Who created the first virtual reality headset?
Virtual reality
Around the same time, Douglas Engelbart used computer screens both as input and output devices. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland, with the help of many students including Bob Sproull, created what was widely considered to be the first head-mounted display (HMD) system for use in immersive simulation applications. It was primitive both in terms of user interface and realism, and the HMD to be worn by the user was so heavy that it had to be suspended from the ceiling. The graphics comprising the virtual environment were simple wire-frame model rooms. The formidable appearance of the device inspired its name, The Sword of Damocles.
Jaron Lanier
Jaron Zepel Lanier (, born May 3, 1960) is an American computer philosophy writer, computer scientist, visual artist, and composer of classical music. Considered a founding father of the field of virtual reality, Lanier and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari in 1985 to found VPL Research, Inc., the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. In the late 1990s, Lanier worked on applications for Internet2, and in the 2000s, he was a visiting scholar at Silicon Graphics and various universities. In 2006 he began to work at Microsoft, and from 2009 has worked at Microsoft Research as an Interdisciplinary Scientist.
Virtual reality
In 1991, Carolina Cruz-Neira, Daniel J. Sandin and Thomas A. DeFanti from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory created the first cubic immersive room, The Cave. Developed as Cruz-Neira's PhD thesis, it involved a multi-projected environment, similar to the holodeck, allowing people to see their own bodies in relation to others in the room.
NeuroSky
Research Products: Neurosky has produced a number of research products (generally very similar to their direct to consumer products ). These products have been widely adopted due to positive reviews by early adopters with Richard Reilly Ph.D., professor at Trinity College in Dublin stating that, “We have been impressed with the quality of data from the MindKit Pro, compared to our gold-standard EEG acquisitions system. It has opened new possibilities for the remote monitoring patients’ activity a great benefit in patient care.” 
Mind Kit & Mind Set: The Mind Set (referred to as the Mind Kit in early press releases) was NeuroSky's first direct to consumer product. With a number of prototypes sold in 2007. The Mind Set was the first direct to consumer BCI product under $1000 ever made. The MindSet consisted of headphones with three sensors on one ear piece and another on a flexible arm coming off of the headphones that sat on the forehead. The headphones had a wireless Bluetooth connection and came with a small Bluetooth dongle. The first non-prototype models were sold for $199.
Daniel J. Sandin
The first CAVE was invented by Carolina Cruz-Neira, Daniel J. Sandin, and Thomas A. DeFanti in 1992. This is an immersive system that became the standard for rear projection-based Virtual Reality systems. The normal full system consists of projections screens along the front, side and floor axes, and a tracking system for the "user". Although they used the recursive acronym Cave Automatic Virtual Environment for the CAVE system, the name also refers to Plato's "Republic" and "The Allegory of the Cave" where he explored the concepts of reality and human perception.
Virtual reality headset
The Sega VR, announced in 1991 and seen in early 1993 at the Winter CES, was never released. An early VR headset, the Forte VFX1, was announced at CES in 1994. The VFX-1 has stereoscopic displays, 3-axis head-tracking, and stereo headphones. Sony, another pioneer, released the Glasstron in 1997, which has an optional positional sensor, allowing the wearer to view the surroundings, with the perspective moving as his head moves, giving a deep sense of immersion. These VR headsets gave players a new visual perspective of seeing the battlefield from inside the cockpit of their craft. However, these early headsets failed commercially due to their limited technology and were described by John Carmack as like "looking through toilet paper tubes".
Virtual reality headset
The virtual reality headset helps with therapy. People with mental health and addiction issues use therapy by virtual reality headsets to help get over these issues. The Virtual Reality Headset helped patients get over fear, anxiety, panic, and acrophobia. One patient was exposed to a virtual spider for 50 minutes a day over the course of a 12 week period. The Virtual Reality Headset also was used for exercising. Many exercising programs and sports games were created. When a patient is going through therapy, the patient has control over the exposure they have. During the exposure, the patients thoughts, feelings, muscle tension, and heart rate are all observed. Virtual Reality has psychological principles from cognitive-behavioral therapies, neurobiology, neurophysiology, existentialism, and psycho dynamic conceptualizations and knowledge in behavioral neuroscience. The Virtual Reality Headset helped patients get some emotional relief from their day-to-day medications.
Head-mounted display
The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display created by Palmer Luckey that the company Oculus VR is developing for virtual reality simulations and video games. The HTC Vive is a virtual reality head-mounted display. The headset is produced by a collaboration between Valve and HTC, with its defining feature being precision room-scale tracking, and high-precision motion controllers. The PlayStation VR is the only virtual reality headset for gaming consoles, for the PlayStation 4.
Virtual reality cue reactivity
Arguably the most important facet in making a virtual environment seem real is an appeal to sight. A virtual reality headset, incorporating a head-mounted display (HMD) is placed in front of the eyes of a patient like a pair of sunglasses, enabling for complete visual attention. A virtual environment is then displayed. A system of motion sensors tracks movement of the patient's head. If the patient tilts, or turns his head to view another part of the room, the environment adjusts accordingly. This allows for a more realistic experience by limiting restrictions of the head.
Virtual reality
In 2001, SAS Cube (SAS3) became the first PC based cubic room, developed by Z-A Production (Maurice Benayoun, David Nahon), Barco, and Clarté. It was installed in Laval, France. The SAS library gave birth to Virtools VRPack.
Virtual reality
In 2015, Google announced Cardboard, a do-it-yourself stereoscopic viewer for smartphones. The user places their smartphone in the cardboard holder, which they wear on their head. Michael Naimark was appointed Google's first-ever 'resident artist' in their new VR division. The Kickstarter campaign for Gloveone, a pair of gloves providing motion tracking and haptic feedback, was successfully funded, with over $150,000 in contributions.
Joel Breton
Joel Breton (born 1971) is an American video game producer, video game designer, film producer and entrepreneur. He has worked as a producer on multiple award-winning video games, including Unreal PC, Bomberman Live, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2016, Breton became the head of virtual reality content for HTC Vive, where he manages both internal and external content development for the HTC Vive virtual reality platform.. In October 2018, Breton premiered the world's first feature length VR film, "7 Miracles", at the Raindance Film Festival, where it won the VR Film of the Festival award.
