SCOTLAND is about to tune in to a virtual revolution as the viewing of three-dimensional devices in every home looks likely to become a reality for the first time.

Google Daydream, to be launched this week, claims to bring “high quality virtual reality to everyone” and experts believe it's the first tangible step towards finally taking the technology to the masses.

After a shuddery start that made some users unwell, virtual reality is now a technology that is about to “blow up” and be seen in the home instead of research labs.

Read more: Virtual Reality, how it works

Uses range from visiting sensitive and remote heritage sites all over the world to watching the big match from the best seats in the stadium while still in your own living room.

Glasgow Times:

The £69 price for such ground-breaking tool makes it instantly more realistic for private buyers and the technology is expected to be a boon to commerce and research in Scotland, a country which has a history of spawning digital trendsetters.

VR will boost the marketing reach of firms and also be useful in practical applications from healthcare to underwater projects including oil platform repair and maintenance.

However, wider uses such as in education and aiding children and adults with disabilities in a way that could not have been foreseen even a few years ago.

Aaron Graham of Glasgow VR, a young firm that is evangelical about the genre, said: “For people with low mobility, we can use the headset to allow people to be in locations they’ve never been in, such as at the top of a mountain.

“It is a fantastic education tool.”

Read more: Virtual Reality, how it works

He said products like Daydream and the £200 Windows 10 VR bring virtual reality within relative reach of many more homes than before.

Glasgow Times:

The 26-year-old added: “With Daydream coming out it’s the whole revised package. It’s going to blow up.”

Graham specialises in showing firms how they can get on the VR bandwagon, so far working with companies including the BBC and STV.

Scots have been at the forefront of global digital technologies for decades, with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto game developed in Edinburgh, while in May virtual reality start-up Two Big Ears was snapped up by Facebook in the latest move by the social media giant to create an "immersive" internet experience.

Virtual reality has taken years of development to reach this stage.

Read more: Virtual Reality, how it works

Dr Paul Chapman, acting head of the School of Simulation and Visualisation at Glasgow School of Art, said VR had a "false start" in the 1990s and some equipment that "just made some users quite ill".

He said: "Poor quality VR can make you very sick and even cause seizures.VR flopped. Then, in 2011, Lucky Palmer kickstarted VR from his parents’ garage by developing the Oculus Rift Helmet Mounted Display which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2bn."

The helmets "are now very good and are certainly usable and provide excellent levels of ‘immersion’."

He added: "The good news is they’re only going to get better and better – lighter, better resolution and wider field of view."

Read more: Virtual Reality, how it works

Chapman said: "Games will be the big driver and main consumer of VR at home but other applications include, for example, watching a premiership game in the best seats of the stadium from the comfort of your own home.

"Healthcare is also going to be a big consumer of VR. Earlier this year a cancer surgeon performed the first ever real time operation using a virtual reality camera enabling people from all over the world to ‘virtually’ stand next to him and watch the operation.

"A fantastic learning tool for medical students compared to traditional 2D photographs in textbooks.

"From an education point of view, Google have developed Google VR Expedition which allows school children to visit interesting sites from the classroom such as the Great Wall of China."

The School of Simulation and Visualisation is the first organisation in the UK to offer a one-day professional course for managers to realise the potential of VR in their organisations.

Chapman added: "Devices like Daydream, Google Cardboard and Gear VR all use your mobile phone to provide the images to your eyes. They’re cheap – under £100 excluding phone – and fun but if you want a truly immersive experience then you’ll need to spend more money and purchase an HMD such as a HTC Vive or Oculus Rift."

Read more: Virtual Reality, how it works