VR: Virtual Reality.
I hear you, I hear you. Abominations like the Virtua Boy arenot forgotten, or the early steps of VR in the 90s.
But I can tell you: this time, it's gonna blow people away. An example: Last night, I was playing the game Kairo a bit. It's got quite simplistic but very surreal graphics. Playing it on a monitor, I would have quickly dispensed the game, but playing it with the rift is quite a different beast: moving and looking around in these surroundings literally sucked me in. After about 10mins of playing, I had the feeling of BEING there. At first, I didn't even realize it, but suddenly I had the feeling, that I'm not looking around... Hmm, how to explain: Looking around via mouse or gamepad, the screen moves and I clearly know and don't forget that I am in a gameworld.
But being able to look around with your head, like in real life, naturally... Ah fuck, I'm at a lost of words.
Other example: while fiddling around with the settings in Live for speed (while still sitting in the virtual cockpit), I tried to rest my ellbow on the window/door of the car. Yes, I did feel quite stupid.
Of course, we're far from being completely immersed in a virtual word like in the Matrix, but being able to at least dive into the virtual world visually and acustically - really, it is mindboggling how much that changes the experience compared to watching it on a screen or even in 3d.
And there's more to come, VR is actually in its baby shoes, tactile feedback, motion sensoring etc, there are many creative minds working on this...