Virtual reality (VR) is a field replete with great minds who create everything from platforms that enable virtual business meetings to content that helps people overcome phobias.

But ask any of them to recommend a good read on VR and chances are they won't mention a white paper or academic missive. Instead, they'll point you to science fiction: “Ready Player One” to be exact. About a dystopian near-future in which people use VR for education and escape, Ernest Cline's debut novel is so popular it caught the eye of Steven Spielberg, who will release a film adaptation in 2018.

One should not, however, misinterpret all this to mean the industry as a whole is science fiction. It most definitely is not.