Okay, we've all seen the movies, and some of us have even read the books which preceeded them. A fictional character plugs a wire into a socket in the back of his head, and suddenly Real Life (RL) is replaced by Virtual Reality (VR). To him, VR seems indistinguishable from the world he left behind. Everything looks, feels, and even tastes like ordinary reality - except, of course, VR need not be at all ordinary. In VR our hero can be the star of a story built just around him in places that don't exist in real life, he can have super powers, and (perhaps most unlikely of all) beautiful women throw themselves at him and conveniently vanish into the ether when he no longer wishes their company.
The fact is, VR of this sort is unlikely to happen in our lifetimes. The central nervous system is not like the cables on the back of your TV set. The human brain is simply too complex and organic (i.e., conforming to no easily definable structure) to be easily mapped to a simple electronic interface. Thus, this rather extreme concept of VR can be lumped together with such over-hyped science fiction cliches as Artificial Intelligence and Mass Space Tourism as concepts which just aren't going to pan out as they imagined.
But while none of these grand ideas have quite lived up to the imaginations of some writers, neither have they been completely unrealized in the real world. There have been a few space tourists, even if their numbers have been limited to the extremely rich and adventurous - and there are likely to be more (though you and I are unlikely to ever be able to afford it). And while a truly intelligent computer seems incredibly far in the future, computers have managed to do things we once associated with true intelligence (such as beat the world's best chess players). In a similar fashion, Virtual Reality is beginning to make a real impact in today's world - even if VR will never look like it does in the movies. And that impact is going to be a lot bigger than some people imagine.
No one in our lifetimes will ever mistake Virtual Reality for the real world (at least, no one who is mentally stable). The technology to stimulate all of our senses in a convincing way just isn't on the horizon. However, I would argue that this fact is relatively unimportant. Why? Because even in the crude form in which it exists today, Virtual Reality can be incredibly immersive and compelling. Even now, VR provides an intriguing alternative to reality - one where the rules can be rewritten to the specifications of the user. For many this creative power more than makes up for the limited input to the senses provided by a 19 inch monitor and a tiny pair of speakers.
For evidence of this fact, all you need to do is have a good look at one of today's most popular online games. Yep, I happen to be talking about Everquest - because Everquest is here today and I happen to be pretty familiar with it, and when I look at Everquest I believe I can see the future (crazy huh?). So why don't you follow the links below so we can maybe have a look the future together, shall we?