Purpose of Virtual Reality

To allow one or more participants to get involved into sensorimotor activities and therefore mental ones within an artificial world which is

Which activities will depend on the application. The higher degree of realism is not always what should be targeted. Less realism but better (intuitive and/or easy to dominate) interaction would be a better choice.

NB1 : This is not the answer to the question: "what is the use of it ?".

NB2 : Fictitious does not mean that this would be only for game (teaching/training situation).

NB3 : In Augmented Reality the artificial world is what is added.

The Purpose of VR is to allow one or several people to do sensorimotor, and thus mental, experiments in an artificial world, which is either imaginary, or a simulation of some aspects of the real world.