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I would like to see a VR life support system that is used for deep space travel. With the support of a body suit that uses muscles, along with the VR world to keep the brain and body occupied for the long journey. Or if we don’t find anything out there! The world is going to become a very small place very quick! If we could create a world in VR that was real enough to trick the senses into believing it was real all the laws of known physics are applied and it’s not a perfect world! (The movie “The Matrix” hit on that a little) We could have the world “plugged in” You could choose, so to speak “What you want to be when you grow up!” and then “Plug in” and “Have your dreams come true!” I am currently trying to design such a system as well as writing a sci-fi novel based on the above fore mentioned! And then there will be “Virtually no Reality!” (insert book “Plug” here!)

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Well VR would be an amazing advancement in our planet it would also enable important people like the president to go to meetings without the risk of being shot. What i mean is the presidant could just step into a box room sit in a chair and BOOM theres an entire congress party sitting right in front of him. I don't personaly think that in VR being shot would feel like being shot... that would be dumb and not worth the video game ( although i do admit that it would make you less likely to want to be shot).

"If we gained a better insight into the human brain and learned exactly what caused blindness and deafness you could literally allow somebody to hear or see for the first time." 

Personally, I like the old idea of using virtual reality (or VR) to play and feel my video games like never before, but I also believe that once that happens VR will take off in ways we can't even imagine. Do I really want to play a game where getting shot feels like getting shot? Maybe once, but it'd get old quick. Would dying really feel like dying? That would be terrifying but I believe there are much broader uses. I believe VR could become the new internet. Not only would people be messaging each other through text and video, but now face to face in any setting in a way that may only be able to be described as real aside from the advertising (as I drink coffee with you on Google moon ). I'd think that if we got that far, then things may really take off. Now you could make an avatar, if you will, though not so much in a video game sense, but more in the walking on a beach with your grandfather and he looks like he did when he was 25, health problems nonexistent sense. You could talk, laugh, eat, drink, and swim together actually feeling the current and tasting the salt water as waves roll by (meanwhile your grandfather lies in a hospital with a terminal illness). From a war veteran who lost one or more limbs to a quadriplegic who would otherwise never move again, let alone feel it, it would be more than just a game. It could actually give a person a reason to continue because although they may be in a seemingly hopeless situation they could, for at least a short time, completely forget their ailments and go any where with anyone, do whatever they wanted and feel it, smell it, and taste it. If we gained a better insight into the human brain and learned exactly what caused blindness and deafness you could literally allow somebody to hear or see for the first time. That may seem a little far fetched, but we're already working on rebuilding certain "broken connections" in the brain that cause blindness shortly after birth and have made slight but undeniable progress. Beyond that we might even begin to download memories, thoughts, possibly entire lifetimes of knowledge and experience. It all might seem pretty ridiculous to think about but the more we learn about our own mind, the more it starts to look like a computer. A powerful and squishy computer, but a computer nonetheless. All you might have to do one day is plug in.

"...for virtual reality technology to become better, it too will have to appeal to that market first, and then to the less frivolous pursuits of betterment." 

Although the questions posed of possible uses for virtual reality are compelling, I believe these are merely secondary uses (however useful) for the burgeoning area of virtuality. I feel that what has driven the majority of the significant advances in obtainable computer technology has been a pursuit of bigger and better forms of entertainment, from blue ray disc movies to better graphics for Half Life 2. Let's face it, our computers are already more than powerful enough to run the majority of programs the major populace uses, so why such drastic advancement? The "haves" of the world push for better technology typically for entertainment purposes, and for virtual reality technology to become better, it too will have to appeal to that market first, and then to the less frivolous pursuits of betterment.

"...is the increased mechanization of our world decreasing that feeling of connectedness to the physical world?" 

I have often wondered what percentage of humans would choose, if given the chance, to spend the rest of their lives in a virtual reality similar to the one seen in the Matrix movies. It seems like this choice, as well as the effectiveness of psychological treatments discussed in the article, would depend on the level of attachment a particular person has to the real world. On a related note, is the increased mechanization of our world decreasing that feeling of connectedness to the physical world? I think that enhancements to the believability of virtual environments allow for many of the traditional mental/emotional needs of humans to be satisfied through that virtual world rather than the physical world. If, at some point in the future, all work currently done by humans is accomplished by self-sustaining robots, will there be any need for humans to leave their homes? If we can gain all the benefits of interpersonal interactions, exposure to the outdoors, and recreation from the virtual worlds on our computer screens, will there be any motivation to leave our computer chairs? When virtual reality and the real world inevitably become indistinguishable, it will be interesting to see how humans respond.

