Emmanuel Okenye
Bryan Osborne
CIT 498
Senior Paper Outline
June 20, 2018
The technology of Virtual reality can be traced as far back as the 1950s and the 1960s. There were a number of notable individuals who contributed to the creation of the technology one of who was known as Morton Heilig. He was a filmmaker who created the Sensorma. Although this is true, the true idea of virtual reality could be mapped back to the 1930’s. Science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum gave us a first look at a future with virtual reality in a movie he wrote called Pygmalion’s Spectacles. In this movie he described “pair of goggles that let the wearer experience a fictional world through holographic, smell, taste and touch” (Schnipper et al.). He is being recognized as an innovator in the field of virtual reality as because he was able to paint such a clear and accurate prediction of the of technology we have now presently developed despite his time period and the technology which could be seen at the time.
It was not until we the 1950s that virtual reality made its biggest move forward as it evolved from being bare ideas to becoming practically executed. Morton Heilig, the filmmaker who is famous for his creation of the Sensorama was the one known for taking this big step. Several years later, after constant work Morton unveiled the Sensorama in the year 1962. It was said to be a device which was created to project a fully immersive experience for the person watching the film. The device constructed in “an arcade-style theatre cabinet which was created to stimulate all the senses. This device compromised of a stereoscopic 3D display, fans, stereo speakers, smell generators and a vibrating chair”. Morton Heilig perceived the Sensorama to be a real part of the future in the sense of presenting film to audiences. Unfortunately, his ambition was short-lived and never materialized during his lifetime. Scott Fisher who is the co-founder of the VR company Telepresence Research said; “Morton Heilig was just so brilliant and ahead of his time. He just didn’t have good luck with this stuff. There are four Sensoramas left. I feel bad; it’s groundbreaking work. He should absolutely be acknowledged and be a common name in these discussions” (Schnipper et al). The Sensorama was not Morton’s only creation, in the 1960s he created the Telesphere Mask which was a head mounted device which had stereoscopic 3D, stereo sound, and wide vision. This device however, had the absence of motion tracking.
Second-half of the 1960s introduced the rise of three very influential individuals in the world of virtual reality. Thomas Furness, Myron Krueger and Ivan Sutherland. Thomas Furness was an engineer for the military in Ohio. He worked at the Wright-Patterson air force base. Earlier in his career, Furness developed the interfaces of fighter airplane cockpits and also developed a new line of flight simulators. Thomas had been in the process of designing head mounted display technology for the air force long before he began developing the Super Cockpit. Nicole Stenger, creator of the well-known influential virtual reality film Angels who is a digital media artist said, “There were two inventors who basically found the secret of VR in the ’60s: Ivan Sutherland and Tom Furness. Ivan Sutherland started a major computer company, while Tom Furness was developing the technology inside the Air Force. When he started his lab, he had been kicked out of the Air Force because they didn’t believe in it anymore. They were wrong, of course. After the first Gulf War, when his system was being used by the Air Force, everyone realized that it was a major breakthrough” (Schnipper et al). Another influential individual is named Ivan Sutherland. He is often credited as the originator of the term “Ultimate Display.” “The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked” (History of Virtual Reality). Sutherland developed the first physical representation of his concepts in the “Ultimate Display” in 1968. This device developed was known as The Sword of Damocles. It was a head mounted display connected to a computer and it had a periscopic structure. Ben Delaney Market, who is a researcher and popular creator of Virtual Reality industry newsletter CyberEdge Journal described the Sword of Damocles saying, “It was a head-mount that was suspended from the ceiling because it was just too heavy to wear. The display was all wire frame, but they were 3D models, and you could change your position and see different views thanks to a tracking system built into the head mount. Ivan was really the father of VR” (Schnipper et al). Third individual is named Myron Krueger. He was an artist and a computer programmer. He worked on a new technological experience which he named “Artificial Reality.” His idea was to change the way the human race interacted with computer systems. One of the founding staff member of Wired named Linda Jacobson who was the former "virtual reality evangelist" for the supercomputer company called Silicon Graphics in an interview said in quote “a lot of new science museums have interactive displays: basically, you’re interacting with projection images that are generated by a computer while your body is being tracked by a camera that interpolates where you are in space and alters the graphics accordingly. The intersection of those two technologies really are at the basis of VR as we know it today and was first developed by Myron Krueger” (Schnipper et al). Myron had a clearer view of virtual reality in the perspective that he believed it would create a stronger bond or relationship between humans and machines. A relationship that was able to create an alternate reality for the user. Myron Krueger said “Because of my liberal arts background, I had a much different idea about what computers were for, and so I imagined a more romantic search for a relationship between a human and a machine. I decided to try to find the essence of interactivity. I just imagined what it would be like to use a computer in the extreme, sort of, and I thought that being able to move around physically was one of the things. I don’t know why I thought all of this was important, but it just seemed to me that I was important, and the computer wasn’t” (Schnipper et al).
