【每日翻译】虚拟现实会成为现实吗？

Most people associate virtual reality with the world of gaming or entertainment. What is all the fuss, you may wonder, about a futuristic contraption you wear on your head that makes you look like a creature from Star Wars? But this emerging technology has been spreading rapidly into many other areas and could fundamentally change your life in the future.

大部分人把虚拟现实与游戏世界和娱乐世界联系在一起，最奇怪的事情是你很疑惑戴在头上的奇怪的装置为什么会让你看起来像来自星球战争的人？但是这种新兴的技术已经速度普及到很多其他领域，会从根本上改变你未来的生活。

Virtual reality, or VR, is a computer-generated technology that creates a three-dimensional digital world that you can not only see and observe, but explore and interact with it as if you are there. Once you put on the special equipment – a helmet or goggles with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors– you become immersed in the virtual world.

虚拟现实，或者称为VR，它是一种计算机生成的技术，可以创建一个可看到和观察到的三维的数字世界，探索和互动就如同你身处其中。一旦你穿戴上这个特殊的设备——一个头盔或者里面有屏幕的护目镜，里面安装有传感器——你会沉浸在这个虚拟世界之中。

VR now has serious applications in fields as wide-ranging as business and medicine. VR has already proved effective as a training tool as it simulates real experiences. One simulation programme educates young drivers about the dangers of bad driving. Participants experience a dangerous car journey and a virtual accident. It is now being used to train surgeons. Connor Pierce of Samsung's IT for UK and Ireland thinks it will impinge on all walks of life: "We'll socialise via VR, we will do business via VR, we'll have VR team-meetings, we'll have VR education, museums will have virtual reality experiences…". Its benefits have been felt in the field of psychology and the treatment of mental health patients. Professor Daniel Freeman at the Warnford Hospital in Oxford uses it to treat vertigo and other anxiety disorders. He explains that by exposing patients to what they fear most in a virtual environment and showing them that nothing bad happens, they can eventually overcome their panic.

VR现在在商业和医学领域有广泛的应用，VR已经证明是一个有效的训练工具，因为它模拟了真实的体验。有一个模拟程序教育年轻的驾驶员关于不按规矩驾驶的危险。参与者体验危险的汽车旅行和虚拟的事故，现在VR也被用于外科培训。英格兰和爱尔兰的三星IT康纳认为它会影响到各行各业：“我们将通过虚拟VR进行社交，做生意，我们将有VR团队会议，VR教育，博物馆将有虚拟现实体验 ......”在心理领域和心理建行病患者的治疗中，它有很明显的好处，牛津医院的丹尼尔教授用它治疗眩晕症和其他的焦虑症，他解释说通过让患者在虚拟的环境中体验他们最害怕的事情，并告诉他们不会发生什么事情，你最终可以克服这种恐慌。

In the world of work too, VR may change our lives dramatically. Working individually at home, we can connect to our colleagues in a virtual space. We can be at home and at the office at the same time. For the first time, we can really be in two places at once.

在工作的世界里，VR可以戏剧化的改变我们的生活，可以独自在家工作，我们可以在虚拟空间与同事们联系，我们可以同时呆在家里和办公室里，我们可以一次呆在两个地方。

Some VR developers predict that the impact of VR could be as significant as the internet or mobile phones. Google alone has sold 2 million cardboard VR headsets in the last two years. Is a new age of reality about to dawn?

一些VR研发者预测VR的影响会和互联网或者手机一样的显著，在过去的两年里谷歌已经销售出去200万台纸板VR耳机，一个新时代的现实即将到来？