5 Benefits of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR), a technology that immerses you in a digital world through headsets and other gear, offers many benefits. From interactive learning opportunities — such as exploring space, areas beneath the ocean, or historical places that don’t exist anymore — to engaging entertainment like live events and virtual showrooms, this innovation transforms how you interact with the world. If you're considering a career in this field, you might be interested to know that, according to Glassdoor, VR developers earn an average annual salary of $78,037 [1].

Explore five of the largest benefits of virtual reality and how professionals in a host of fields are using it to deliver new and dynamic experiences to customers, students, and users. 

5 benefits of virtual reality

Virtual reality offers many benefits for professionals in all kinds of industries, including entertainment, education, training, therapy, and marketing. Explore what virtual reality can offer in each of these areas. 

1. Enhanced, immersive VR entertainment experiences

Virtual reality offers you an immersive experience that feels as though you are transported to a different place. This can open up many different possibilities in the realm of entertainment, such as movies, video games, and live music. Imagine stepping into a concert hall or movie theater without leaving your house or exploring interactive video games that take place in unique virtual worlds. 

This technology also enhances tourism, enabling you to take part in tours all over the world. Not only can you visit global landmarks, but you also can explore places that don’t exist anymore, visit moments in history (such as the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia), or view military life during the Revolutionary War. 

Virtual reality can also offer engaging and immersive exercise and sports experiences. You can explore exergames, which are video games that require you to get exercise to win the game. Experiences like this can make exercise more fun and engaging, which can help encourage people to live more active lifestyles. 

2. Meaningful VR learning experiences 

Immersive experiences can make learning more engaging and impactful by making abstract concepts tangible. For example, instead of reading about historical events, students can "stand" in those locations through VR, fostering deeper connections to the material. As an added plus, using a virtual reality headset could help students block out some of the traditional distractions they face in a traditional classroom.  

Virtual reality can also allow field trips to impossible places, similar to the classic cartoon The Magic School Bus. For example, it can make it possible for students to visit the bottom of the ocean, the surface of the moon, or the International Space Station. 

Virtual reality also improves accessibility, making it easier to reach more people with learning experiences. Students with physical, geographic, or other constraints can access virtual experiences remotely. In school districts with limited funding, students can participate in hands-on interactive lessons, including virtual laboratory experiments. 

3. Realistic VR training and simulation

For high-stakes field, VR provides a risk-free way to develop critical skills. Surgical staff, pilots, and military personnel can practice complex procedures in controlled learning environments where it’s okay if they make a mistake. Even future teachers can rehearse classroom scenarios to refine their practice. 

Virtual reality offers an opportunity for crisis and emergency training. Fire departments and emergency responders can simulate major emergencies or city-wide catastrophes such as chemical containment accidents or natural disasters. Through these simulations, professionals can train to respond to the event in a more engaging way, helping them become more prepared to face a crisis in the future. 

4. Engaging VR therapy 

Virtual reality also offers many benefits for therapeutic uses. For example, therapists can use VR with patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to create a controlled environment to help them manage their response to the events. 

Virtual reality creates solutions for physical therapy, providing patients with a virtual trainer or a pre-recorded training session that they can participate in on their own schedule without needing to meet with a physical therapist. You could also use virtual reality for athletic training to practice the skills you need for team sports in an environment that lets you focus on learning your playbook without risking injury. 

You even can use virtual reality to improve your meditation practices by immersing yourself in a peaceful and serene environment. Blocking out some of the distractions of your home or normal environment can enhance the experience and reduce your stress levels. 

5. Innovative VR product design, marketing, and advertising

Virtual reality is changing the way companies, including Gucci Town, Etsy Virtual House, and Nikeland, develop products and engage customers with engaging marketing experiences. It offers a quick and cost-effective way to prototype and design products without spending the time and resources needed to create a tangible product. 

Brands are turning to virtual reality to create engaging marketing experiences and tell their stories in new and novel ways. For example, imagine that you sell upscale jewelry for special or formal occasions and want customers to see your products in elegant settings such as a gala attended by people in formal attire. Creating such a backdrop in real life isn't practice, but VR lets you transport customers there.

Learn more about the benefits of virtual reality with Coursera

Virtual reality is a technology that offers benefits in fields like education, health care, public safety and defense, retail and product design, and more. If you want to learn more about virtual reality or the ways that other technologies improve your life, consider the Virtual Reality Specialization from the University of London in which you can explore the fundamentals of virtual reality as well as the basics of 3D graphics. Another option for you to consider is the VR and 360 Video Production course offered by Daydream. With this course, you can discover how to create a video for VR. Both of these are available on Coursera.