Virtual reality came a long way in the 1980’s from its initial introduction in the 30’s and although all these advancements had been made, there was still no official name for what virtual reality really was. Jaron Lanier, the founder of the visual programming lab came around and changed this. He is often credited with coming up with the term virtual reality or according to some, he popularized the term. “Through his company VPL research Jaron developed a range of virtual reality gear including the Dataglove (along with Tom Zimmerman) and the EyePhone head mounted display. They were the first company to sell Virtual Reality goggles (Eye Phone 1 $9400; Eye Phone HRX $49,000) and gloves ($9000). A major development in the area of virtual reality haptics” (History of Virtual Reality). As the late ’90s and early 2000s went by, virtual reality companies continued to operate, but on a low-key and in a very cautious manner. The military became the biggest advocate for the use and benefits of virtual reality. 3D graphics continued to advance but referring to them as "virtual reality" became increasingly rare. “Companies periodically showcased virtual reality systems and peripherals, but despite protests from Lanier and others, the "death of VR" had become a standard narrative” (Schnipper et al). However in the year 2012, Luckey Palmer unveiled a headset known as Oculus Rift which is popularly regarded as a virtual reality rebirth.
2. Virtual Reality in the 21st Century (Implementation of Virtual Reality in Our World)
This futuristic generation we live in popularly known as the 21st century has experienced quite a massive yet rapid advancement in the world of virtual reality. Computers and the technology they possess have undergone an immense change from what we were once used to and the swift rise of smartphone and the tasks they are now able to accomplish is mind-blowing. Computing functions we were never used to are now part of our day-to-day living. Some of these aspects of computing include, motion controllers, automatic lighting systems, natural human interfaces and so on which further prove that the new generation is prepared for the future virtual reality provides. We previously heard in the past a number of promises about the futuristic world virtual reality could provide and a number of these promises were unfulfilled. It was not until the year 2016 before we began to see these promises come to fruition and now virtual reality paints the picture of a future we have all been waiting for especially in the entertainment sector. Today we have quite a number of significant players in the world of virtual reality. Some of which include, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Microsoft HoloLens.
In 2012, Luckey Palmer unveiled the Oculus Rift in 2012 and this is often recognized as the virtual reality renaissance. They became the first Virtual Reality unit to be released and they created much needed traction. “On the outside, the Oculus Rift didn’t look like much: a matte-black box, roughly the size of a brick, that hung from his face like giant ski goggles, a tangle of cords running from the back of his head to the back of a small desktop computer. It looked futuristic, but not pretty—the kind of thing a teenager might create to approximate his vision of the future, which, in fact, is exactly how this particular device had come into being” (Chafkin). Palmer designed the Oculus rift in his parent’s garage. At this time, he had only managed to create the prototype which he put on a crowd funding platform known as Kickstarter and he was able to raise an impressive sum of 2.4 million dollars. Oculus Rift was purchased a few years later by one of the biggest technology companies and social media giant, Facebook for 2 billion dollars. This major unveiling unknown to many, was the beginning of a number of notable releases by other major players in the technology scene, one of which included Google who is Facebook’s biggest rival.