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Use VR for simulation training system, including pilot, astronaut, surgeon and students. Another for immersion envirnment construction.

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My Experiencable Program Units would allow people to connect their brains to computers so that they can experience programs and even people around the world. EPUs could be the next big advancement in computer technology and be worth trillions of dollars. An EPU would interact with the brain by translating computer information into bio-information in the same way the brain now processes stimuli. Once the brain can be decoded, EPUs would alloow people to have mental access to the computer that will seem so real that people may not know the difference between simulation and reality. Your best friend may live 10,000 miles away and speak Russian. But with the computer, the language barrier will be destroyed and you might visit your friend more than you do someone who lives across the street from you. EPU vacations will be in order and the world will seem much smaller thanks to EPUs. The typical day for a family might consist of the father being in his EPU chamber from 9:00 to 12:00 for eight hours of accelerated work time. He could be in contact with people around the world during that time. The mother may also have a job and be in her chamber from 10:00 to 12:00 experiencing eight hours of accelerated work time as a lawyer. She will have experienced four trials and conferred with a dozen clients during that time. The children may either be in EPU chambers or may physically attend school where they would expeirence classwork from 9:00 to 11:00 to experience six hours of class. History tests might consist of the students experiencing famous events and interacting with the people involved to see what their responses are. The questions may appear as holograms in the "sky" and will have to be reacted to in order to go on to the next questions. At least if the students are studying hyperlight physics, they won't blow up the world if they can't control a hyperlight speed chain reaction. The family could be together for lunch and spend the rest of the day experiencing Paris. At least if they have a meal in a program they won't put on any weight. Only their minds will think they ate anything. They might attend a concert that night before going home to experience homework and sleep. EPUs will change the world and society.

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VR (outside of some uses in scientific modelling/discovery) is just the kind of technology that will become a dangerous pathogen if it becomes widely commercialized in an amoral market. A convincing causal case can be made that our growing alienation from the physical and social bases of human biology and culture works together with corporate oligarchy to perpetuate the increasingly severe problems of climate change/environmental disaster and human social and psychological dysfunction. AI, too, has the potential for thoughtlessly engendering disasterous social change---it's just been too lame and poorly done over ALL THESE YEARS to yet make much of a difference. Engineers should leave the mind/brain and social relations alone! You are needed to deal with climate change, energy, cities, and agriculture---those are the big challenges right now! Leave notions of human well-being to the social and ethical sciences, but don't forget that technological and infrastructure changes have social and moral consequences.

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I would like to use VR along with my genetic information and maybe along with my reverse engineered brain to analyze how my nutritional supplementation affects my health and/or reacts with any other supplementation and medications that I am using or about to use. I would also like to use VR to provide for experiencing other cultures and visiting places all over the world and universe without the trouble and expense of travel.

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i would use vr to learn skills to improve my learning disabilities. to learn other skills to improve my job opportunities to solve evryday social problems to solve stress health education vacation........... etc.,

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to make art

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Augmented reality (AR) could be a step closer to the solution in some cases. Connecting Virture and Reality.

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I believe that the creation of a VR so realistic that it can cause us to feel touch (as in Star Trek's holodeck) is a BAD idea and a big mistake. If VR feels real enough, we will stop doing real things because VR can offer a much more rewarding experience for a fraction of the effort. Example: I want to live in a mansion and drive a Ferrari. These things are rewards that I earn for hard work. Or are they? I'll go ahead and plug in my VR machine, and guess what? That required no effort on my part. Example: I want a 10 trophy wives that can satisfy all my carnal desires. That would be extremely difficult (and extremely illegal) to achieve. But hey, I got my VR machine that can give me exactly what I want. Virtual reality to that level of realism is extremely tempting, but also extremely destructive to society. This is one of those technologies that will put a halt to human advancement.

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This is without doubt the last thing we need to be spending any effort on. As someone with experience with VR since the early 90s, I have gained tremendous appreciation to Real Reality and have realized that direct personal contact with other people that are directly present is the key to life. Take off the googles, have an revelation about the world around you, take control of your life and start making the changes needed to create a world you love.

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I want to try and project a life size 3D Image in thin air using a device called the heliodisplay, made by www.io2technology.com The idea I have in mind is to shrink the size of this device to the size of a cellphone and create virtual 3D bots in thin air.