Virtual environment
A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email, chat, web-based document sharing applications are all examples of virtual environments. Simply put, it is a networked common operating space. Once the fidelity of the virtual environment is such that it "creates a psychological state in which the individual perceives himself or herself as existing within the virtual environment" then the virtual environment had progressed into the realm of immersive virtual environments.