The PlayStation VR became the very first VR headset designed for personal home gaming console, the PlayStation 4. Sony had just released the PlayStation 4 and were basking in the success of the gaming console. PlayStation VR was their attempt at eating at the table which was virtual reality. The PlayStation VR system differs from the rest in the sense that it was built solely for its own specific console and not for personal computers. This differentiating feature provides the PlayStation VR with an advantage because the need to change the specifications to fit your system have been eliminated. Once you own the PlayStation 4, the VR system is ready for use. Sony were well aware that they would become the first out of the many gaming console competitors such as Microsoft and Nintendo. “When Oculus went public with its plans for a virtual reality headset in 2012, the world took notice, kicking off a wave of mainstream interest in the idea. Soon after, others also announced plans for headsets. Behind the scenes, Sony kept moving forward with its plans, growing its internal team working on PlayStation VR hardware and creating a joint R&D team across its U.S. and Japan offices” (Leone). Sony were very patient and thorough with their planning, making sure they took into account that their biggest competition in the world of virtual reality was Oculus which was often recognized as the poster-boy for Virtual Reality. Sony also recognized that they’re main selling point would be to create affordable virtual reality units and they successfully provided that. In 2016, PlayStation unveiled the price for the PlayStation VR at $400. “PlayStation VR requires a PS4, which currently retails for $349, while the Rift and Vive require PCs that can cost closer to $1,000” (Leone). The PlayStation VR was finally released in October 2016.
HTC Vive is a headset originally designed by the well-known cellphone company HTC in collaboration with the video game developing company Valve. Before this iconic collaboration, Valve was previously working on designing head mounted display prototypes as well as software and cameras with motion tracking features. Valve design team had a strong love for “room-scale” VR and the freedom of movement it provided. However, they were worried about how the design would appeal to the general public considering most people would not be interested in wallpapering their room the way they did. As at 2013, HTC was just a cellphone company, known for designing impressive cellphones with world class technology. However, the company aspired to be known for more than just that. Virtual reality was the chance for the company to indulge into something new and different but this would not be easy. This would require a lot of planning and a lot of work if it was to be done right. “The team explored both augmented reality (think Microsoft HoloLens) and VR and decided to focus on the latter. But while Samsung seized the opportunity to pair an optical shell with its flagship phones, HTC quickly discounted the idea. "Out of the gate we never considered something that is glued together with a phone as a display." said Zellweger, who's now the company's Head of Design. Instead, HTC approached the VR headset the same way it approaches phones: Get in early, and get in at the high end” (Soupporis). The two companies finally came into agreement and that’s when the design process they tagged “The Developer Edition” commenced. During this process, the prototypes were in constant rotation between Valve’s headquarters and the HTC’s office in San Francisco as well as among their engineering team. At the 2015 Mobile World Congress, The Vive was unveiled.
The Microsoft HoloLens isn’t exactly considered a VR headset but more of a combination of Augmented reality and Virtual Reality. Its technology fuses real world elements with holographic illustrations to provide one seamless experience. This concept is totally different from the other VR experience most virtual reality systems provide. “Using Kinect-style tech to recognize gestures and voice commands, the headset has a 120-degree field of vision on both axes, and is capable of 'high definition' visuals, but it's still a letterbox compared to the likes of Oculus and Vive. More importantly, however, there's no connection to a PC – a full Windows 10 system is built into the headset and runs off a battery” (Lamkin). This new technology by Microsoft is the newest to the virtual reality party. Other virtual reality systems include the Samsung Gear VR and the Google DayDream View. Both devices are virtual reality units designed for smartphones.
Now there is a popular misconception that virtual reality is a technology that have been developed to help further video gaming experience, but on the contrary, virtual reality is implemented in many ways in our society. This technology has helped improve our society in many ways whether we as everyday people recognize it or not. A brief example of an implementation of virtual reality in our society is a project popularly known KeekCAVES. This project was birthed out of a collaboration between computer scientist, Oliver Krevlos and various earth scientists to help explore and understand various facets of the planet at the University of California.