 The promise of virtual reality has always been enormous. Put on these goggles, go nowhere, and be transported anywhere. It's the same escapism peddled by drugs, alcohol, sex, and art. Virtual reality may be man meets machine, but what happens is strictly within the mind. What can we learn from the failures of the past? What do we want from the future? What kind of reality will we end up with? The Verge investigates the rise, fall, and rise again of virtual reality.