History of hearing aids
The creation of high-speed digital-array processors used in minicomputers opened up the door for advances in digital hearing aids. These minicomputers were able to process audio signals at speeds that were equivalent to real-time. In 1982, at the City University of New York, the first real-time all digital hearing aid was created. The equipment contained a digital array processor and minicomputer. This consisted of an FM radio transmitter and receiver. The radio made a connection between the individual through a transmitter on the body to the radio on top of the computer. The transmitter on the body was connected by a wire to the ear microphone and the receiver. Even though this was a major breakthrough in the creation of hearing aids, there were still a few problems. One of these major problems was that while the hearing aid worked, it was extremely heavy and nearly impossible to move.
The first commercial digital hearing aid was created in 1987 by the Nicolet Corporation. The hearing aid contained a body-worn processor that had a hardwire connection with an ear mounted transducer. While the Nicolet Corporation’s hearing aid was not publicly successful and the company shortly folded, it was able to start a competition between companies to create more effective hearing aids. Two years later, in 1989, the behind-the-ear (BTE) digital hearing aid was launched.
Virtual reality headset
Virtual Reality was used by Nintendo's Wii game console by having the player use a controller to interact with the game of their choice, often being sports games. Soon after the release of Nintendo's Wii, Xbox released a full body reading system called "Kinect" and PlayStation released a similar virtual reality device named "PlayStation Move." These gaming devices use virtual reality to control avatars within a game, where the player's movements are copied by the avatar to complete the game. This means that the player is not truly engaged in the virtual reality world.
Jordan Weisman
In 1987, Weisman and his father Morton Weisman founded Environmental Simulations Project — later renamed Virtual Worlds Entertainment —, the company that produced the BattleTech Centers. Working with Incredible Technologies, VWE created the world's first immersive networked location-based virtual reality gaming centers. VWE was a critical, though not a commercial success.As Weisman got more involved in VWE, Sam Lewis became FASA's president.
Virtual Desktop
Virtual Desktop is a computer application that displays the user's computer monitor in a three-dimension virtual space, for use with a virtual reality headset. At the time of its release, "CNET" and "Polygon" wrote that the software was essential for virtual reality headset owners.
Oculus Rift
Two months after being formed as a company, Palmer's Oculus VR launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign on August 1 of 2012 for their virtual reality headset, which was named the Rift. The main purpose of the kickstarter was to get an Oculus Rift prototype—now referred to as DK1 (Development Kit 1)—into the hands of developers to begin integration of the device into their games. DK1 was given as a reward to backers who pledged $300 or more on Kickstarter, and was later sold publicly for $300 on their website. These kits sold at a rate of 4–5 per minute for the first day, before slowing down throughout the week.
Virtual home design software
Several companies are experimenting with virtual reality for architecture. They design virtual homes and allow customers to walk around with the help of a VR headset (such as the Occulus Rift). This way, customers get a realistic, true-to-scale idea of the end result.
Erick Miller
Before starting Hyperspeed, in 2010 Miller began working on prototypes and patents for what would become Vergence Labs and by 2011 the company was officially cofounded, recruiting a founding team largely from Stanford University. Although Vergence Labs' first major release was the Epiphany Eyewear smart glasses, early in the company's history prototypes for both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality products were developed as the vision and mission of the company. The Epiphany Eyewear POV social video smart glasses were designed with an embedded camera and computer system within frames similar in style to the wayfarer design. The design and development of Epiphany Eyewear pre-dated the start of Google Glass by about two years. In late 2013 Epiphany Eyewear began shipping to customers.
Marcus Weller
Weller invented the Skully AR-1. The AR-1 was to be the first vertically integrated, smart, Heads-Up Display (HUD) helmet for consumers. The HUD system displays at a virtual distance of in front of the rider. The AR-1 was to feature a near 180-degree rear-view camera, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, smartphone pairing and voice control. Weller also served as Skully CEO until July 2016, and the company shut down later the same month.
Alcatel Idol 4
"VentureBeat" considered the VR headset box to be a "clever value-add" that could be "a good way to move virtual reality downmarket from its lofty Oculus heights". "The Verge" considered the headset to be comfortable, but limited in comparison to the Samsung Gear VR because of its low level of functionality, lack of lens adjustment, and lack of content partnerships (as with Oculus and the Gear VR) beyond Google Cardboard-compatible content.
Andrew Shulkind
In 2015 he designed and commissioned Radiant Images to help develop a novel 32K uncompressed RAW spherical capture device for filming 360° virtual reality content using 18 Codex Digital action cams and nine Codex Digital OnBoard S recorders, resulting in the highest resolution professional 360° camera built to date. Around that product, and in collaboration with several partners, he co-founded the transmedia production company Headcase VR, in addition to serving as director of virtual reality cinematography. The company was initially focused on college and professional sports-related capture and training, but then expanded to a broader range of clientele.
Jack McCauley
At Oculus, McCauley built Luckey's original prototype into a product for the company’s first Kickstarter campaign, and headed engineering while working on development of the DK1 and DK2 developer kits, both of which were completed in 120 days from concept to shipping. McCauley led production, designed the test equipment and managed production, engineering, and China-based manufacturing of the Oculus Rift, the company's virtual reality head-mounted display.
Virtual reality
Morton Heilig wrote in the 1950s of an "Experience Theatre" that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He built a prototype of his vision dubbed the Sensorama in 1962, along with five short films to be displayed in it while engaging multiple senses (sight, sound, smell, and touch). Predating digital computing, the Sensorama was a mechanical device. Heilig also developed what he referred to as the "Telesphere Mask" (patented in 1960). The patent application described the device as "a telescopic television apparatus for individual use...The spectator is given a complete sensation of reality, i.e. moving three dimensional images which may be in colour, with 100% peripheral vision, binaural sound, scents and air breezes".
