Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality.
Portal is a series of first-person puzzle-platform video games developed by Valve. Set in the Half-Life universe, the two main games in the series, Portal (2007) and Portal 2 (2011), center on a woman, Chell, forced to undergo a series of tests within the Aperture Science Enrichment Center by a malicious artificial intelligence, GLaDOS, that controls the facility. Most of the tests involve using the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" – nicknamed the portal gun – that creates a human-sized wormhole-like connection between two flat surfaces. The player-character or objects in the game world may move through portals while conserving their momentum. This allows complex "flinging" maneuvers to be used to cross wide gaps or perform other feats to reach the exit for each test chamber. A number of other mechanics, such as lasers, light bridges, high energy pellets, buttons, cubes, tractor funnels and turrets, exist to aid or hinder the player's goal to reach the exit.
The Playroom is a video game developed by Japan Studio's Team Asobi and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is a collection of augmented reality mini-games meant to demonstrate the use of the PlayStation Camera and the DualShock 4 controller and comes preloaded with all PlayStation 4 consoles. The PlayStation Camera accessory is required to play The Playroom. If a camera is not present, a trailer for The Playroom will be displayed instead of the full game. Firesprite, a studio founded by former employees of Studio Liverpool, worked on the visuals of The Playroom. Downloadable content is free.
HTC Vive is a line of virtual and mixed reality headsets produced by HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with personal computers as well as standalone headsets such as the Vive Focus line, Vive Flow glasses, and the Vive Elite XR mixed reality headset.
OpenVR is a software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface (API) developed by Valve for supporting the SteamVR and other virtual reality headset devices. The SteamVR platform uses it as the default application programming interface and runtime. It serves as the interface between the virtual reality hardware and software and is implemented by SteamVR.
A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device that uses 3D near-eye displays and positional tracking to provide a virtual reality environment for the user. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games, but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR headsets typically include a stereoscopic display, stereo sound, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for tracking the pose of the user's head to match the orientation of the virtual camera with the user's eye positions in the real world. Augmented reality (AR) headsets are VR headsets that enable the user to see and interact with the outside world. Examples of AR headsets include the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3.
Virtual Desktop is remote control software for Android-based virtual reality headsets. It allows users to control a PC over a wireless LAN from the headset, including the ability to stream VR games and software.
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives is a virtual reality simulation video game developed and published by Owlchemy Labs for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Apple Vision Pro, Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3, in which players participate in comical approximations of real-world jobs. A sequel, Vacation Simulator, was released in 2019 and has a completely different premise.
Tilt Brush is a room-scale 3D-painting virtual-reality application available from Google, originally developed by Skillman & Hackett.
Arizona Sunshine is a zombie survival first-person shooter video game released on December 6, 2016. The game is compatible with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Valve Index and PlayStation VR virtual reality headsets. A sequel, Arizona Sunshine 2, was released in 2023.
Survios is an American virtual reality game developer and software publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company develops virtual reality software and games, including the titles Raw Data and Sprint Vector. Survios was created by graduates from the University of Southern California's Mixed Reality Lab, where they worked together on Project Holodeck. The company has raised over $54 million in venture funding led by Shasta Ventures, Lux Capital and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Room-scale is a design paradigm for virtual reality (VR) experiences which allows users to freely walk around a play area, with their real-life motion reflected in the VR environment. Using 360 degree tracking equipment such as infrared sensors, the VR system monitors the user's movement in all directions, and translates this into the virtual world in real-time. This allows the player to perform tasks, such as walking across a room and picking up a key from a table, using natural movements. In contrast, a stationary VR experience might have the player navigate across the room using a joystick or other input device, which may cause motion sickness.
The Hyper Reality Experience is a mixed reality, multi-player game experience, which opened to the public in Leeds, England on 22 April 2017. It utilises a combination of virtual reality, motion tracking, haptic feedback and theatrical special effects to create an immersive experience where players can interact as a team within a virtual environment, with other senses such as touch provided by a specially designed physical space and props the player can feel and utilise.
A virtual reality game or VR game is a video game played on virtual reality (VR) hardware. Most VR games are based on player immersion, typically through a head-mounted display unit or headset with stereoscopic displays and one or more controllers.
The Valve Index is a consumer virtual reality headset created and manufactured by Valve. Announced on April 30, 2019, the headset was released on June 28 of the same year. The Index is a second-generation headset and the first to be fully manufactured by Valve. Half-Life: Alyx is bundled with the headset.
Space Pirate Trainer is a Virtual Reality (VR) first-person shooter developed and produced by I-Illusions. It was one of the earliest wave shooters utilizing the VR game-play environment. The game was released alongside the HTC Vive and featured in VR arcades. In 2018, it was also released digitally through the PlayStation Store.
Aperture Hand Lab is a virtual reality (VR) game developed by Canadian studio Cloudhead Games and published by Valve, released for Windows on June 25, 2019. It is a tech demo that showcases the functions of the hand, knuckle, and finger tracking technology used by the Valve Index VR headset. The HTC Vive headset is also supported. The game is set in the Portal universe.
NeosVR is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online, virtual reality application created by Frooxius and operated by Solirax. It was released for free on Microsoft Windows via Steam on May 4, 2018, with support for several VR headsets.
Red Matter is a 2018 sci-fi virtual reality game developed and published by Spanish studio Vertical Robot. The player plays as Agent Epsilon, who crash lands on one of Saturn's moons, Rhea, and goes to explore a nearby military base belonging to the fictional People's Republic of Volgravia. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the atmosphere of the environments, but criticized some of the puzzles as being confusing. Red Matter released on May 24, 2018 for Oculus Rift, with versions for the HTC Vive, Oculus Quest, and PlayStation VR launching in November 2018, December 2018, and August 2019, respectively. A sequel, Red Matter 2, was released for Steam VR and Meta Quest 2 on 18 August 2022 and for Playstation VR2 on 18 May 2023.
