Is Virtual Reality More Than Just for Fun? (Essay Sample)

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Is Virtual Reality More Than Just for Fun?
Virtual reality (VR) refers to simulated experiences that mimic real-life scenarios, such as driving on a country road or piloting an aircraft. Although it was originally conceptualized as a means of entertainment, it has evolved over time and found application in professional fields. Notably, VR is applied in healthcare and automotive engineering as a safe and cost-effective method to train doctors and optimize the road performance of automobiles.
Virtual reality is applied in healthcare to aid the training of doctors. Medicine is a complex field where physicians perform precise procedures using specialized equipment, with no margin for error as this could prove fatal to patients (Lin et al. 5047). Virtual reality provides doctors with a simulated environment to learn and practice without putting patients’ lives at risk (Samadbeik et al. 126). For instance, it is risky to practice heart surgery on a live patient since a trainee doctor can make critical mistakes, for example, severing blood vessels. In this regard, VR is more than just fun since it also provides a safe means for trainee doctors to practice and refine their skills.
Secondly, VR is applied in automotive engineering to recreate and analyze road scenarios so as to anticipate and prevent potential disasters. For instance, engineers would want to predict how a speeding car would behave on a slippery road and integrate safety features that would prevent the car from skidding and rolling over (Hassanien et al. 32). Without VR, it would be costly and risky to use actual cars and drivers to test a car’s behavior under different road conditions. Thus, virtual reality is more than a source of entertainment as it helps automobile engineers to simulate road scenarios and optimize a vehicle’s performance.