
Virtual reality has been used for multiple different reasons; research, video games, experiments, etc. to help people escape their real life and see what it feels like to live in a fictional world. There have been many studies using virtual reality to see the effects on people and if it helps with stress, phobias, anxiety, and many other issues. In the show, San Junipero the creator of Black Mirror shows us how using technology to live a virtual reality can affect people in different ways. The creator of Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, shows us how technology has changed throughout the years and how it can affect people in the present and the future if we do not change how people are using technology today. 

There was not a bad outcome to using the virtual reality in the San Junipero episode, but the outcome explains how taking advantage of technology, like we do today, can really effect how people live their lives. Even though the main characters of the episode had a happy ending, does not mean that the technology did not affect them in a different way. The virtual reality was an escape for Kelly and Yorkie, it helped them a lot with coping with their lives and deciding whether they wanted to continue living this virtual reality after they passed over. Brooker used the episode to not only show us the effects of living in a virtual reality, but he also showed us the possibilities of how virtual reality can be used and how people lived in different time periods. Brooker used the virtual reality to go to different time eras in the 1900’s and early 2000’s to show the audience how life was different and similar for the younger generations of each time period.

In the article, Presence in Virtual Reality and Everyday Life, the author explains how many studies have been done using virtual realities to help everyday people with overcoming phobias, anxiety, depression, and other problems. Virtual reality can progress in the future and possibly be used like it was in San Junipero and it can also be used for scientific reasons to help cure or help people battling mental health problems. The episode of San Junipero shows us how technology can advance and be used for good and bad in the present and near future. Throughout history, technology has advanced drastically, but there have been many effects from how people have taken advantage of technology and it has affected them in a negative way. Phones, computers, social media, video games, and other technologies have been created for numerous good reasons, but how it has effected individuals is based solely on how that individual has used the technology. In the San Junipero episode, technology was used for multiple good reasons, because the virtual reality was used to help elderly people battling alzheimers and other critical conditions that the patients were experiencing. The virtual reality did effect people in good and bad ways, but for Yorkie and Kelly the technology helped them pass over in a healthy way. They had a happy ending because of how they used the technology that was offered to them, just like many other people use technology.

Brooker also used the episode to show the audience how people lived and used technology in different time periods, throughout the 1900’s and 2000’s. Generations and technology have changed majorly throughout time and it has effected people in good and bad ways. Music, clothing, morals, cultural norms, technology, and many other things have changed through time and Brooker showed that in his episode. He helped people understand how everything slowly changes throughout time, but it effects individuals based on how they use their resources and live their life. In the article the author, Jack Loomis, also explains how technology has changed throughout time, especially the use of virtual realities. Virtual realities have been advancing for years, and many people have taken advantage of the technology to escape from their lives for a moment. Virtual reality is not the only technology that has changed throughout time and it will continue, just like all technology, to advance. Brooker shows a real-life possibility of how virtual realities can advance in the future, because it has already progressed so much during time. Both Brooker and Loomis have explained the good and bad effects that technology, like virtual realities, can have on different individuals depending on how they use their technology. 

The episode of San Junipero and the article Presence in Virtual Reality and Everyday Life both show how virtual reality has changed during time and how individuals use it for various reasons. There were many differences and similarities in both sources when it came to explaining how virtual reality is used by individuals, but both sources explain how much technology can really effect an individual if taken advantage of. Virtual reality has been shown to help many individuals, and even though the episode of San Junipero was fictional, it also showed how the future possibilities of virtual realities can help individuals. Numerous studies have been done throughout the years, and nobody really knows the future advances of virtual realities, but it has been proven to have a good effect on people. Like most technology though, depending on how the individual uses the technology, it can have bad effects. 
