Virtual reality in marketing

Virtual reality (VR) is a special environment that uses a computer to give a user the experience of being physically present in real or imaginary places. VR technology was first used in the field of cultural heritage and archaeology, and today its application has spread to almost all areas, from science fiction, art, video games, music, health, to sports training and education, and in particular marketing - which is the focus of this paper. Ever since the development of the first computer, people were trying to create a virtual image of the world which would be similar to the real world, an experience for all of a user's senses, a place where the user's virtual presence can participate in the processes that alter it and shape it. Devices that are used for virtual reality (e.g. perception devices) are also called output devices because the computer relays the generated image information, sounds, force, smell, temperature, and everything that a person in the real world is perceiving, and the very purpose of these devices is to convert the information into a form that is adapted to human senses. Interaction or input devices send information to the computer about human movements, human speech, the pulse, etc. There have been attempts at consolidating all these devices into a single virtual system so that the consumer can fully perceive and interact with things in the virtual world. The primary objective of the authors of this paper was to emphasize that virtual reality, whose boom is expected in 2016, can be used as one of the most powerful marketing tools in the future - that is coming faster than ever.