Trends Analysis of Virtual Reality Research between 1987 and 2021

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the way how we communicate with others. From ZOOM to Meta-verse, an increasing number of people are shifting to the virtual world for work and personal life. However, as a technology, virtual reality is still considered merely a device for immersive gaming for the young generation. Thus, despite itspotential, virtual reality is hardly discussed as acore technology enabling Metaverse, which provides a virtual world for everyone. Therefore, it is necessary to examine prior studies for an understanding full spectrum of virtual reality research. There are three primary aims of this study 1. To trace the history of virtual reality research for providing a holisticview oftheresearch trajectory. 2. Todiscover prevalent topics during the last 34 years as well as highly cited papers and authors. 3. To find hub topics for identifying the direction of interdisciplinary research. © 2022, Tamkang University. All rights reserved.