Improvements to computer software, graphics cards, and processing power have made virtual reality more robust — and cheaper — than ever before. And as companies find themselves drawn to the technology, some colleges are discovering that a virtual-reality lab can do big business.
Wright State University, for example, has opened a virtual-reality lab that lets businesses conduct demanding computer-simulation projects without buying their own high-powered machines. Use of the lab costs $1,000 a day, but plenty of companies have reason to be interested: Carmakers and aviation firms have long used computer simulations, and now energy companies and manufacturers of farm equipment are following suit, reports the Associated Press. —Brock Read
