Applying Extended Reality to Food Safety: Virtual Reality

The rapid expansion of extended reality (XR) has led to some confusion regarding the different technologies used in XR. For starters, XR is a blanket term that simply defines technology that alters the user’s perceived environment. There are three primary forms of XR: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality. This month we will discuss virtual reality (VR).

In VR, users typically wear a headset that disconnects them from their real surroundings and immerses them into a virtual world. Users can interact with those virtual worlds in many ways including gameplay or performing various tasks. VR is also used to immerse people into 360° videos that can make the user feel like they are in the recorded environment. Newer technologies are being used to enhance the user’s experiences, such as haptic gloves or suits that work with certain applications to provide the user a sense of touch when engaging with virtual environments.

Although most VR applications are still used for gaming, it is being applied as a learning technology in K-12, higher education, and in various industries to train their workforce. Learners having a headset can allow them to be immersed and engage with various environments right from the comfort of their own home.

Next month, we will discuss Augmented Reality and the ways it is being applied in various industries.