James Cameron has dismissed the potential of virtual reality technology, insisting that there is no place for it beyond games, Digital Spy said.

The Avatar filmmaker said that he is uninspired by the concept, despite the efforts of companies such as Oculus VR to bring it to the mainstream.

"There seems to be a lot of excitement around something that, to me, is a yawn, frankly," Cameron told the Wall Street Journal.

"What will the level of interactivity with the user be other than just 'I can stand and look around'? If you want to move through a virtual reality it's called a video game, it's been around forever."

Facebook, which purchased Oculus VR earlier this year, aims to encourage the adoption of the technology in fields beyond the gaming business.

The first film optimised for the firm's Oculus Rift headset, Banshee Chapter, is already available to download in part on the developer website for the device.

Oculus Rift is not the only virtual reality device in the works, with companies like Samsung and Sony are working on their own rival products.