virtual reality

noun

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

: an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (such as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one's actions partially determine what happens in the environment; also : the technology used to create or access a virtual reality

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See virtual reality defined for kids

Recent Examples of virtual reality from the Web

Technology The technology behind modern virtual reality is rapidly evolving, but what exactly helps create a better sense of realism and immersion?

— wired staff, WIRED, "12 Killer Deals on Google Devices, Amazon Echo, and Headphones We Love," 6 June 2018
As with Oculus Go, going wireless on Mirage Solo promises to make virtual reality more appealing closer to the mainstream.

— edward c. baig, USA TODAY, "Lenovo Google virtual reality headset goes wireless like Oculus," 4 May 2018
Like our smartphones, virtual reality yanks us into disembodied worlds.

— cate mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Meet six talented art-school grads," 27 Apr. 2018
The object and its story left a haunting impression on filmmaker Saschka Unseld, who partnered with Gabo Arora to produce a new virtual reality experience titled The Day the World Changed.

— daniel fernandez, Smithsonian, "This New Virtual Reality Experience Drops You In Hiroshima Right After It’s Been Bombed," 27 Apr. 2018
With so many new truck drivers needing to be trained, virtual reality could be the road to delivering safe and effective results.

— jay samit, Fortune, "How Virtual Reality Is Improving Trucker Safety for UPS and Other Suppliers," 11 Apr. 2018
As soon as virtual reality became workable, in the early nineteen-eighties, researchers imagined creating vivid, detailed, hallucinogenic worlds.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "Are We Already Living in Virtual Reality?," 26 Mar. 2018
Star Wars: Secrets Of The Empire is a 30-minute virtual reality experience that everyone is talking about.

— Southern Living, "Disney Is Raising Theme Park Prices...Again! Here's Why," 13 Feb. 2018
While virtual reality isn’t new in health care, its affordability is: Medical headsets have traditionally cost from $30,000 to $300,000, according to a World Economic Forum report on emerging technologies.

— jason gale, The Seattle Times, "Digital eyewear, 3D holograms challenge hidebound med schools," 28 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'virtual reality.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of virtual reality

1987

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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VIRTUAL REALITY Defined for English Language Learners

virtual reality

noun

: an artificial world of images and sounds created by a computer that is affected by the actions of a person who is experiencing it

VIRTUAL REALITY Defined for Kids

virtual reality

noun

: an artificial environment which is experienced through sights and sounds provided by a computer and in which a person's actions partly decide what happens in the environment