The Philosophical Implication Of Virtual Reality Technology And Its Influence On Society

Virtual Reality is one of new fields of information technology. It is very difficult for people immersing in the three-dimension virtual world to distinguish between reality and illusion. At present this technology has been extensively employed in many aspects of society such as education, scientific research, military affairs and entertainments as well.As a technology influencing human being, VR technology is of great importance in philosophy. It has imposed some impacts on traditional philosophy in ontology, epistemology, axiology etc. With its characteristics of immersion, imagination and innovation, VR supplies us with a brand-new platform of creation and living. It requires us again to scrutinize the meaning of philosophical category such as "virtual" and "reality" etc. and to distinguish between virtual reality and real reality. We should rethink the essence of VR and the impacts that VR technology brings to our society in philosophy.Theoretically, VR technology can function almost the same as the real reality, and it can even create something impossible in real world. Ontologically, VR technology creates a new reality: virtual reality. It may lead: to the revolution of ontology. VR technology supplies us with a new style of practice--virtual practice. It will help us find a new way to understand the world. VRtechnology is of great value in epistemology, and also it predicts the virtual trend of future society.Every technology has its own limitation. It is very important to understand the limitation of VR technology philosophically. VR technology can create something impossible in real world. But it can only create something impossible in physics not in logic. The social attribution of technology also determines the constriction to VR technology on which the various kinds of social aspects impose. "Technology is a two-blade sword", VR is not the exception. Understanding the two aspects of VR technology is very helpful for us to understand VR technology deeply. Now VR has been widely used and it brings about great influence on human society. It is theoretically urgent to understand the great influence VR technology brings about.