VR, or Virtual Reality, is a technology designed to make you feel immersed in a virtual world. It’s a distinctly different feeling than playing a game or navigating a 3D environment on a static 2D monitor, giving a real feeling of presence in the virtual space. This is typically achieved with a VR headset that places one or two displays very close to your eyes, whilst tracking your position so that it can be translated into the virtual world.

The technology has grown and improved in leaps and bounds over the past decade, with the best VR headsets featuring super high-resolution displays, ever-more nuanced motion controls, and even the ability to use them wirelessly.

VR is getting all the more exciting, all the time, but if you want to know where we are and how we got here, here’s a guide to what VR actually is.

Virtual reality technology seeks to create a realistic three-dimensional image or environment that a human can perceive as real, and even interact with in realistic ways. We aren’t at Matrix-like levels of immersion, but the latest generation headsets, games, and virtual experiences can feel incredibly realistic. Even when you’re aware that you’re in a virtual space, it can still be a lot of fun to interact with the world using the natural motion of your body, with motion controls tracking hands, fingers, and even facial expressions with some headsets.

In VR, you can pick up things, throw them, build things, bend down to look at something closely, or lie on your back and stare at the stars. Even looking behind you, rather than always staring straight ahead as you would on a standard monitor or TV, is a novel experience.

This is all achieved with a VR headset, some form of controller, and some kind of tracker so that the game or experience knows where you are and what you’re doing.

VR works by placing a small screen, typically a high-resolution LCD or OLED monitor, within just a few inches of your eyes. This is then augmented with stereoscopic lenses, distorting the image so that it looks 3D. As you move your head around, the headset tracks your location and orientation, adjusting the in-game visuals accordingly, so that your real-world movements are mimicked in the virtual experience.

This, combined with the all-encompassing view of the headset, and that you can see your motion-tracked hands or other appendages, makes you feel like you’re actually in the virtual world you’re exploring.

This is distinctly different from AR (augmented reality), which overlays virtual objects onto the real world. In AR, there are solid fixed points of reference that your eyes can use to track and navigate. In VR, the full environment is simulated and realism is harder to attain.

Cutting-edge VR projects are working with tactile sensations and even smells, but in the consumer market, VR is typically limited to vision, hearing, and handling simple objects. But you’d be amazed at what can be done with just these senses.

The most important component in modern-day virtual reality is the VR headset. This piece of hardware typically includes the displays that show the virtual world, the lenses that make it appear 3D to your eyes, and some sort of audio solution, be it speakers or headphones. Most headsets have a comfortable strap mechanism for mounting on your head, and some have built-in cameras for tracking. Others include facial trackers and additional ports for adding accessories.

Some headsets are wired, like the Valve Index, requiring a hard connection to a powerful gaming PC to run, while others, like the Meta Quest 2, are designed to operate independently and have a built-in battery alongside their own processing power. There are older VR headsets designed to work with mobile phones, too, but those are antiquated and largely unused today.

While the headset is, in many cases, the only piece of hardware you absolutely need to enjoy virtual reality, most VR systems also employ other components to make the experience work, or at least make it work better.

You’ll find all the best VR headsets in our companion guide, but that doesn’t cover all the different types of VR headsets that have been released in recent years.

All of these headsets, regardless of their intended use, have varying specifications. These can affect the headset and the end user’s experience of VR in different ways: