Yesterday´s innovation-today´s norm. An examination of the way virtual reality has been innovatively adopted into the industrial society

Only a short time ago, virtual reality (VR) was regarded as a leading edge, computer-based technology of limited application outside of entertainment and certain fields of training such as pilot training. When VR was first used, there was no such thing as the Internet or the World Wide Web (WWW). Now millions of individuals around the world are using VR-based technologies and the WWW as a delivery mechanism without even realizing it, This adoption of yesteryear´s innovation has been particularly rapid among organizations in industry where new techniques offer economic advantage in a highly competitive environment. VR is no longer about powerful, expensive computers and strange head mounted displays. The personal computer (PC) the “people´s workstation” is now delivering real-time, interactive, three-dimensional graphics, or VR, to users connected to the WWW. “3D on the Web” is now assisting in the training of production line workers, in visualizing and checking the assembly of factory units before they are implemented, in visualizing products at the design stage and many more industrial applications. The commonly available hardware platform, the PC, and the WWW enable interested parties to economically collaborate in projects and information distributed over public or private networks