ABSTRACT
As Descartes suggested, there is no de˜nitive truth; reality emanates from that which is present to our senses, and these senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion can be deceived. It is this capacity to fool the sensory systems that we attempt to capitalize on when building a virtual world. More than cinema, which can evoke emotion even without relying on identi˜cation with psychological characters (Eisenstein, 1987), virtual worlds can provide a direct and egocentric perceptive of an imaginary world within which it is dif˜cult to distinguish the virtual from the real. The goal of this experience is to deceive us and represent a truth that can educate, train, entertain, and inspire. In their ultimate form, virtual environments (VEs) immerse users in an alternate reality that stimulates multiple senses, providing vibrant experiences that are so veridical they fundamentally transform those exposed (e.g., via training, educating, marketing, or entertaining).
