Virtual environment

A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email, chat, and web-based document sharing applications are all examples of virtual environments. Simply put, it is a networked common operating space. Once the fidelity of the virtual environment is such that it "creates a psychological state in which the individual perceives himself or herself as existing within the virtual environment" [1] then the virtual environment (VE) has progressed into the realm of immersive virtual environments (IVEs).

  1. ^ (Blascovich, 2002, p. 129)