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Panoramic Paintings
The first concepts of immersive virtual reality were 360-degree murals, or 'panoramic paintings' of the nineteenth century, such as Franz Roubaud's 'Battle of Borodino' -
Mirror Stereoscope
The Stereoscope by Charles Wheatstone uses a mirrored polygon with photographs facing each other on either sides to produce a virtual reality. -
Lenticular Stereoscope
David Brewster's Lenticular Stereoscope has two photographs in front of the viewer's vision, by placing them inside the small wooden cabinet. -
'Link Trainer' Flight Simulator
The first flight simulator was created by Edward Link. Though it had no display, the electromechanical movements were able to recreate the experience of flying a plane, such as turbulence. -
Sci-Fi: "Pygmalion’s Spectacles"
Science Fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum wrote in his 'Pygmalion’s Spectacles' short story about a pair of glasses that once worn, the user experiences "a movie that gives one sight and sound [...] taste, smell, and touch. [...] You are in the story, you speak to the shadows (characters) and they reply, and instead of being on a screen, the story is all about you, and you are in it." -
View-Master Model A
William Gruber's View-Master become a popular toy for many, including myself, though mine was very different to the original 1938 Model A. -
Telesphere Mask
Designed also by Morton Heilig, the Telesphere Mask is Virtual Reality's first head-mounted display, and although it has no motion tracking, it provided a compact stereoscopic photo display. -
First use of head motion tracking
Philco corporation devised a system that used magnets to track a head mounted display, where the viewer's head movements controlled an external camera and the camera's display was presented to the viewer on small screens inside the headset. -
Sensorama
Morton Heilig's Sensorama was designed and tested during the late 1950s and patented in 1962 offered viewers a full sensory experience by sitting on its seat and peering into the cabinet. Not only did it provide visuals and audio, but the seat itself vibrated and interior fans propelled specific smells toward the viewer. Here is a brief interview with Morton Heilig in his home during the early 80s -
View-Master Model G
A much later version as the original 1938 Model A, but still uses the same concept. -
Sword of Damocles
Designed by Ivan Sutherland, the 'Sword of Damocles' was the first motion tracking head mounted display that was connected to a computer as opposed to a computer, and displayed basic digital wire environments. It was also the first example of augmented reality, where the viewer would see partial digital integrations with his regular vision. Its name refers to the mythical sword which hangs from the ceiling, since the heavy headset was attached to the ceiling. -
"Artificial Reality"
Computer artist Myron Kruegere referred to a series of his projects as "Artificial Reality", where he created the first recognisable 'digital environments'. Though not viewed with headsets, but screens, the digital content was able to the people interacting with them. The projects named GLOWFLOW, METAPLAY, and PSYCHIC SPACE were progressions in his research which ultimately let to the development of VIDEOPLACE technology. -
View-Master Model L
This model went on to be the most popular and was only discontinued in the early-2000s and was the model I used. -
"Virtual Reality" coined and first headsets sold
Jaron Lanier, founder of the Visual Programming Lab (VPL), coined the term “Virtual Reality". This company went on to release 'DataGloves' - where user's hand movements were integrated with the digital environments, as well as a compact head mounted display named the 'EyePhone'. They were the first company to sell Virtual Reality goggles (EyePhone 1 $9400; EyePhone HRX $49,000) and gloves ($9000). -
VR Arcades
After VPL's introduction of virtual reality into the popular market, people who couldn't afford them were able to go to the growing market of arcades where games were brought to a new level of engagement and interactivity powered by the Commodore Amiga 3000. Games included 'Dactyl Nightmare', 'Grid Busters' and 'Total Destruction'. Get a feel for a London arcade in 1991 -
Sega Genesis VR
Gaming magnate Sega introduces a prototype for more compact home gaming component for VR, but after many development failures, was never officially released. -
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Although lacking motion tracking, this headset was the first portable VR headset. With excitement came expectations and all that the Virtual Boy delivered was sore eyes and dizziness, and was thus discontinued after a year. -
VFX1 Headgear
Released the same year as the Virtual Boy it came apparent that the consumer market for VR was growing, and unlike Nintendo and Sega's VR flops, these were successful in satisfying customers and delivering accessible VR action. However despite the VFX1's success, the market for VR slowly dwindled until its resurgence in early 2010s. -
Beginnings of a new era: Palmer Luckey
Pictured here is 16-year old Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR, working on his own prototype invention of the Oculus Rift. -
Kickstarter: Oculus
In June 2012, Palmer Luckey registers Oculus as a company with 10 employees and in August starts a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to back his new vision for Virtual Reality, with a modest goal of $250,000. Within 24 hours, they’d raised $670,000 from 2,750 people
Within three days, they’d hit a million dollars.
Within their month-long campaign raised $2,437,429 from 9,522 people. -
Oculus Rift DK1
The first Oculus headset is released, with 'DK' referring to 'Developers Kit' -
Google Cardboard
Google releases the first smartphone-powered handheld headset, selling 5 million units worldwide. -
Oculus Rift DK2
The next instalment of the Rift series making more improvements on the DK1 -
Samsung Gear VR
Noting Google Cardboard's success, Samsung teams up with Oculus to make the first head mounted VR for smartphones. -
Oculus Rift Consumer Version
The final 'Consumer Version' intended not only for developers, is released -
HTC Vive
Developed by HTC and Valve Corporation, the Vive comes as the first proper competitor for the Oculus Rift.