Oculus Rift
The Oculus Rift received generally positive reviews from gaming and tech websites. "Wired" gave 9 out of 10 stars to Oculus Rift and wrote, "The long-promised virtual reality headset is finally here, in a remarkably well-made and accessible device." A review by Dan Stapleton of IGN says, "The Oculus Rift is the first headset available, and it does a fantastic job of not just displaying high-quality VR, but making it easy to use." Many reviewers also wrote about the shortcomings of Rift, such as a hefty price tag ($599 in US) and the need of a powerful PC to run it.
Virtual reality
In 1999, entrepreneur Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab with an initial focus on the development of VR hardware. In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of "The Rig", which was realized in prototype form as a clunky steel contraption with several computer monitors that users could wear on their shoulders. The concept was later adapted into the personal computer-based, 3D virtual world Second Life.
Michael Francis Tompsett
Michael Francis Tompsett is a British-born physicist, engineer, and inventor, and the founder director of the US software company TheraManager. He is a former researcher at the English Electric Valve Company, who later moved to Bell Labs in the United States. Tompsett designed and built the first ever video camera with a solid-state (CCD) sensor. Tompsett received the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2017, with Eric Fossum, George Smith, and Nobukazu Teranishi. Dr. Tompsett has also received two other lifetime awards; the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame 2010 Pioneer Award, and the 2012 IEEE Edison Medal. The thermal-imaging camera tube developed from his invention also earned a Queen's Award in 1987.
Palmer Luckey
Luckey developed a series of prototypes exploring features like 3D stereoscopy, wireless, and extreme 270-degree field-of-view, while also decreasing size and weight of his systems. He shared regular updates on his progress on MTBS3D, a forum frequented by a small number of virtual reality enthusiasts. His 6th-generation unit was named the "Rift", intended to be sold as a do-it-yourself kit on Kickstarter crowdfunding Web site to fellow enthusiasts. He first started Oculus VR in order to facilitate the official launch of the Kickstarter campaign.
John Carmack of id Software, a notable game developer famous for his work on the Doom and Quake videogame series, requested a prototype headset and used it to demonstrate a modified version of id Software's "" on the device at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012. With the resulting attention of thousands of people suddenly drawn to the Rift, Luckey dropped out of university to focus on it full-time.
Virtual reality
Nintendo's Virtual Boy console was released in 1995. Also in 1995, a group in Seattle created public demonstrations of a "CAVE-like" 270 degree immersive projection room called the Virtual Environment Theater, produced by entrepreneurs Chet Dagit and Bob Jacobson. Forte released the VFX1, a PC-powered virtual reality headset in 1995.
Ron Headrest
During the 1980s, Garry Trudeau thought it would be fun to do a political parody of the television program "Max Headroom" (of which he was a fan). He combined the concept with then-president Ronald Reagan, to produce Ron Headrest, the world's first electronically simulated politician. (The name "Headrest" was a humorous allusion to the frequent and lengthy naps that Reagan was notorious for.)
Fove
FOVE is the first virtual reality headset that utilizes eye tracking. It was created by a Tokyo-based startup founded by Yuka Kojima (CEO) and Lochlainn Wilson (CTO). Announced in 2014, FOVE's technology uses infrared to track eye movements with accuracy and low latency. The sensors within the device tracks the user's pupils. It allows the user to target and interact with objects by making eye contact with them.
Comparison of virtual reality headsets
** Not included in the headset.
Artificial Reality
Artificial reality is a book series by Myron W. Krueger about interactive immersive environments (or virtual realities), based on video recognition techniques, that put a user in full, unencumbered contact with the digital world. He started this work in the late 1960s and is considered to be a key figure in the early innovation of virtual reality. "Artificial Reality" was published in 1983 and updated in "Artificial Reality II" in 1991 (both published by Addison-Wesley).
Virtual reality
In 2013, Miguel Schiaffino Tienda announced vrAse, a headset that used the smartphone for doing both virtual and augmented reality.
Virtual reality headset
Traditionally, students had to participate in surgeries and often they would miss essential parts. Now, with the use of VR headsets, students can watch surgical procedures from the perspective of the lead surgeon without missing essential parts. Students can also pause, rewind, and fast forward surgeries. They also can perfect their techniques in a real-time simulation in a risk free environment.
Virtual reality
Atari founded a research lab for virtual reality in 1982, but the lab was closed after two years due to the Atari Shock (North American video game crash of 1983). However, its hired employees, such as Tom Zimmerman, Scott Fisher, Jaron Lanier, Michael Naimark, and Brenda Laurel, kept their research and development on VR-related technologies.
Applications of virtual reality
Thomas A. Furness III was one of the first to develop the use of VR for military training when, in 1982, he presented the United States Air Force with a working model of his virtual flight simulator the Visually Coupled Airborne Systems Simulator (VCASS). The second phase of his project, which he called the "Super Cockpit", was even more advanced, with high-resolution graphics (for the time) and a responsive display. Furness is often credited as a pioneer in virtual reality for this research. The Ministry of Defense in the United Kingdom has been using VR in military training since the 1980s. The United States military announced the Dismounted Soldier Training System in 2012. It was cited as the first fully immersive military VR training system.
Psyop (company)
In 2016, Psyop launched its first original interactive VR experience, "Kismet," a virtual fortune telling machine for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Playstation VR headsets.
Nonny de la Peña
'Hunger in Los Angeles' became the first-ever VR documentary to be showcased at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012. To ensure a headset for the event, Palmer Luckey, then a part-time employee of the MxR lab, was commissioned to create goggles for the Sundance premiere. Nine months later, Luckey started Oculus Rift.
Open Source Virtual Reality
The headset is developed by Razer and Sensics.
Augmented reality
Augmented reality applications, running on handheld devices utilized as virtual reality headsets, can also digitalize human presence in space and provide a computer generated model of them, in a virtual space where they can interact and perform various actions. Such capabilities are demonstrated by "Project Anywhere", developed by a postgraduate student at ETH Zurich, which was dubbed as an "out-of-body experience".
