virtual reality

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR virtual reality ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a realistic and immersive simulation of a three-dimensional environment, created using interactive software and hardware, and experienced or controlled by movement of the body. Abbreviation: VR

Origin of virtual reality

First recorded in 1980–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for virtual reality

cyberspace, VR

Examples from the Web for virtual reality

Contemporary Examples of virtual reality

Douglas Rushkoff on Internet-driven ADD, virtual-reality delusions, and how computers changed how you think.
The Decade Google Made You Stupid
Douglas Rushkoff
December 13, 2009
I watched as Bailenson had a subject sit in a chair and experience a virtual-reality simulation of herself eating food.
The Decade Google Made You Stupid
Douglas Rushkoff
December 13, 2009

British Dictionary definitions for virtual reality

virtual reality

noun

a computer-generated environment that, to the person experiencing it, closely resembles realityAbbreviation: VR See also virtual (def. 4)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

virtual reality in Science

virtual reality

A computer simulation of a real or imaginary world or scenario, in which a user may interact with simulated objects or living things in real time. More sophisticated virtual reality systems place sensors on the user's body to sense movements that are then interpreted by the system as movements in the simulated world; binocular goggles are sometimes used to simulate the appearance of objects in three dimensions.

virtual reality in Culture

virtual reality

The creation of images and tactile sensations by means of a computer, producing the illusion of reality. Images are often projected onto special goggles to strengthen the illusion. (See cyberspace.)