Book excerpt: Virtual reality is a perceptual experience, achieved using technology. Anyone wishing to develop virtual reality should understand the human perceptual processes with which the technology seeks to interact and control. The book presents state-of-the-art reviews of the current understanding of these human perceptual processes and the implications for virtual reality. It reports research which has tried to make the technology capable of delivering the required perceptual experience, comprising a basis for future virtual reality research, so as to achieve the optimum development of the field. It is intended to be of use to anyone who is involved with the creation of a virtual reality experience.