Virtual reality appears on one of the earliest Horizon Reports – back in 2007, when it was predicted to be 4 to 5 years out from being a widely adopted technology in higher ed. I’m not sure we’re any closer to widespread adoption, truth be told. But entrepreneurs and investors and their hype men are pretty excited about the latest hardware. (Major players include Google and Facebook, both of which have expressed interest in VR in education.)

Some of that hardware is actually a lot like the old stereoscope, which tricked the brain into perceiving three dimensionality in a two dimensional image. Mattel has even brought back the old View Master to work with Google Cardboard.

Much of the content these low-end products simply provide a viewing experience for 360 degree video. Is that really “virtual reality”? I guess if you can’t get a product “on the horizon” to be widely adopted, you can just move the goalposts.