virtual reality

virtual reality n.  1. Computer simulations that use 3-D
   graphics and devices such as the Dataglove to allow the user to
   interact with the simulation.  See {cyberspace}.  2. A form of
   network interaction incorporating aspects of role-playing games,
   interactive theater, improvisational comedy, and `true
   confessions' magazines.  In a virtual reality forum (such as
   Usenet's alt.callahans newsgroup or the {MUD} experiments on
   Internet), interaction between the participants is written like a
   shared novel complete with scenery, `foreground characters' that
   may be personae utterly unlike the people who write them, and
   common `background characters' manipulable by all parties.  The
   one iron law is that you may not write irreversible changes to a
   character without the consent of the person who `owns' it.
   Otherwise anything goes.  See {bamf}, {cyberspace},
   {teledildonics}.