Virtual reality's appeal has risen and faded over the decades, but 2015 seems like the year it might finally deliver--via motion pictures.

Oculus Rift is an amazing virtual reality headset. Originally designed for video games, it's been used for exploring gender, piloting drones, and simulating what it's like to get guillotined. In the future, it might even go to war.

The virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is a marvel of interactive immersion for gaming: throw it on, and instead of using the medium of a controller or keyboard, it's actuallyyoucontrolling the action. But, thought experiment: What if, instead, it put you in the shoes of real, honest-to-goodness human being?

The Oculus Rift is a virtual-reality headset that makes for a crazy-immersive experience. (Example: you can feel what it's like to get your head lopped off without actually getting it lopped off!) Turns out, it's a pretty cool gadget for real-reality experiences, too.

Virtual reality sounds almost quaint in these days of OLEDs and 4K and the Kinect and glasses-free 3D and all the other amazing ways we have now to experience and interact with games. But it's back in a very, very big way with the Oculus Rift, which I tested out today here at CES in Las Vegas.