This is important, because another goal is to assist educators in selecting affordable and accessible virtual reality hardware and software. Visitors to VREL can quickly see the relative advantages and disadvantages of the various types of VR hardware and software for particular applications. From the beginning, we adopted an operational definition of virtual reality, a definition that describes our particular area of interest. In this definition we attempted to embrace all possible variations of virtual reality, since we particularly wanted to avoid being limited to a single type of equipment, a single software package, or a single application. After seven years, we find that this approach remains durable and useful.
Virtual reality is the computer-generated simulation of a real or an imagined environment or world.
V irtual reality has the potential to change the way we learn. By 1996, too many overly ambitious headlines had caused some to wonder whether other terms might be preferable. Now, in 1999, the term virtual reality seems to have regained some of its original respect. Through the scientific visualization of educational objectives, this new medium can be incorporated productively into the learning process. Both forms have the potential to change the way we learn.