The Increasingly Blurred Line of Reality.

The idea of Virtual Reality (VR) is not new, in fact the first VR machine, The Sensorama was invented way back in the digital Jurassic of the 1950's.
Those of you lucky enough to grow up in the pre-digital era will remember arguing with siblings over who got to watch Disney cartoon strips through the awesome Viewmaster, who's early versions pre-date the Sensorama and will be relaunched later this year based on Google's $25 Cardboard VR headset. And of course lets not forget the universe was saved from the forces of the Dark Side by an imploring Princess Leia hologram to Obe Wan Kenobi.

So what's VR got to do with education?

In some fields of study, it will be truly game changing. At Case Western Reserve University for example, the Medical Faculty is using new Microsoft technology called Hololens. Not only can anatomy students project a human body in front of them, they can use hand movements to interact and manipulate the hologram. Think Chemistry students inside a virtual atom, Automotive students studying an engine with specific parts removed, Architecture students developing 4D buildings and doing walk throughs as not so unrealistic future examples.

To see Hololens in action, take a look at the video below.

With heavyweights like Microsoft, Google and Facebook (who bought startup VR headset maker Oculus Rift for $2 billion earlier this year) all developing VR hardware, expect to see this technology trickle into educational, industry and entertainment applications in the very near future.
For your own completely free VR like experience download this app from VR company DAQRI (iOS and Android versions available). . Follow the instructions and be amazed.