When I was younger, my favorite after-school cartoon was The Magic School Bus. (If you don’t know what this is, enlighten yourself — show your own children, and thank me later.)

Anyway…

The episode that always resonated with me was the one in which Miss Frizzle and her ragtag band of students shrink themselves (and their magic bus) down to the cellular size and explore the human body.

When I was a kid, sitting “criss-cross-applesauce” on a sofa cushion in front of the TV, The Magic School Bus seemed like just that… magic. The show was just the result of someone’s zany imagination, and we would forever be forced to settle with animated images of red blood cells.

To be able to see that in real life? Impossible.

That was just a few decades ago, but already, that “magic” is real, and we witnessed it in full force at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Among 3,600 exhibitors, we saw wearable technology, 3D printing, robots, drones, and driverless cars. We saw presentations from Samsung, LG, Qualcomm, and other tech giants.

But virtual reality (VR) was the star.

Headsets were everywhere, next to holographic projectors and enormous PC devices with controllers and sensors.

We saw the big names and the already-famous devices — Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear, and others.

Samsung even took a few thousand spectators on a complete “rollercoaster ride” using its device with 4-D theater seats.

It truly is an impressive feat, especially considering VR’s tumultuous history. Starting as an abstract idea in the 1950s, the concept of VR manifested as the first head-mounted display, HeadSight, in the early 1960s.

(Honestly, it looks more like a torture device, but let’s give credit where credit is due.)

(Sir, do your eyes hurt?!)

Clearly, the technology has come a long way, and the range of devices is a feat in itself. Ranging from Google’s Cardboard to more complex treadmill styles like Virtuix’s Omni, virtual reality is hitting the tech scene in a very big way.

Researchers estimate that VR headset sales will grow by 500% in 2016. Total revenues are projected to reach $540 million, a 440% increase at the end of 2015.

Additionally, game sales could reach another $1 billion. Dozens of developers have been working on various titles for different systems. Once devices get off the ground, the possibilities for software will be endless.

There is already a huge demand for “adult entertainment.” I’ll let you use your imagination for that one.

Oculus has been at the forefront of the VR conversation for years, especially after Facebook bought the company for $2 billion, moving the company out from a teenager’s garage in California. Now, Oculus is ready to release its first consumer-ready version of the Rift headset — coming in March of 2016.

But there’s a catch…

This may just be a personal opinion, but I believe that technology is most valuable when it is a medium for change. Technology is supposed to improve your life or, best-case scenario, save lives.

This is the kind of argument I use when I tell my friend that her $300 trash can with a motion-sensor lid is, in itself, garbage.

I don’t want to minimize the accomplishments of recreational technology (or robot trash cans). The advances we’re seeing in the gaming (and waste disposal) world are truly astronomical.

Virtual reality is literally transporting people to far-off places while they remain in the comfort of their own homes. My friend can literally… open her trash can?

But virtual reality is expanding into other spheres as well, and this is where my Magic School Bus reference is going to come full circle. (I could tell you had your doubts.)

Not Just for Gamers

At the end of 2015, a cardiovascular surgeon in Miami was able to use an array of MRI scans, a smartphone, and a Google Cardboard (cost: $4.95) to go on a field trip of his own… to the inside of a little girl’s heart.

Only four months old, Teegan Lexcen was born with a malformed heart and no left lung. Her upcoming surgery would determine whether or not Teegan would see her first Christmas, but her surgeon was struggling with mapping her heart.

Fortunately for Teegan, the 3D tour her cardiovascular surgeon was able to take was like “standing in the operating room two weeks prior to surgery.” Without the imaging perspective that virtual reality technology offered, it’s likely that Teegan’s procedure would not have been successful.

Teegan’s doctor is one of many who are using virtual reality to prepare for complex operations or to provide general training to medical staff. 

Virtual reality is also serving a therapeutic purpose for individuals (and especially veterans) who are coping with anxieties, phobias, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By using VR simulations, psychologists are able to help patients conquer their fears and work through traumatic events in a safe and controlled environment.

Other types of simulations have been used to help senior citizens and disabled patients experience sensations that are either a forgotten memory or an impossible dream. There are dozens examples of tearjerker stories like this — like children with cancer being able to “swim” through an animated fish tank. 

The opportunities for solutions like these are endless, especially since most headsets allow the user to determine their own software. Although some VR technology is reserved specifically for gaming and recreation (like Sony’s Morpheus), others are customizable and can be tailored to the needs of the user.

As more devices hit the mainstream and prices decrease, we can only expect more lives to be bettered by this technology. 

And that’s what it’s all about, right?

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