H2O Audio
H2O Audio was started as a graduate student project at San Diego State University by a SCUBA diver who wanted to take music with him while diving; hence the company was originally named Diver Entertainment. In 2002, the first patents were approved, followed by the development of waterproof technologies in 2003. By 2004, the first underwater SCUBA product was shipped. In 2005, the company moved into developing waterproof headphones and cases for MP3 players, including iPods. 2007 was the year Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin was brought on as the first official H2O Audio Ambassador, and in 2008, big wave surfer Laird Hamilton was also named an official H2O Audio Ambassador. Currently, Laird Hamilton has his own signature version of Surge Headphones. In 2009, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps also became an official ambassador of the brand, along with triathletes Greg and Laura Bennett.
Thomas Dolby
Dolby’s first experiment with Virtual Reality took place in Fall 1992, when he was invited by the Guggenheim Museum in SoHo, NYC to design and install a sonic VR experience. This led to The Virtual String Quartet programmed by Eric Gullickson, and sponsored by Intel Corp. The experience ran on an IBM 386 processor with a Convolvatron 4-channel audio card. Users donned a head mounted display and found themselves in the midst of a CG string quartet playing Mozart. The sound was fully spatialized as the user moved around the physical space. Tickling a player with the joystick resulted in that musician switching to improvisation in a 'hot jazz' or Appalachian bluegrass style.
Google Daydream
Daydream is a virtual reality (VR) platform developed by Google that is built into the Android mobile operating system (versions "Nougat" 7.1 and later). Compatible phones that follow the platform's software and hardware specifications (and are thus designated "Daydream-ready") are used in the Google Daydream View VR headset. The Daydream platform was announced at the Google I/O developer conference in May 2016, with the first VR headset released on November 10, 2016. Daydream is the company's second VR platform following Google Cardboard, which was a low-cost system intended to encourage interest in VR and was built into compatible mobile apps rather than the operating system itself.
Missile Command 3D
Plans for a virtual reality headset for the Jaguar were set before the system was officially launched to market, with Atari Corporation originally approaching to Virtuality Group in but they did not settled an agreement with the latter for unknown reasons, but on October Atari Corp. announced their partnership with Virtuality to create a headset for the Jaguar that would have been released on stores by Christmas 1995 and was originally set to be retailed at US$200. The development of the headset for the system was started before Nintendo officially unveiled their own virtual reality console, the Virtual Boy, a month later. The unit itself was revealed at WCES 1995, with both "GameFan" and "GamePro" magazines showcasing a mock up design of the headset in their January and February 1995 issues respectively.
Videoplace
In the mid-1970s, Myron Krueger established an artificial reality laboratory called the Videoplace. His idea with the Videoplace was the creation of an artificial reality that surrounded the users, and responded to their movements and actions, without being encumbered by the use of goggles or gloves. The work done in the lab would form the basis of his much cited 1983 book Artificial Reality. The Videoplace (or VIDEOPLACE as Krueger would have it), was the culmination of several iterations of artificial reality systems: GLOWFLOW, METAPLAY, and PSYCHIC SPACE; each offering improvements over the previous installation until VIDEOPLACE was a full blown artificial reality lab at the University of Connecticut.
Industrial augmented reality
Although the origins of Augmented Reality dates from the 1960s, when Ivan Sutherland created the first head-mounted display  it did not gain strength until the early 1990s, when the David Mizell and Thomas Caudell developed the first industrial AR at Boeing. They used a head-mounted display (HMD) to superimpose a computer-generated diagram of the manufacturing process with a real-time world registration and the user's head position calculation. They coined the name Augmented Reality to this technology.
Contemporary several prototypes were proposed to demonstrate AR's application to manufacturing: a laser-printer maintenance application was proposed in 1993 by Steven K. Feiner and coauthors by introducing the concept of knowledge-based AR for maintenance assistance (KARMA). Whitaker Ross et al. proposed a system to display the name of the part pointed by the user in an engine.
Scott Fisher (technologist)
Much of Fisher's career has focused on expanding the technologies and creative potentials of virtual reality. Between 1985 and 1990, he was founding Director of the Virtual Environment Workstation Project (VIEW) at NASA's Ames Research Center. They attempted to develop a simulator to enable space station maintenance rehearsal. The gloves and goggles often associated with virtual reality were developed there, along with the dataglove, head-coupled displays and 3D audio.
Virtual reality headset
Virtual reality headsets are being currently used as a means to train medical students for surgery. It allows them to perform essential procedures in a virtual, controlled environment. Students perform surgeries on virtual patients, which allows them to acquire the skills needed to perform surgeries on real patients. It also allows the students to revisit the surgeries from the perspective of the lead surgeon.
HTC Vive
Prototypes of a Valve-produced virtual reality system were demonstrated during 2014. On 23 February 2015, Valve announced SteamVR and that it would demonstrate a "SteamVR hardware system" at the 2015 Game Developers Conference. HTC officially unveiled its device, Vive, during its Mobile World Congress keynote on 1 March 2015. Preorders started on 29 February 2016 at 10:00 a.m. EST. Valve and HTC have since announced that the headset will be free for selected developers.
Applications of virtual reality
David Em was the first fine artist to create navigable virtual worlds in the 1970s. His early work was done on mainframes at Information International, Inc., Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and California Institute of Technology.
PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR, known by the codename Project Morpheus during development, is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, which was released in October 2016.
Dolby Headphone
The headphone virtual surround sound technology was initially developed and marketed by Lake Technology in 1997.
VPL Research
VPL Research was one of the first companies that developed and sold virtual reality products. It was founded by VR pioneer Jaron Lanier in 1984. VPL started in the corner of Lanier's cottage in the San Francisco Bay Area. "VPL" stood for "Virtual Programming Languages", and Lanier said that the goal of the company was to bring virtual reality to a mass audience. In 1990, VPL Research filed for bankruptcy and in 1999 all of its patents were bought by Sun Microsystems.
Wearable technology
In 2016 Sony debuted its first portable, connectable virtual reality headset codenamed Project Morpheus. The device was rebranded for PlayStation in 2018.
