Once upon a time, Virtual Reality meant clunky hardware, patchy software, dodgy films starring Pierce Brosnan, and a seemingly permanent membership of the ‘Next Big Thing’ club. In 2015, however, falling prices and endorsements from the major companies mean that VR is back on the agenda. Film-makers are using VR to make documentaries, Smithsonian is replicating first flight, gaming manufacturers are eyeing up the possibilities, while Mark Zuckerberg has been busy splashing the cash with a $2 billion Facebook acquisition of the Oculus VR start-up firm – which will come out with a retail product in the first quarter of 2016. With Virtual Reality back
