Three really real questions about the future of virtual reality

As Oculus Rift pre-orders begin, debate remains about how mainstream VR will be, whether it's about more than games, and what it'll do to humans

Is 2016 the year that virtual reality (VR) finally makes its breakthrough as a mainstream technology? That's a question for its evangelists and sceptics to argue about, and there are plenty in both camps.

With Facebook's Oculus Rift headset now available to pre-order, Sony's PlayStation VR and HTC's Vive on their way, and millions of cheap Google Cardboard headsets out in the wild already, this year will see a barrage of experimentation around VR.