Meron Gribetz
In 2016, Meron Gribetz introduced the Meta 2 at TED conference (TED). The Meta 2 consisted of an augmented reality headset that maked it possible for users to see, grab, interact with, and move holograms in a natural fashion. At TED, Gribetz suggested this new technology was designed to allow users to interact with virtual objects yet maintain their sense of presence and interaction with their natural surroundings rather than being focused or distracted by traditional 2D computer screens.
Immersive virtual musical instrument
Early work was done by Jaron Lanier with his Chromatophoria band and separately by Niko Bolas who developed the Soundsculpt Toolkit, a software interface that allows the world of music to communicate with the graphical elements of virtual reality.
Virtual reality headset
Because virtual reality headsets stretch a single display across a wide field of view (up to 110° for some devices according to manufacturers), the magnification factor makes flaws in display technology much more apparent. One issue is the so-called screen-door effect, where the gaps between rows and columns of pixels become visible, kind of like looking through a screen door. This was especially noticeable in earlier prototypes and development kits, which had lower resolutions than the retail versions.
Virtual reality
In 1979 Eric Howlett developed the Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system. The combined system created a stereoscopic image with a field of view wide enough to create a convincing sense of space. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth [field of view] in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned for the NASA Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation) by Scott Fisher. The LEEP system provides the basis for most of the current virtual reality helmets available today.
Raymond Goertz
Goertz's primary work and accomplishments revolved around the development and improvement of master-slave manipulator devices, but Goertz also devoted time to completing basic research on the degrees of freedom necessary for smooth motion by remote manipulation. He also created an initial prototype of a virtual reality device by developing one of the first head-mounted displays.
Virtual reality headset
The virtual reality headset allows the military personnel to interact with virtual reality people to make it feel real. They can talk to one another and do varying actions to make the virtual reality world feel like they are actually in that situation. There are also disadvantages and advantages when military personnel use the headset. The disadvantage is the headset is made for an indoor area, with a cool environment, and away from any heat, so when military personnel have just the headset on, no military equipment, it is not like their basic training. The advantages consist of repeating the situations multiple times and the cost of having the headset is less, due to no military equipment being needed.
Boombotix
In 2013 the company launched the Boombot REX designed by Chris McKleroy. This new device became amongst the first voice controlled speakers. It incorporated dual drivers and a passive bass radiator making it one of the loudest portable speakers for its size. The company raised four times of their target goal with their Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
In early 2015, RZA joined the Boombotix as the company's "Head Abbot." RZA's role would be focused on connecting Boombotix to more musicians and help marketing the product.
Sex and nudity in video games
Modern consumer virtual reality headsets, such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, allow users to engage in virtual sex through simulated environments. An example is "VR Kanojo".
Jabra (headset)
Jabra has been responsible for several world firsts. These include the world’s first ultra noise-canceling microphone, the world’s first Bluetooth headset, the world’s first professional active noise cancelation headphones certified for all leading Unified Communication platforms, and the world’s first wireless Dolby sports earbuds with integrated heart rate monitor. Jabra also developed the world’s first in-ear integrated microphone and speaker and DSP-based echo and noise cancelation technologies, and invented and patented EarGels™.
Mixed reality
3D Models of Manufacturing Assets (for example process manufacturing machinery) are incorporated into a virtual environment and then linked to real-time data associated with that asset. Avatars allow for multidisciplinary collaboration and decision making based on the data presented in the virtual environment. This example of Mixed Reality was pioneered and demonstrated by Kevyn Renner of Chevron Corporation for which a United States Patent 8,589,809, B2 "Methods and Systems for Conducting a Meeting in a Virtual Environment" was granted November 19, 2013.
One of the earliest patents describing mixed reality is shown by Michael DeLuca in United States Patent 6,064,354 "Stereoscopic user interface method and apparatus" granted May 16, 2000.
Mixed reality allows a global workforce of remote teams to work together and tackle an organization's business challenges. No matter where they are physically located, an employee can strap on their headset and noise-canceling headphones and enter a collaborative, immersive virtual environment. Language barriers will become irrelevant as AR applications are able to accurately translate in real time. It also means a more flexible workforce. While many employers still use inflexible models of fixed working time and location, there is evidence that employees are more productive if they have greater autonomy over where, when and how they work. Some employees prefer loud work spaces, others need silence. Some work best in the morning, others at night. Employees also benefit from autonomy in how they work because everyone processes information differently. The classic VAK model for learning styles differentiates Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic learners.
Windows Mixed Reality
The premier device for Windows Mixed Reality, Microsoft HoloLens is a smart-glasses headset that is a cordless, self-contained Windows 10 computer. It uses various sensors, a high-definition stereoscopic 3D optical head-mounted display, and spatial sound to allow for augmented reality applications, with a natural user interface that the user interacts with through gaze, voice, and hand gestures. Codenamed "Project Baraboo", HoloLens had been in development for five years before its announcement in 2015, but was conceived earlier as the original pitch made in late 2007 for what would become the Kinect technology platform.
Virtual reality headset
In 2012, a crowdfunding campaign began for a VR headset known as Oculus Rift; the project was led by several prominent video game developers, including John Carmack who later became the company's CTO. In March 2014, the project's parent company Oculus VR was acquired by Facebook for US$2 billion. The final consumer-oriented release of Oculus Rift began shipping on 28 March 2016.
Windows Mixed Reality
In October 2017, Microsoft officially launched Windows Mixed Reality and a lineup of third-party headsets for use with the Windows 10 "Fall Creators Update" (including a launch lineup of headsets from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, and future products from Asus and Samsung), officially referred to as Windows Mixed Reality immersive headsets. Unlike HoloLens, these devices are only compatible with virtual reality software, but the underlying ecosystem is referred to as Windows Mixed Reality regardless of experience. All Immersive headsets feature integrated motion tracking (eschewing standalone sensors), and contain cameras that can be used to track handheld motion controller accessories, which may be bundled with the headset, or distributed as optional accessories.
Liquid Image
Liquid Image Corporation was a Winnipeg-based company that manufactured head-mounted displays. The company formed in 1992 by Tony Havelka, David Collette and Shannon O'Brien. Liquid Image was started in Winnipeg, MB in response to the emergence of a market for virtual reality technology. Funding as provided by a group of local angels and the first office was in the attic of Tony Havelka.
