For the last two decades, virtual reality (VR) has been the technology that, as the old joke goes, "will always have a bright future." VR developers have sought new applications beyond gaming and entertainment, but progress has been limited, by and large, to training and simulation situations. Then, along came big data and artificial intelligence, and everything changed for virtual reality. We no longer speak in terms of virtual reality or even augmented reality, but in terms of extended reality (ER), with technology bringing many different types of data and realities into an environment that is both insightful and shareable. One of the more interesting forms of extended reality could be the pairing of VR with artificial intelligence (AI). Partnering VR and specific forms of AI, such as robotics, natural language processing, and machine learning, among others, creates an extended reality where participants become part of a virtual ecosystem and can interact with and dissect data within their real-world field of view.