Post #9: Diffusion Theory of Virtual Reality

 Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is a technology that has slowly begun seeping into our lives through the use of science fiction and has begun to become an obtainable reality for us in the near future. By looking at the diffusion theory we can begin to predict how this advancing technology could begin to change in the future.

The pioneers of virtual reality are a combination of science fiction authors of the 1930s who created the basic idea and the inventors like Morton Heilig's who created early versions of virtual reality in order to enhance entertainment experiences. This pioneer and experimental phase lasted around 30 years as different technologies collided in order to help decrease the size and cost of virtual reality to a point where corporations felt like they could use it.

When virtual reality hit the early adopters phase in the 1990s many companies and scientific government organizations had begun using it for a variety of purposes. Many vehicle manufacturing companies like General Electric and Boeing began using virtual reality to simulate certain conditions their products may face in order to check out certain aspects of them. This was quickly followed by NASA using VR to help simulate various space-related topics such as rocket testing and rover footage which helped further our understanding of the unknown. The final early adopters were entertainment companies trying to make VR more accessible for the average person so many arcade machines began being created to bring the VR experience.

VR at its current stage is located in the Early Majority stage as it has become cheap enough for it to begin to see consistent use in education and simulation with it even being cheap enough for the average person to be able to buy VR headsets for entertainment. Many companies have begun eyeing the technology looking for ways they could be using it in everyday life in the work environment or at how and once this point is hit it will hit its critical mass and begin shifting toward Late Majority.

VR will likely begin continuing until the point where only those who can't afford it, have poor internet or don't want it will remain in the Laggards. The cycle of VR does have the potential to go through the diffusion cycle once again if it reaches the stage where it turns into Simulated Reality and our lives are changed in a major way.