The company focused their efforts on creation of a commercially available head-mounted display (HMD) system for military, scientific and entertainment uses. The first product, the MRG2, was a monocular HMD that used a 5.7" diagonal color TFT-LCD. After conducting ergonomic research on head sizes at the University of Manitoba and evaluating market potential the MRG2 was created as a universal fit design. Within 15 months Liquid Image had sold more than $1.1 million of MRG2 units at a price of $6800 per HMD. The design won the 1994 Mecklermedia Virtual Reality award. Jaron Lanier, a VR pioneer, commented that year at a tradeshow where the founders met him that he liked the monocular design of the MRG2. He also commented that he would have created a monocular system at VPL Research if a suitable display had been available. By 1996 the MRG2.2 product was available for $3495.
Liquid Image
In 1997 the MRG6 monocular system, priced at $3495, was launched to focus on the wearable computing market. Development of personal wearable systems like those demonstrated by Dr. Steve Mann had demonstrated that practical systems could be developed. The MRG6 was one of the first commercially available wearable computing displays that has since taken over 16 years to finally move to the multiple examples of sunglass-sized devices including the Google Glass. The next monocle, the award-winning M1, was released in the fall of 1997.
By 1997 the demand for VR game systems had almost stopped and the company had not shifted sufficiently to sustainable revenue from sales of wearable computing devices. The original company was sold and was rebranded "TekGear" becoming mostly a reseller of other virtual reality and wearable computing technology. Both David Collette and Shannon O'Brien had left Liquid Image prior to the transition to "TekGear" while Tony Havelka continued to manage and grow TekGear.
A 1997 book, "Training's Future?: Perspectives on Virtual Reality and Related Emerging Technologies (Defense Research Series)" by Robert Siedel describes the system developed by the Royal Canadian Navy to train naval officers on how to be the officer on watch for ships at sea.
Virtuality (gaming)
Following Dr. Jonathan D Waldern’s VR PhD research (1985-1990) and supported by IBM Research Labs, Virtuality Group was formed in 1985 as a startup called W Industries. Waldern’s company developed many of the principal components including VR headsets, graphics subsystems, 3D trackers, exoskeleton data gloves and other enclosure designs. Fully developed by 1990, the VR integrated systems were launched at a computer graphics show at crystal palace and marketed to industry. The first two networked VR systems were sold to British Telecom Research Laboratories to experiment with networked telepresence applications. Many other systems were sold to corporations including Ford, IBM, Mitsubishi and Olin. Professional virtual reality systems included: a virtual reality attraction created by Creative Agency Imagination for the launch of the 1995 Ford Galaxy and a virtual trading floor for the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE).
Optical head-mounted display
In January 2013, the Japanese company Telepathy was founded by the augmented reality entrepreneur Takahito Iguchi. At SXSW 2013 the company unveiled the Telepathy One, an eyewear display that consists of a small micro projector to create a virtual 5-inch screen that appears to float in front of the wearer's eye and a built-in micro camera. It uses an OS built off Linux and can connect to other devices via Bluetooth. It allows users to receive e-mails, check updates on social networks, and even share whatever scene the user is looking at with his friends. A Consumer version is expected to hit the US before the 2013 Christmas season.
Sensorama
Howard Rheingold (in his 1991 book "Virtual Reality") spoke of his trial of the Sensorama using a short film piece that detailed a bicycle ride through Brooklyn, created in the 1950s, and still seemed quite impressed by what it could do more than 40 years later. The Sensorama was able to display stereoscopic 3-D images in a wide-angle view, provide body tilting, supply stereo sound, and also had tracks for wind and aromas to be triggered during the film. Heilig was unable to obtain financial backing for his visions and patents, and so the Sensorama work was halted.
Ian Cheng
At Frieze London in 2013, Cheng premiered Entropy Wrangler Cloud, one of the first artworks made for virtual reality, using first generation Oculus Rift headsets.
HTC Vive
In July 2016, VR news website Road to VR used game session figures from the Steam VR platform to estimate that approximately 100,000 Vive headsets had been shipped since launch. In the same month, SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a computer vision company, integrated its eye tracking technology in the HTC Vive to turn it into a dedicated eye tracking solution for research and professional applications. In November 2016, Vive announced that it would begin the first retail sales of its headsets at JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores in Australia later that month.
Michael Mack
In 2002, Mack established his first own company, Mack Media. This company creates 3D/4D movies and virtual reality coasters. In 2015, the first VR coaster was officially launched in Europa-Park. The VR coaster in combination with a specially created "Coastiality" app received the "Deutschen Computerspielpreis", a award which is given by "Verband der deutschen Games-Branche e.V." and German Bundestag.
The German weekly magazine Wirtschaftswoche described Mack as a pioneer in this field.
Carolina Cruz-Neira
The first CAVE was invented by Carolina Cruz-Neira, Daniel J. Sandin, and Thomas A. DeFanti in 1992. For her PhD dissertation, Cruz-Neira designed and developed the CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment, its specifications, and implementation. She also designed and implemented the CAVELib software API, now a commercial product. She was the architect of the Open Source API VR Juggler, an open source virtual reality applications development framework.
SixthSense
SixthSense is a gesture-based wearable computer system developed at MIT Media Lab by Steve Mann in 1994 and 1997 (headworn gestural interface), and 1998 (neckworn version), and further developed by Pranav Mistry (also at MIT Media Lab), in 2009, both of whom developed both hardware and software for both headworn and neckworn versions of it. It comprises a headworn or neck-worn pendant that contains both a data projector and camera. Headworn versions were built at MIT Media Lab in 1997 (by Steve Mann) that combined cameras and illumination systems for interactive photographic art, and also included gesture recognition (e.g. finger-tracking using colored tape on the fingers).
