Virtual Reality - Keyword Evaluation
- Lauren Curry
- Oct 16, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 17, 2024
Keyword, Culture, and Technology are intertwined together in an amazingly complex way.
Author: Lauren Curry
Image Source: Entrepreneur
I used to think that words held one very specific meaning that was universally acknowledged by most in society. I’ve now realized that keywords are way more complex than that. Keywords are not only complex due to their historical development but also because they hold different meanings to different groups of people.
Virtual Reality is one of them...
Virtual Reality is a fairly new and improving keyword that is only now becoming very popular.
According to the OED, virtual reality refers to
“A computer-generated simulation of a lifelike environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person, esp. by means of responsive hardware such as a visor with screen or gloves with sensors; such environments or the associated technology as a medium of activity or field of study; cyberspace” [1].
This is the definition that I associated with virtual reality.
The very first account of the word virtual reality in history was from a document made in 1979 by the IBM Data Processing Division. The IBM Data Processing Division is a marketing and sales organization in the United States that offers data processing products, and markets large-scale computers, processors and storage products [2]. In the broadsheet that was released in 1979 by this division, the word virtual reality was used to propose the idea of creating a more powerful system than anyone had ever known, that had the capability to allow users to migrate to totally imaginary universes.
Though this was the first written account of the word there were many other accounts of researchers and technologists developing stimulating environments previously. This was highlighted in another source of the definition in the OED for virtual reality. In 1987 The Media Lab published a book called Inventing the Future MIT, which was framed for leading the reinvention of communication technology and applying computer science to daily lives. This book explored the idea that virtual reality was a concept created way before anyone knew about it. It stated that virtual reality was created by mediterranean intellectuals during the renaissance as they accessed their “memory palace”[3]. A memory place is a concept where an individual has the ability to access past memories through images in a familiar location. The idea is that you can look through your past memories by walking through them [4]. This creates more complexity to the word virtual reality as it moves further from just computers and hardware, and more towards how the human brain can create a type of virtual reality.
In 1989, Whole Earth Review used the word virtual reality in their Fall 1989 issue. The Whole Earth Review held a very important role in promoting new alternative technology as well as appropriate technology for certain projects [5]. This journal usually made efforts to be at the forefront of technological advancements which did not exclude virtual reality. It followed the Media Lab book closely by stating that virtual reality was in fact not a computer, but veered from the Media Lab to say that it still does use technology to synthesize a shared reality.
In 1993, the game aspect of virtual reality came to play. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an Industry, Captured Your Money and Enslaved Your Children written by David Sheff was released in 1993, which shed light on the game side of virtual reality. In the 1990’s, handheld games were becoming more prevalent, thanks to the ‘Game Boy.’ Though Arcade games were still heavily played they were certainly on the decline as more at-home consoles were becoming popular [6]. In the book Game Over, virtual reality is used when talking about game consoles that require hardware such as ‘binocular-like goggles,’ where a user may visit another universe that is fictional; thus a virtual reality. This source has now come full circle back to the 1970’s where virtual reality was being studied as a powerful system that could transport a person to a fictional universe, which in that time was unfathomable.
In 2007, the word virtual reality changed to describe a multiplayer type of game that could be played by users together. Though this type of virtual reality was not subjective to just gaming. A book was released in 2008 called Halting State by Charles Stross, which depicted a story about a virtual reality game that was more than just a game. The game in the story was so immersive in regular real life that it provided the opportunity for characters to conduct a robbery inside the virtual game, creating a type of universe that could be ‘lived in’ in a sense [7]. This kickstarted the idea that virtual reality could become less of a game and more of a computer generated world with its own separate reality, that could be accessed by anyone who used it; thus synthesizing the idea of the metaverse. (The metaverse is a hypothetical idea that the internet can be a universal and immersive virtual world that can be used for, and focused on, social connection by connecting through virtual reality headsets [8].)
Virtual reality is a complex word that can’t just be wrapped up into one generalized meaning. As seen through many different sources throughout history, it is evident that the word virtual reality is subject to consistent change and updating. This is particularly interesting as virtual reality is still fairly new. As shown in the Google Ngram Viewer, the word virtual reality became apparent quickly around the 1980’s which is likely due to the research of Jaron Lanier, who began to develop the gear needed for the experience he so called ‘virtual reality’ in the early 1980’s [9].
The word's use rapidly increased since the 1980's with a slight decline in the 2010’s, but now is still on a steady incline. As virtual reality is a word that will now be continuously researched in our new technology, there is no question new meanings and further complexities will be attached further on to the word.
Even my perception of the word has changed.
I never knew much about the word virtual reality but I was always curious to learn. I knew that virtual reality was similar to a console that you were able to play games on, but the games were more 3D to the user. My ignorance was soon revealed once I started doing my research on the word itself. I never knew that virtual reality was used in earlier years as a way to describe how the human brain can work. My understanding now of the word virtual reality diverts from the simple idea of it only relating to computers and hardware, to a larger concept of the way reality can be altered to be virtual, which can even be related to the human brain and a way humans can choose to live. My understanding of the word virtual reality will most likely further change in the future as society creates and attaches more meanings and ideas to the word. I am intrigued on what new meanings will come next in this words life.
[1] “Virtual reality.” Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/328583?
[2] “The IBM Data Processing Division.” IBM Archives,
[3] “The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT (summary).” WorldCat,
[4] “Remembering More of Everything: The Memory Palace.” Farnam Street, February 25,
[5] “Whole Earth Review.” Anarchism, https://anarchivism.org/w/Whole_Earth_Review
[6] Chikhani, Riad. “The History Of Gaming: An Evolving Community, October 25, 2015,
[7] “Review of Halting State by Charles Stross.” Speculiction, November 23, 2014,
[8] Ravenscraft, Eric. “What Is the Metaverse, Exactly?.” Wired, April 25, 2022,
[9] “History of Virtual Reality.” The Franklin Institute, December 19, 2019.
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