1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineMiddle East crisisCOP29 climate talks
Omar Wael, a 13-year-old Egyptian developer, wears a virtual reality (VR) device as he works at his home in Alexandria
Image: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERSImage: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERS

Virtual reality

Virtual reality, or VR, is the three-dimensional and interactive perception of computer-generated, artificial environments.

Skip next section All Content on this topic

All Content on this topic

01.2012 DW Shift Sendungslogo

Shift - Living in the Digital Age

Virtual reality headsets for all, Apple for artists, and on Exit, inline skating in Shanghai.
March 29, 2016
DW Shift Virtual Reality

Virtual reality for all

Virtual-reality headsets are making their market debut, but how will they be used?
CultureMarch 28, 201603:35 min
DeutschesStart-up Splash auf der SXSW

German start-ups at SXSW

German start-ups are drawing crowds at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
March 22, 2016
external

German start-ups at SXSW

German start-ups are drawing crowds at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
BusinessMarch 21, 201603:34 min

Digital innovation in the travel industry

Technical innovations like robots, smart hotel rooms or 3-D goggles, are changing how people will travel in the future.
CultureMarch 13, 201604:36 min
Visitor tries out VR-goggles at tourism trade show. (Foto: DW)

Digital innovation in the travel industry

One of the future trends in the travel industry is towards digital innovations.
March 9, 2016
external

Virtual reality takes center stage in Barcelona

Virtual reality takes center stage at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
February 24, 201602:42 min
Virtual reality at MWC 2016

The last visorless generation

The future of the tech sector lies not quite in this world, Janelle Dumalaon reports from Barcelona.
February 24, 2016
DW Shift Virtual Reality im Kino

Virtual Reality: Visual revolution in film

A British filmmaker makes videos for viewers wearing virtual reality goggles.
February 23, 2016
01.2012 DW Shift Sendungslogo

Shift - Living in the Digital Age | 22.02.2016

World-famous emojis from Austria, virtual reality goggles in the cinema, and drones flying in formation.
February 23, 2016
external

Samsung and Facebook VR pioneers

Virtual Reality emerges as a big trend at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
February 22, 201602:05 min
01.2012 DW Shift Sendungslogo

Shift - Living in the Digital Age

Risks for whistleblowers and opportunities for virtual reality. And on Exit: a music video with a retro feel.
February 2, 2016
Gamescom 2015 VR One

Virtual reality feeling its way forward

Virtual-reality sets are making a market in actual reality with a vast array of potential uses.
February 2, 2016
Gamescom 2015 VR One

Virtual reality feeling its way forward

Virtual-reality sets are making a market in actual reality with a vast array of potential uses.
February 2, 2016
Gamescom 2015 VR One

Virtual reality feeling its way forward

Virtual-reality sets are making a market in actual reality with a vast array of potential uses.
February 2, 2016
Gamescom 2015 VR One

Virtual reality feeling its way forward

Virtual-reality sets are making a market in actual reality with a vast array of potential uses.
February 2, 2016
DW Shift Virtual Reality

Virtual reality feeling its way forward

Virtual-reality sets are making a market in actual reality with a vast array of potential uses.
ScienceFebruary 1, 201602:59 min
DW Euromaxx Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality: a revolution in film

Virtual reality has arrived in the cinema. The film industry is experimenting with new techniques.
February 1, 2016
Man wearing VR glasses

Virtual Reality: a revolution in film

Virtual reality has arrived in the cinema.The film industry is now experimenting with new techniques.
February 1, 2016
Film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Mockingjay Part 2

Berlin’s disused Tempelhof airport served as a shooting location for the final part of the fantasy film series.
February 1, 2016

Virtual Reality: Kino in virtual worlds

KINO’s special edition about virtual film worlds and their creators.
February 1, 2016

KINO - The Movie Magazine | 30.01.2016

Virtual reality on the big screen: KINO visits specialists in Stuttgart, Berlin and Los Angeles.
February 1, 2016
Virtual reality

Davos: getting to grips with an ever more digital world

As technology takes leaps and bounds, Davos attendees get to grips with an ever more digital world.
January 24, 201601:54 min

Virtual reality: A new frontier in cinema

KINO’s special edition about virtual film worlds and their creators.
November 9, 2015
Augmented Reality

Mapping the world with virtual reality

Tech companies are capturing even the most remote areas of the globe with 360 degree cameras.
November 2, 2015

Virtual Reality: Video Game Revolution

Virtual Reality could be the future of video gaming. Through special glasses, virtual worlds become tangible.
LifestyleAugust 9, 201504:32 min
external

@dwnews - Virtual reality

August 7, 201503:36 min

Gamescom is paradies for gamers

Virtual reality goggles, new games and professional gamers are attracting thousands of visitors to Cologne's Gamescom.
August 7, 2015
DW Shift Einsatz von Virtual-Reality Brillen

How scientists and artists use 3D glasses

Virtual reality goggles are not only used for video games; they can also be helpful in the medical world. Scientists and artists alike are now experimenting with this additional dimension.
ScienceApril 7, 201503:53 min
Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels 2014 Jaron Lanier

Jaron Lanier awarded

American Jaron Lanier, who is heralded as one of the pioneers of virtual reality, has received one of Germany's most prestigious publishing prizes. The ceremony took place on the last day of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
October 12, 2014
external

Facebook bets on virtual reality technology

Facebook is buying virtual reality company Oculus for $2bn. The US-based firm makes virtual reality headsets that enable users to walk through virtual spaces. The acquisition comes just weeks after the social network bought up messaging startup WhatsApp - in a bid to attract younger users.
BusinessMarch 27, 201401:16 min

DIY virtual reality goggles

Virtual reality glasses were complex and expensive. Now there's an alternative.
January 21, 2014
Virtual Reality glasses

Life's a virtual reality

The era of the virtual reality game is now truly upon us. One computer scientist in Bonn has even developed his own virtual reality system. And the virtual world is available at your fingertips because you can enter it via your own smartphone.
ScienceJanuary 20, 201404:24 min
A scientist works on a new car design

Spectrum

It's going to be a big year in European space science, with Rosetta and Galileo. But we're also extracting trace elements from the pharmaceutical soup that is our waste water and wearing virtual reality gaming glasses.
ScienceJanuary 20, 201429:59 min

Virtual Reality - Training with simulators

Whether for captains, pilots or doctors – computer simulations are a growing aspect of job training. Their advantage lies in the ability to test out realistic but perfectly safe scenarios, so that candidates can prepare themselves for the real thing in a risk free environment. Tomorrow Today presents some examples.
ScienceDecember 2, 201302:43 min

Virtual Reality to Fight Phobias

Phobias, irrational fears of things that are actually harmless, can be overcome with confrontation therapy. Therapists put people with a fear of flying on an airplane, for example. That’s time-consuming and expensive. Now there’s help from virtual reality: it recreates the fear-evoking situation and seems so real that it actually triggers rapid heartbeat in patients.
LifestyleFebruary 21, 201304:22 min

Virtual Reality - Training with simulators

Whether for captains, pilots or doctors – computer simulations are a growing aspect of job training. Their advantage lies in the ability to test out realistic but perfectly safe scenarios, so that candidates can prepare themselves for the real thing in a risk free environment. Tomorrow Today presents some examples.
ScienceJanuary 7, 201302:37 min
Sexy avatars in Second Life

EU Goes Virtual

Move over Ansche Chung. The EU is pondering an office in the virtual-reality platform Second Life.
March 13, 2007

Virtual Surgery

Surgeons may one day practice surgery techniques with the help of a robot developed in Aachen.
December 30, 2006