Wearable technology
Wearables have expanded into the entertainment space by creating new ways to experience digital media. Virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses have come to exemplify wearables in entertainment. The influence of these virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses are seen mostly in the gaming industry. Virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Google Daydream View aim to create a more immersive media experience by either simulating a first-person experience or displaying the media in the user's full field of vision. Television, films, and video games have been developed for these devices. In a 2014 expo, Ed Tang of Avegant presented his "Smart Headphones". These headphones use Virtual Retinal Display to enhance the experience of the Oculus Rift. Some augmented reality devices fall under the category of wearables. Augmented reality glasses are currently in development by several corporations. Snap Inc.'s Spectacles are sunglasses that record video from the user's point of view and pair with a phone to post videos on Snapchat. Microsoft has also delved into this business, releasing Augmented Reality glasses in 2017. The device explores using digital holography, or holograms, to give the user a first hand experience of Augmented Reality. Wearable technology has also expanded from the wrist to apparel. There is a shoe made by the company shiftwear that uses a smartphone application to periodically change the design display on the shoe. The shoe is designed using normal fabric but utilizes a display along the midsection and back that shows a design of your choice. The application was up by 2016 and a prototype for the shoes was created in 2017. Another example of this can be seen with Atari's headphone speakers. Atari and Audiowear are developing a face cap with built in speakers. The cap will feature speakers built into the underside of the brim, and will have bluetooth capabilities. Many other devices can be considered entertainment wearables and need only be devices worn by the user to experience media.
Windows Mixed Reality
In October 2016 during a hardware event, Microsoft announced that multiple OEMs would release virtual reality headsets for the Windows Holographic platform, based on Microsoft reference designs enabling room-scale virtual reality without external sensors or components. In January 2017, prototypes were presented at Consumer Electronics Show for release later in the year, and Microsoft later announced that it planned to release development kits for such headsets during the Game Developers Conference. These devices would be supported by the Windows 10 "Creators Update". At the Game Developers Conference in 2017, Microsoft stated that it intended to support Windows Mixed Reality headsets on Xbox One in 2018, specifically noting the capabilities of the then-upcoming Xbox One X hardware revision, but the company later stated that it was initially focusing on PC platforms first, and that it wanted to focus on wireless VR solutions for consoles.
Virtual reality headset
Virtual reality headsets have significantly higher requirements for latency—the time it takes from a change in input to have a visual effect—than ordinary video games. If the system is too sluggish to react to head movement, then it can cause the user to experience virtual reality sickness, a kind of motion sickness. According to a Valve engineer, the ideal latency would be 7-15 milliseconds. A major component of this latency is the refresh rate of the display, which has driven the adoption of displays with a refresh rate from 90 Hz (Oculus Rift and HTC Vive) to 120 Hz (PlayStation VR).
Virtual world
Among the earliest virtual worlds implemented by computers were virtual reality simulators, such as the work of Ivan Sutherland. Such devices are characterized by bulky headsets and other types of sensory input simulation. Contemporary virtual worlds, in particular the multi-user online environments, emerged mostly independently of this research, fueled instead by the gaming industry but drawing on similar inspiration. While classic sensory-imitating virtual reality relies on tricking the perceptual system into experiencing an immersive environment, virtual worlds typically rely on mentally and emotionally engaging content which gives rise to an immersive experience.
Nintendo Switch
Tatsumi Kimishima stated that Nintendo was investigating the possibility of offering a virtual reality headset for Switch in the future, "if we are able to resolve the issues with playing comfortably for long hours." Nintendo did submit design patent applications for a virtual reality accessory similar in design to those intended for smartphones, in which the device would be inserted into an enclosure, and its screen viewed through lenses to achieve a stereoscopic effect.
Valve Corporation
In March 2015, Valve and Taiwanese electronics company HTC announced a joint project to develop the Vive, a virtual reality headset with motion tracked controllers. The companies are working with Google, Lions Gate, and HBO to develop content for the device.
Visuo-haptic mixed reality
Visuo-haptic mixed reality (VHMR) is a branch of mixed reality that has the ability of merging visual and tactile perceptions of both virtual and real objects with a collocated approach. The first known system to overlay augmented haptic perceptions on direct views of the real world is the Virtual Fixtures system developed in 1992 at the US Air Force Research Laboratories. Like any emerging technology, the development of the VHMR systems is accompanied by challenges that, in this case, deal with the efforts to enhance the multi-modal human perception with the user-computer interface and interaction devices at the moment available.
Visuo-haptic mixed reality (VHMR) consists of adding to a real scene the ability to see and touch virtual objects. It requires the use of see-through display technology for visually mixing real and virtual objects and haptic devices necessary to provide haptic stimuli to the user while interacting with the virtual objects.
A VHMR setup allows the user to perceive visual and kinesthetic stimuli in a co-located manner, i.e., the user can see and touch virtual objects at the same spatial location. This setup overcomes the limits of the traditional one, i.e, display and haptic device, because the visuo-haptic co-location of the user's hand and a virtual tool improve the sensory integration of multimodal cues and makes the interaction more natural. But it also comes with technological challenges in order to improve the naturalness of the perceptual experience.
Hyper Reality Experience
The Hyper Reality Experience is claimed to be the UK's first Virtual Reality game experience, and was created by Ali Khan, a former J. P. Morgan executive, and Samrien Hussain, a former school sports development co-ordinator, who also run the multi-city chain of escape games "Tick Tock Unlock" in The United Kingdom.
Virtual retinal display
The VRD was invented by Kazuo Yoshinaka of Nippon Electric Co. in 1986. Later work at the University of Washington in the Human Interface Technology Lab resulted in a similar system in 1991. Most of the research into VRDs to date has been in combination with various virtual reality systems. In this role VRDs have the potential advantage of being much smaller than existing television-based systems. They share some of the same disadvantages however, requiring some sort of optics to send the image into the eye, typically similar to the sunglasses system used with previous technologies. It also can be used as part of a wearable computer system.
A Washington-based startup, MicroVision, Inc., has sought to commercialize VRD. Founded in 1993, MicroVision's early development work was financed by US government defense contracts and resulted in the prototype head-mounted display, Nomad.
