The 'Oculus Rift' and the Courtroom

Immersive virtual reality and its ground-shaking potential was the belle of the ball at South by Southwest's "Interactive" portion, which wrapped up Tuesday. Virtual reality (VR) headsets like the Oculus Rift fascinated and delighted festival-goers, with promises of changing the very landscapes of film, travel, journalism, and of course gaming—where VR's journey into mainstream discourse began with the Oculus' 2012 Kickstarter.

But there's another area that the Oculus Rift—or whatever immersive VR headset gets commercialized first—is likely to enter: The courtroom. (And no, we don't mean the current patent lawsuit against the Oculus Rift's makers.) It might not sound sexy, but the implications could be pretty big.