Virtual Reality - Potential and Risks of a New Technology

The Technology Centre for Physical Technologies has carried out a study on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology to assess the technological consequences of virtual reality (VR). The study provides a survey of the current status of VR and its prospects and discusses foreseeable technological consequences in different fields of application. The aim of the study, in line with the VDI directive on technology assessment, was to provide systematic and comprehensive orienting information as early as possible in the innovation cycle on the scientific/technical focus, economic and social relevance, and foreseeable related effects of a technology. This would establish a basis for designing the development of virtual reality and contribute at the same time to public discussion on the subject.