Most people associate virtual reality with the world of gaming or entertainment. What is all the fuss, you may wonder, about a futuristic contraption you wear on your head that makes you look like a creature from Star Wars? But this emerging technology has been spreading rapidly into many other areas and could fundamentally change your life in the future.

　　提到VR，大多数人都会把他们和游戏娱乐联系到一起。你可能会好奇，那个戴在头上，让你看起来像星球大战里的奇怪生物一样的超前装置是什么，请不要大惊小怪。这种新兴的技术已经迅速的扩展到其他领域，并且可能从根本上改变你未来的生活。

　　Virtual reality, or VR, is a computer-generated technology that creates a three-dimensional digital world that you can not only see and observe, but explore and interact with it as if you are there. Once you put on the special equipment – a helmet or goggles with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors – you become immersed in the virtual world.

　　虚拟现实或是VR是一种计算机生成技术，能够创造三维立体的数字世界，你不仅可以看到物体，还可以身临其境的感受探索并与之互动。而你只需要戴上一种特殊的装备——头盔或者护目镜。里面有一个屏幕或者装有传感器的手套，你就可以沉浸在虚拟世界里了。目前VR在商业和医学等领域的应用非常广泛，现在已经证明是一种有效的训练工具，可以模拟真实的体验。例如一个模拟项目向年轻司机们介绍不良驾驶的危害：参与者经历了一次危险的汽车旅行和一次虚拟的事故。

　　VR now has serious applications in fields as wide-ranging as business and medicine. VR has already proved effective as a training tool as it simulates real experiences. One simulation programme educates young drivers about the dangers of bad driving. Participants experience a dangerous car journey and a virtual accident. It is now being used to train surgeons. Connor Pierce of Samsung’s IT for UK and Ireland thinks it will impinge on all walks of life: "We’ll socialise via VR, we will do business via VR, we’ll have VR team-meetings, we’ll have VR education, museums will have virtual reality experiences…". Its benefits have been felt in the field of psychology and the treatment of mental health patients. Professor Daniel Freeman at the Warnford Hospital in Oxford uses it to treat vertigo and other anxiety disorders. He explains that by exposing patients to what they fear most in a virtual environment and showing them that nothing bad happens, they can eventually overcome their panic.

　　这项技术也可以用来训练外科医生。一些人认为它会影响到所有人的生活：我们将通过虚拟现实进行社交，通过虚拟现实进行商业活动，通过团队会议进行虚拟现实教育，还有博物馆等都可以通过虚拟现实来体验。它的好处在心理学的治疗中得到了体现，牛津沃尔福德医院的 Daniel Freeman 教授用它来治疗眩晕症和焦虑症。他解释说通过让患者在虚拟环境接触他们害怕的东西，并向他们展示没有什么不好的事情发生，帮助他们战胜自我的恐惧。

　　In the world of work too, VR may change our lives dramatically. Working individually at home, we can connect to our colleagues in a virtual space. We can be at home and at the office at the same time. For the first time, we can really be in two places at once.

　　在工作中，虚拟现实也可能会极大的改变我们的生活。即使在家里工作，我们也可以通过虚拟空间与同事们交流。我们还可以同时在家里和办公室工作，同时出现在两个地方。

　　Some VR developers predict that the impact of VR could be as significant as the internet or mobile phones. Google alone has sold 2 million cardboard VR headsets in the last two years. Is a new age of reality about to dawn?

　　一些虚拟现实开发商预测虚拟现实的影响可能会和互联网或移动电话一样重要。在过去的两年中，谷歌就已经售出了200万款虚拟现实头盔，一个新的虚拟现实时代即将来临了吗?