Virtual Reality, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 14, 2016

Affordable VR Will Take Immersive Therapy Mainstream

A stroke patient stretches out a weak arm and grabs a hovering spaceship. A chronic pain sufferer uses her head to bat balls at cartoon bears. A veteran relives his battlefield experiences in a safe environment to help deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Therapeutic approaches that immerse patients in virtual...

Jan 5, 2017

Ancient 'Plain of Jars' Burial Site Recreated in Virtual Reality

Archaeologists have recreated an ancient burial site in virtual reality, to help them study hard-to-access locations at the so-called Plain of Jars site in Laos and the millennia-old relics it contains. The researchers will also use virtual reality to study other archaeological sites at the Plain of Jars, many of...

Feb 22, 2017

Explore the Amazon Rainforest with New Virtual-Reality Film

You can explore the Amazon rainforest's spectacular beauty and biodiversity right from the comfort of your home, thanks to a new 360-degree virtual-reality film from Conservation International. The film, called Under the Canopy, brings viewers into the depths of the Amazon, with the region's diverse environment on full display. But...

Feb 24, 2017

Roller Coasters Go Digital with VR-Enhanced Rides

If the swoops and swerves of a regular roller coaster aren't exhilarating enough for you, Six Flags is giving one of its thrill rides a digital twist, offering theme park visitors a new mixed-reality experience. The amusement park has renewed its partnership with Samsung to launch The New Revolution Galactic...

Mar 16, 2017

Dive with a Blue Whale in New Virtual-Reality Experience

Visitors to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (NHMLA) can now immerse themselves in spectacular ocean environments alongside a bevy of sea creatures with a new virtual-reality exhibit. TheBlu: An Underwater VR Experience invites users to enter a special viewing gallery, where they don HTC Vive virtual-reality (VR) headsets...

Mar 29, 2017

Reshaping the Universe: VR Landscapes Explore Mind-Bending Geometry

Virtual reality can take you to some far-out places — mountaintops, distant cities and even fantastical game worlds. A team of artists and mathematicians is now adding to that list: universes where the usual rules of geometry and physics don't apply. Vi Hart, who founded the research group eleVR, led...

Apr 6, 2017

Ancient Jerusalem Comes Alive in New Virtual-Reality App

This story was updated at 12:29 a.m. ET on April 7. Visitors to Jerusalem and virtual tourists alike can now see the city as it looked in ancient history, with a virtual-reality app based on archaeological reconstructions of the city at the height of its splendor under Roman rule in...

Apr 6, 2017

In Photos: Experience Ancient Jerusalem's Splendor with Virtual-Reality App

A historic icon (Image credit: Golasso)Jerusalem's Western Wall is one of the most iconic cultural sites in the ancient city. The layers of stone blocks at the base of the wall were laid around 20 B.C., when Temple Mount and the Jewish Second Temple were rebuilt by the Roman client-king...

Apr 18, 2017

Google Earth Virtual Reality Will Take You to Any Address in the World

A new Google Earth Virtual Reality (VR) feature allows users to enter any address — whether it's grandma's house or a 19th-century castle in Germany — and fly over it in 3D with a VR headset. When Google Earth VR debuted, people could virtually visit a number of popular tourist...

Apr 21, 2017

Tour London's Natural History Museum in VR with David Attenborough

You'll soon be able to take a hands-on tour of London's Natural History Museum with famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough, right from the comfort of your couch. The new project combines interactive virtual-reality (VR) technology with a TV documentary, in which a hologram of Attenborough takes viewers behind the glass...

May 4, 2017

Follow a Complete Everest Expedition in New VR Film

Want to climb the world's tallest mountain, but don't want to leave the comfort of your own home? Now you can, thanks to a new virtual-reality documentary series that allows you to experience the most notorious mountaineering journey in the world. Capturing Everest is a new four-episode VR series that...

May 8, 2017

Fake Walls, Real Shocks: VR System Simulates Physical Barriers

What happens when you walk into a wall in virtual reality? Nothing yet, but soon, your muscles could get shocked when you smack into a barrier, thanks to a new research project that aims to simulate walls and other objects in virtual reality. This expansion on the virtual reality (VR)...

May 11, 2017

'Alien: Covenant In Utero' Lets You Experience a Neomorph Birth in VR

As a science fiction fan, I've always shuddered at the thought of an alien bursting out of my chest. But I've never thought about what it might be like to be the one doing the chest-bursting. That is, until now. The team behind the upcoming Alien: Covenant — the latest...

Aug 25, 2017

Scientists Built a Virtual Reality 'Holodeck' for Lab Animals

Devotees of the late, great sci-fi series Star Trek: The Next Generation will remember the holodeck, a space-age virtual reality arena that could replicate any kind of environment. While it could be used as a training platform, Enterprise officers most often used the holodeck as a recreational space, immersing themselves...

Oct 19, 2017

In Photos: Explore WWII Shipwreck in Virtual Reality

SS Thistlegorm (Image credit: Thistlegorm Project)A famous shipwreck and diving site in the Red Sea has been recreated on the web in virtual reality by a team of marine archaeologists and imaging specialists. The Thistlegorm Project, which went online this month, includes a highly-detailed three-dimensional model of the British freighter...