VR

VR is incredibly immersive for sight and sound, touch can be done, and even smell is starting to appear. That just leaves one sense – and whether or not anyone actually wants to taste virtual worlds, a new device is now tackling that final frontier.

FuninVR’s new US$7,000 single-seat VR DropTower and $9,000 twin-seat VR Skyship might be aimed at the Arcade marketplace, but they effectively mark the beginning of affordable consumer-level motion-simulated VR.

Indoor cycling could soon be getting a lot more appealing. The HoloBike system combines a stationary bike with an immersive, interactive 3D holographic display … and it doesn't require riders to wear cumbersome VR helmets or glasses.

Move over, quantum dots – quantum rods could be the next big display technology. These tiny sticks could improve 3D displays for VR headsets, and now engineers at MIT have overcome a logistical hurdle by arranging them onto a scaffold made of DNA.

A research team from the UK's Nottingham Trent University, the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales Canberra has developed a display prototype that could replace the LCD panels common to many of today's big-screen TVs.

VR app company Bigscreen is moving into hardware with the launch of the Beyond headset, which is claimed to be the world's smallest – coming in at less than an inch at its thinnest point and said to weigh in six times lighter than other VR devices.

A first-of-its-kind study has found adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities may experience improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression after using specially designed virtual reality sensory rooms.

Using a newly developed VR game, researchers believe they have created a tool that can objectively diagnose ADHD. The system tracks a user's eye movements and has also been proposed as a way of monitoring the efficacy of certain therapeutic interventions.

While technology is making strides in absorbing our eyes and ears in virtual worlds, it’s harder to engage senses like touch. Engineers have now developed WeTac, a thin, wearable electronic "skin" that provides tactile feedback to users in VR and AR.

In Meta's ongoing quest to make the nebulous "metaverse" a virtual reality, it has already released two of the most amazing all-in-one, untethered VR headsets we've ever seen. Now, meet the Meta Quest Pro, a next-level headset with no expense spared.

A fascinating trial has reported virtual reality immersion can reduce the amount of sedatives needed during certain types of hand surgery. The trial found patients using VR could get through an entire surgical procedure with only local anesthetic.

A pair of unassuming psychedelic researchers have proposed a radical paradigm shift to the way psychotherapy is conducted, presenting a unique protocol for incorporating virtual reality into the still-experimental model of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.