And All That Hype, Around the World, Where Are They Now?
VR pioneer, Mark Pesce discusses the relationship between Virtual Reality and psychedelic substances. MAPS: Do you ever use psychedelics for problem-solving tasks? Where you have a specific question in mind, and then you take psychedelics in search of an answer? Mark:...
And All That Hype, Around the World
“Don’t shade your eyes; plagiarize!” (Tom Lehrer) Why VRtifacts matters. “I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work. Had I worked fifty or ten or even five years before, I would...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays, In the Movies
From the 1995 made for TV B movie Evolver, check out their head mounted display of...
And All That Hype, VR Companies, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
I wrote this for a 1991 Meckler conference presentation. Still smiling at my naivete! It’s tough trying to manage one of these businesses. Every time one of my vendors/bankers/landlord/ etc., asks what we do, and I say “Virtual Reality,” their...
And All That Hype, In the Movies, On TV, Stereoscopic 3D, VR Companies
We all know that the 1950’s were the golden age of 3D movies, Hollywood’s attempt to fend off the rapidly growing television audience. Their 3D thrust was short lived, and with a few exceptions, we enjoyed almost 50 years of 2D bliss. This time around 3D...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
Scenes from a typical day in the virtual world of tomorrow: You wake up and attend to your daily bathroom rituals, which unfortunately will never be replaced by any virtual reality process… Thus, after your real world morning ceremonies are completed, it’s...
And All That Hype, Around the World, Head Mounted Displays, VR Companies, Where Are They Now?
Two snippets from the old, old school of VR, circa 1991, pitching a reputable UK firm – Division (acquired by PTC in 1999.) Featured are a couple of helmets from VPL Research using LEEP optics and cloth/velcro enclosures. One HMD appears to have been modeled...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays, Stereoscopic 3D
Over at Meant to be Seen 3D, in answer to a forum post looking for the perfect HMD, board vet, cybereality took the time to respond in depth… Money quote: Well, sadly to say it, you will probably be waiting for a long time. There is nothing I know of on the...
And All That Hype, Stereoscopic 3D
3D is once again the rage. And with it comes an effluence of “new” technology to capture real world 3D. One such gadget was shown at the Maker Faire. From out of USC Film School comes a simple way to shoot 3D with a single DSLR (or any) camera....
And All That Hype, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
When did we first get a clue that VR might not fully live up to its promise? The National Academy of Science’s “Committee on Virtual Reality Research and Development” roster is a non-virtual who’s-who of the VR world circa 1994. They certainly...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
VR today is like early TV: it suffers from the split personality of most start-up high-tech industries. At the one end is the top of the line research, carried out by institutions with no mandate to sell anything. At the other end, we have new hardware and software...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays
Yes, I’ve heard rumors of bugs (lice) inside VR helmets (untrue!), but researchers in Spain are bloody Kafkaesque, putting virtual cockroaches all over the screens. They “got the bright idea to simulate hoards of cockroaches swarming over insect-phobic...
And All That Hype, Game Systems, VR Companies, Where Are They Now?
From 1991 to 1996 W Industries Virtuality systems defined the image of VR in the location based entertainment arena. Here in the US, Horizon Entertainment was their sole distributor. W Industries was remarkably innovative with their use of technology, but their...
And All That Hype, In the Movies
I got some comments and messages from people complaining: “Ok there is a 3D wave, but i don’t see VR.” So… I thought I’d write expand on the topic a bit more. VR is definitely in the media and in the movies again. “But...
