaming jargon to parents, guardians and teachers, as part of the larger overall GameHub outreach effort. The column ran for nearly two years and resulted in around 60 WWK articles. GameHubHQ.com closed in late 2017. This piece originally appeared on July 11 , 2016.
What It Is: VR = Virtual Reality
What It Means: Virtual Reality is a slight misnomer, as arguably all (or at least a sizeable majority of) video-games and even films present the player or watcher with a virtual reality. When the term VR is used, however, the writer is referencing a specific way of viewing the virtual world, i.e. via a screen placed very close to the eyes in order to simulate the experience of being immersed in the other world. So, you remember how it used to be considered unhealthy to sit too close to the TV? Now we are basically strapping screens directly onto our eyeballs. I know, I know...
Why You Care: Virtual Reality is the big buzz word in gaming circles right now. Everybody is interested in where the technology is going to go. Will it be something that families want to have in their living rooms or will it be confined to schools and libraries as an educational toy? Only time will tell how great of an impact VR will have on the way families interact with digital worlds.
