When Virtual Reality Was Always Virtual
VRASP, Pix-Elation, and Phlogiston
1992 brought a non-virtual swarm of young and eager students to every VR event (and there were WAY too many) under the sun. Perhaps there were massive show discounts for attendees who were too young to drink legally, but members of the Virtual...
10 Reasons Why Virtual Reality Did Not Become a Standard
So well you probably know that it is not a standard that new computers get shipped with VR headsets, although you might have believed that during the mid-90s VR craze. In 1995 many analysts - serious people - predicted that in 10 years most computers would...
Virtual Boy – Another Perspective…
I don't really agree with the Virtual Boy being VR's "nail in the coffin". I think it was just one of many crappy products. Maybe it could have saved the VR hype for a while if it was a big success, but as it is it's just one of the many VR obscurities...
PT-01 – A Rare Breed Gains Five Stars (If You Keep It On the Shelf!)
Ah well, a review of the PT-01 from Optics 1 ... Back in the days it was ridiculous expensive, like most of the VR stuff. The pros are that it is very light and optimized for mobile use, i love that it comes with a belt clip and can be driven...
Ascension Technology SpacePad 6DOF Tracker Teardown
Six degree of freedom (x, y, z, azimuth, elevation, and roll) are hard and expensive to come by these days. Stuff like the Wii remote, iPhone, and Droid only track rotations, not fine position (yes the GPS will find you within +- 10 meters, but I'm talking...
Number 5 in PC World’s “Ugliest Products in Tech History” – VIRTUAL BOY
Nintendo's 1995 Virtual Boy was a whole cartridge based game system inside a desktop-mounted-head stereoscopic immersive display. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi of Gameboy fame, and offered for $180 retail, the market was less than kind. It was withdrawn from...
Jaron Lanier Explains Why There’s Still Not A VR Bubble
Jaron walks us through all eleven reasons, from Gates Envy to Movie Projectors. Strangely enough I agree! The Top Eleven Reasons VR Has Not Yet Become Commonplace
Siggraph ’92 Wrap
The media drops in on Siggraph '92 in Chicago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8pBnuB5rys Definitely a show that I outsmarted myself on. Had an exhibitor's badge from a friend (thanks Marilyn!), and while touring the exhibits...
So Serious – 1980’s Virtual Reality from NASA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAuytnYU6JQ
CAVE® – A Virtual Reality Theater – 1993
In 1991, EVL produced its first CAVE® (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment) prototype, a two screen stereo projection system with single-user tracking and navigation. In late 1991 - early 1992, a 4 screen (3 walls/floor) CAVE® system - now...
1995 Virtual IO I-Glasses
1995 Video of Virtual io's I-Glasses. Virtual reality Head Mounted Display with headtracking. This was the first i-glasses version released and had much lower resolution than the i-glasses they sell today. Back in 1995 this was one of the first...
Tearing Out the Guts of a Virtual Research VR-4 Helmet
Last week I shredded a Liquid Image MRG2.2. This week we go for the classic Virtual Research VR-4 stereoscopic head mounted display. There's a lot to love about the VR-4: wide field of view optics, adjustable interpupilary distance, coated...