Virtual reality combines state-of-the-art imaging with computer technology to allow users to experience a three-dimensional simulated environment called cyberspace (a term coined by science-fiction writer William Gibson). This interactive medium incorporates powerful computers with video displays, sensors, electronic headsets, and gloves. With these tools, users can both see and manipulate a phantom environment that appears real. Virtual reality tools under development include a whole body suit, which, like diving into water, would totally immerse the user in a virtual world. Although virtual reality has been popularized as a new form of entertainment, it has applications in business, industry, and medicine.

The concept of virtual reality dates back to World War II and the use of flight simulators to train pilots, but the computerized version of this phenomenal technology can be traced to the mid-1960s. In 1966, Ivan Sutherland conducted experiments with the first head-mounted three-dimensional displays...