by William Kelly and Patrick Kinsella

About the authors: William Kelly is a writer and Patrick Kinsella is a researcher specializing in virtual reality. Both authors live in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Virtual Reality is based on the fact that humans do not directly experience reality. What we receive is information through the senses which is interpreted by the brain as reality. Information therefore is what reality is for us; and if we can tailor information to the brain we can generate a reality which is indistinguishable from the ‘real’ thing.

Opponents fear that the new technology may end up serving as a mere escape from reality becoming, as it were, an electronic narcotic. So it is important to state what Virtual Reality actually is. It is a computer-generated mind-space with input and output devices that...