Ye, W., Liu, S., & Song, F. (2017). History and Current State of Virtual Reality Technology and Its Application in Language Education. Journal of Technology and Chinese Language Teaching, 8(2), 70-100.
[叶为兵, 刘士娟, & 宋飞. (2017). 虚拟现实技术的历史、现状及其在语言教育中的应用. 科技与中文教学 (Journal of Technology and Chinese Language Teaching), 8(2), 70-100.]

Full paper

Abstract/摘要：

Having faded from public attention for nearly 20 years, virtual reality (VR) has been regaining its popularity since 2014 following Facebook’s acquisition of a startup VR company for two billion dollars. This paper first reviews the origin, history, and evolution of virtual reality technology, which can be traced back to the early 1930s, and analyzes factors related to the rise and fall of the VR technology in late 1980s and the mid-1990s respectively. The paper then introduces the development of VR technology since 2014, and categorizes the major VR products available in the markets (such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, and Samsung Gear VR). Additionally, the paper discusses the applications of virtual reality in education and other fields such as business, medicine, and entertainment. Finally, the paper describes sample products and practices of using VR technology in language teaching and learning. The paper concludes with an analysis of the advantages and challenges of applying VR technology in language education including Chinese language teaching and learning.

虚拟现实（VR）技术在时隔第一次热潮近20年后因为2014年Facebook以 20亿美元收购一家VR初创小公司而重新受到社会和媒体的关注。本文首先回顾虚拟现实技术的发展历史，并分析在上世纪八十年代末和九十年代出现的第一次VR热潮的兴起和冷却的原因及相关因素。其次，文章介绍2014年以来VR发展的情况并对市场上的主要VR产品进行分类。接着，文章讨论VR在教育以及电子商务、医疗卫生等各领域的应用。最后，文章探讨VR在包括中文在内的语言教学中的应用，并对其优势和挑战加以总结。