Virtual Reality: How Much Immersion Is Enough?

Solid evidence of virtual reality\´s benefits has graduated from impressive visual demonstrations to producing results in practical applications. Further, a realistic experience is no longer immersion\´s sole asset. Empirical studies show that various components of immersion provide other benefits - full immersion is not always necessary. The goal of immersive virtual environments (VEs) was to let the user experience a computer-generated world as if it were real - producing a sense of presence, or "being there," in the user\´s mind.