Only a few years have passed since virtual reality was something completely unknown to most; Today is on everyone’s head. However, we have not given ourselves the opportunity to understand the complicated journey this technology has had.

If we go back to the 70’s we can see the first signs of Virtual Reality as we know it now. I do not mean references in science fiction movies (Star Wars, Robocop, Star Trek, among many others, showed this technology as something of the day), but to devices full of cables, mounted on a desk, with very bad graphics , which allow us to immerse ourselves in a virtual world.

In almost 50 years, technology has evolved and allowed us to enjoy a better and more immersive experience. Today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Sony and many other companies are betting strongly on this technology; just a couple of years ago Facebook made one of the most expensive purchases in its history, betting precisely on Virtual Reality, buying the company — which had started as a crowdfunding project — “Oculus” for more than $ 2 billion dollars, making Obvious interest in this technology.

Video games and education are the industries that benefit most naturally. Young people today can better understand complex systems of the human body or even visit remote galaxies without leaving the classroom, allowing them not only to live a unique experience, but also to generate greater understanding and empathy with situations that had been, until now, difficult to explain or express. Video games open a new development and immersion door, where together with new telecommunication infrastructures, we can live new worlds with partners across the world in real time.

So why does Virtual Reality (VR) matter? Why is it so revolutionary? The most common answer is presence: VR has the promise of making you feel present in another place, at another time or having a perspective that you could not have otherwise.

Consider what it means to “be present” in our vivid existence: it means being focused, being considerate, empathic and aware of oneself and the surroundings. If this type of experience is the attribute that defines VR, think of it in contrast to any other means: none demands so much from your audience.

VR is only a technology, as is the internet, it was the cinema, television and radio at the time, an escape from reality where the maximum catalyst for this is human creativity. I mean, in the end we live only a new platform to experience emotions and experiences, so the opportunity for this technology to emerge is ideal today.

What VR can achieve, like all previous media, will be based on two aspects: the curious creativity of the people who work to achieve it and their optimistic passion to explore what they can do, something that has never been done before.

The experience of exploring with Virtual Reality was originally published in AR/VR Journey: Augmented & Virtual Reality Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.