Virtual reality

Virtual reality is the concept of digital simulation in a 3D interactive space. Virtual reality technology has been developed independently by many species thoughout history, the Karalian Empire became known as one of the most important pioneers and largest exporters of it during the Second Galactic Senate Era.

Individual programs capable of displaying virtual reality imagery are commonly referred to as VR's or simulations. Virtual reality programs capable of projection into the real world are known as AR's, short for augmented reality. Virtual reality programs allow a user to become immersed in another world often as an interactive experience. They have a variety of uses such as simulating environments for military training, predictive analysis of future events, studying scientific phenomena. They can also be used for both entertainment and education from creating fantasy worlds to reenacting historical events. Virtual reality is often integrated with artificial intelligence to allow the creation of independent entities that can further enhance immersiveness.

VR madness

Virtual reality is known induce a rare mental condition known as VR madness. When someone is afflicted by it, they begin to lose track of what is virtual reality and what isn't. A nihilistic, solipsistic mindset is the most prevailing symptom, and the person will often do incredibly reckless things in the real world, believing they are still in virtual reality. Studies have shown this condition to be more likely acquired from spending a significant amount of time in a VR that aims to replicate the real world to the tiniest detail with no immediately obvious indication that it is a simulation. As such, in some areas, hyperrealistic VR's are banned, while others legally require an easy way to escape from the VR to definitely tell the difference between the real world and the virtual world.

Simulation hypothesis

One ongoing theory is that the entire universe is in fact a simulation being run by the Empire of Arckas. As the Arckasians were known for observing the evolution of entire civilizations and even running experiments over the course of millions of years, this theory hasn't entirely been disproven. The main thing going against it is the memory capacity of the simulation. However, what was determined by recent studies into Arckasian computer systems showed that while the Arckasians did create universe-scale simulations, they also opted to create entire universes for the sake of simulation - as it proved to be more energy efficient.