Virtual reality is very much alive and growing. It just doesn't always require the headset now. The principles have been incorporated into great bunches of similators, mostly for training purposes; and they can be "very real" or just "very virtual" depending on how well everything gets put together.

One very obvious use, aside from the games, is in pilot training. Most of the airplane makers of any significance have training simulators that are very realistic for any of their current models. Many airlines have their own, separately designed and built, to teach slightly differently. Some of these simulators require a full crew: pilot, copilot, navigator, gunner, loadmaster, etc., and coordinated simulation for each crewmember is part of the deal.

You don't see the headsets because wearing a headset is, itself, different than "real world" for most. Flat screen and back projection screens (and large rooms for the simulators) present a "more real world" experience. Many of the larger simulators include "motion" (actually acceleration) simulation.

The exception for the VR headset is for a few combat pilots/gunners/navigators/tankers who actually wear a "VR headset" (often with IR and/or false color) in combat, and "in the real world" only see the VR images of what they're shooting at (or running from). It has been suggested that commercial airline pilots might "fly safer" if they didn't see the "real world" but instead used the headset and flew in a "simulated world" that only showed them "what's important about the real world." "Virtual Image" projection is now in use in many commercial aircraft to project portions of the "VR Image" in front of pilots so they can see both.

I think I'll stop there. It's too real. It's making me tense.

John