And All That Hype, VR Companies, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
1994 marks the peak of what many view as the first “Big Bubble” in VR popularity. There were literally hundreds of (mostly) entrepreneurial startups taking a wild fling and what seemed to be a game-changing technology. You could strike sparks anywhere! By...
VR Companies, VR Publications, Where Are They Now?
Hot off the press is Ben Delaney’s authoritative new book, Sex, Drugs, and Tessellation which collects 6 years of wisdom from Ben’s CyberEdge Journal, the go-to virtual reality publication from 1991 through 1996. Ben has always been both a...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays
Google has been tearing through the bandwidth over at the Patent Office in defense of Project Glass, April’s much touted announcement of Google’s entry into the world of augmented reality and head mounted displays. One especially clever patent covers their...
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, 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...
Head Mounted Displays, On TV
Trust the folks at G4 to bring us the real scoop on state-of-the-art VR from the inventors of the assembly line, Ford Motor Company. G4’s reportage AND Ford’s VR applications are both impressive; both the MSM and GM/Chrysler have something to learn here....
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, Head Mounted Displays
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...
Head Mounted Displays, VR Companies
“Virtual Reality Systems ’93” in the Hyatt above Grand Central Station was the end of the line for this trade show, as it was for the Virtual Research Flight Helmet which was soon to be superseded by lighter and more manufacturable HMDs. In the...
Head Mounted Displays, VR Companies
If you’ve ever tried out Virtual Reality, the FIRST thing you’ll feel is the tug of the helmet cable as you virtually (and actually) try to walk down the path. Many HMDs use the weight of a rear exiting cable as a counter-weight to offset the heavy front...
Head Mounted Displays, VR Companies
By 1994 the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) exhibition floor was packed with VR systems. As a potential marketplace, blood was in the water and you couldn’t tell the fish from the sharks. With a very few exceptions most of...
And All That Hype, Head Mounted Displays, VR Companies
Sidelined in early Nov. 1992, LT was moving on to bigger and better things… Virtual Reality. The VRI-LT Press Release says it all: Virtual Reality, Inc. (Electronic Bulletin Board — VIRT) has announced today the signing of an agreement with Lawrence...