The Sword of Damocles (virtual reality)
In 1963, Bell Helicopter company in Fort Worth, Texas experimented with a pilot controlled night vision system. The servo-controlled remote viewing device employed a headset displaying an augmented view of the ground for the pilot via an infrared camera mounted under the helicopter. The remote vision system display was similar to the Philco system. Ivan Sutherland's breakthrough was to imagine a computer to supply graphics output to the viewing device. Sutherland modestly stated, "My little contribution to virtual reality was to realize we didn't need a camera - we could substitute a computer. However, in those days no computer was powerful enough to do the job so we had to build special equipment"
Virtual reality
In 2016, HTC shipped its first units of the HTC Vive SteamVR headset. This marked the first major commercial release of sensor-based tracking, allowing for free movement of users within a defined space. In 2017, a patent filed by Sony showed they were developing a similar location tracking technology to the Vive for PlayStation VR, with the potential for the development of a wireless headset.
Virtual reality headset
Virtual reality headsets and viewers have also been designed for smartphones. Unlike headsets with integrated displays, these units are essentially enclosures which a smartphone can be inserted into. VR content is viewed from the screen of the device itself through lenses acting as a stereoscope, rather than using dedicated internal displays. Google released a series of specifications and associated DIY kits for virtual reality viewers known as Google Cardboard; these viewers are capable of being constructed using low-cost materials, such as cardboard (hence the naming).
Virtual reality
Current VR technology most commonly uses virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments, sometimes in combination with physical environments or props, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to "look around" the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display with a small screen in front of the eyes, but can also be created through specially designed rooms with multiple large screens.
Hedgehog Lab
After seeing growing interest in Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, hedgehog lab invested in its own Immersive Technology division, equipped with state-of-the-art kit to develop for headsets like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Microsoft HoloLens. Launched in January, 2017, this is being headed up by one of the UK's leading experts, Shaun Allan, who has many years’ experience in the field, and whose VR pitch recently helped the North East region win the bid to host the Great Exhibition of the North.
Thomas A. Furness III
Thomas A. Furness III is an American inventor, professor, and virtual reality pioneer based in Seattle, Washington. He is a Professor in the University of Washington Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, and the founder of the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington and its sister labs at the University of Canterbury and University of Tasmania. Known for his contributions in developing human interface technology, he has earned the title, "Grandfather of Virtual Reality."
Louis B. Rosenberg
In 1993, Rosenberg founded the virtual reality company, Immersion Corporation which went public in 1999 (NASDAQ: IMMR) and remains a public company today. He served as the company's CEO until 2000. Rosenberg also founded Microscribe, a company that developed the first desktop 3D digitizer - a system that allows animators to digitize physical objects into 3D computer models. The Microscribe 3D digitizer was used in the production of many major feature films including Shrek, Ice Age, Bugs Life, and Titanic. Rosenberg also founded Outland Research, a company specializing in advanced methods of human-computer interaction. In 2011, Google purchased Outland Research technologies, along with its patents.
Virtual reality
Between 1989-1992, Nicole Stenger created "Angels", the first real-time interactive immersive movie. The interaction was facilitated with a dataglove and high-resolution goggles.
Mixed reality
In 1994 Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino defined a mixed reality as "...anywhere between the extrema of the "virtuality continuum"" (VC), where the virtuality continuum extends from the completely real through to the completely virtual environment with augmented reality and augmented virtuality ranging between. The first fully immersive mixed reality system was the Virtual Fixtures platform developed at US Air Force, Armstrong Labs in 1992 by Louis Rosenberg to enable human users to control robots in real-world environments that included real physical objects and 3D virtual overlays called "fixtures" that were added enhance human performance of manipulation tasks. Published studies showed that by introducing virtual objects into the real world, significant performance increases could be achieved by human operators.
Applications of virtual reality
Several virtual reality head mounted displays (HMD) were released for gaming during the early-mid 1990s. These included the Virtual Boy developed by Nintendo, the iGlasses developed by Virtual I-O, the Cybermaxx developed by Victormaxx and the VFX1 Headgear developed by Forte Technologies.
Microsoft HoloLens
Microsoft HoloLens, known under development as Project Baraboo, is a pair of mixed reality smartglasses developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens was one of the first computers running the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. The HoloLens can trace its lineage to Kinect, an add-on for Microsoft's Xbox gaming console that was introduced in 2010.
Oculus VR
On September 26, 2018 Oculus VR announced a stand-alone virtual reality headset named "Oculus Quest". It uses motion controllers similar to Oculus Touch and has four wide-angle cameras for positional tracking and displays with resolution of 1600 x 1440 per eye with an option to adjust the lens spacing. The Headset will be launching in the spring of 2019. The starting price is $399 USD. The Quest is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile chip. The stand-alone headset is not as powerful as the high-powered Oculus Rift. The Quest, unlike the Oculus Rift, does not require a personal computer to operate or sensor towers to track one’s movement. This makes it possible to move around more easily in a virtual environment without tripping over physical wires or wearing a cumbersome backpack that contains a PC. The headset is lighter and more comfortable to wear with the weight more evenly distributed.
Ivan Sutherland
From 1965 to 1968, Sutherland was an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Harvard University. Work with student Danny Cohen in 1967 led to the development of the Cohen–Sutherland computer graphics line clipping algorithm. In 1968, with his students Bob Sproull, Quintin Foster, Danny Cohen, and others he created the first head-mounted display that rendered images for the viewer's changing pose, as sensed by The Sword of Damocles, thus making the first virtual reality system. A prior system, Sensorama, used a head-mounted display to play back static video and other sensory stimuli. The optical see-through head-mounted display used in Sutherland's VR system was a stock item used by U.S. military helicopter pilots to view video from cameras mounted on the helicopter's belly.
Optical head-mounted display
In December 2012, Meta was founded by Meron Gribetz, based on the work of a Columbia University team that began in 2011. On 17 May 2013, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to manufacture the Meta 1, an augmented reality wearable display that is based on Epson's Moverio BT-100. Meta's outward-facing camera captures gestures allowing users to interact with virtual games, architectural renderings and other 3D objects by using their hands. To get one of the first-generation devices required a pledge of $650 or more to the Kickstarter campaign. The Kickstarter campaign was successful in raising $194,444, topping its pledged goal of $100,000.