The name of the ship, "Phaeton", is a nod to the movie's message of people recklessly trying to go too far and suffering the consequences for it: in Greek mythology, Phaeton was son of Apollo, god of the sun. An arrogant boy, he took his father's chariot out for a joyride but drove it too close to the ground, setting fire to everything in his path. As a punishment, Zeus himself burnt him with a lighting bolt.
Virtuality was originally written to be a TV series but when it wasn't picked up the pilot was released as a TV movie.