There were many problems left to solve. The Lawnmower Man movie introduced the concept of virtual reality to a wider audience. It was in part based on the founder of Virtual Reality Jaron Lanier and his early laboratory days. A system dubbed “Computer Simulated Teleoperation”. Jaron was played by Pierce Brosnan, a scientist who used virtual reality therapy on a mentally disabled patient. A NASA engineer named Antonio Medina develops a VR system that lets you pilot a Mars rover, even taking the time delay into account.

Samsung Gear S3

Things really began to take off in the 20th century, with advent of electronics and computer technology. A small motor-driven device mimicked turbulence and disturbances. Such was the need for safer ways to train pilots that the US military bought six of these devices for $3500. In 1929 Edward Link created the “Link trainer” (patented 1931) probably the first example of a commercial flight simulator, which was entirely electromechanical. It was controlled by motors that linked to the rudder and steering column to modify the pitch and roll. In 2015 money this was just shy of $50 000. During World War II over 10,000 “blue box” Link Trainers were used by over 500,000 pilots for initial training and improving their skills.

Yet, we don’t think of them and virtual reality as being one and the same. When we use the word “VR” now, it specifically refers to computer generated imagery and hardware specifically designed to bring those sights and sounds to us in a way that is totally immersive. There are plenty of definitions of VR today, which all more or less overlap in key areas. This would differentiate it from things like 3D -movies, 360-degree video and other similar “look but don’t touch” media. Many definitions also stipulate that VR must be interactive.

In the 1930s a story by science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum (Pygmalion’s Spectacles) contains the idea of a pair of goggles that let the wearer experience a fictional world through holographics, smell, taste and touch. In hindsight the experience Weinbaum describes for those wearing the goggles are uncannily like the modern and emerging experience of virtual reality, making him a true visionary of the field. In the mid 1950s cinematographer Morton Heilig developed the Sensorama (patented 1962) which was an arcade-style theatre cabinet that would stimulate all the senses, not just sight and sound.

Headsight was the first step in the evolution of the VR head mounted display but it lacked the integration of computer and image generation. Ivan Sutherland described the “Ultimate Display” concept that could simulate reality to the point where one could not tell the difference from actual reality. Computer hardware to create the virtual word. A virtual world viewed through a HMD and appeared realistic through augmented 3D sound and tactile feedback. Maintain it in real time.