The media event /spl lsqb/virtual reality/spl rsqb/

The author describes how virtual reality/spl minus/and its ability to immerse users in interactive three-dimensional worlds/spl minus/was presented as amazing and miraculous, both a salvation and a danger by the media in the USA. He describes how one effect of the media attention has been a broadening of the definition of virtual reality. Initially used only for systems with helmet displays and control gloves that fully immersed users in interactive worlds, the term is now used to describe everything from augmented reality (looking through a display at the real world but with some computer information superimposed on it) to telepresence (remotely controlling a robotic device) to three-dimensional movies.<>