Archives for “1993”

Sega (all hail Sonic!): 1991 brought the announcement of Sega VR, a $200 headset for the Genesis console, a prototype finally shown at summer CES 1993, and consigned to the trash heap of VR in 1994, before any units shipped. Sega claimed that the helmet experience was just too realistic for young children to handle, [...] Related posts:

  1. AT&T Shows Us Somebody Else’s Future
  2. Yea, though he has walked through the Valley of Silicon, he fears no evil. Jaron Lanier’s rebound…
  3. Is VR the New Wasteland? (from 1993….)


From 1993: “Now you can go to Radio Shack, buy what you need, and build it yourself.” Robert Suding and the Virtual Reality Special Report provide specific instructions for building a stereoscopic HMD for $435. Interestingly the optics and prisms are quite similar to the V-Rtifacts “Leep On The Cheap” design. Read the plans in [...] Related posts:

  1. Teardown – Virtual Research V6
  2. Build Your Own Fluid-based Prismatic Stereoscopic Goggles
  3. Take Flight in the Virtual World


“Inside Jaron Lanier is a precocious eight-year-old who got together with some friends and built a spaceship,” wrote Howard Rheingold in his 1991 book, Virtual Reality, the definitive history of VR to date. “Now he wants us all to take a ride in it.” More from Burr Snider’s 1993 perspective in Wired…. Tweet [Переводчик] Related posts:

  1. Jaron Lanier Explains Why There’s Still Not A VR Bubble
  2. Sega VR – Mighty Barfin’ Power Rangers (we are the 40 percent)
  3. AT&T Shows Us Somebody Else’s Future


For many years, and perhaps still today, the Polhemus Fastrak was/is the reference standard for low lag, high accuracy six degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking. Used extensively to track head mounted displays and data gloves, this magnetic tracker was used in most VPL systems and all the 1rst generation Virtuality systems. For fun, here’s a [...] Related posts:

  1. Ascension Technology SpacePad 6DOF Tracker Teardown
  2. Yet Another Fashion Emergency – J D Roth Talks Virtuality on GamePro TV
  3. The Games That Would Be King


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 products whose developers are only too happy [...] Related posts:

  1. CAVE® – A Virtual Reality Theater – 1993
  2. A Day In The Life
  3. Flashback To The ’40s


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 “innovations” in finances were not so successful. Arcade operators had a difficult time breaking [...] Related posts:

  1. W Industries – In the Beginning…
  2. Yet Another Fashion Emergency – J D Roth Talks Virtuality on GamePro TV
  3. Is VR the New Wasteland? (from 1993….)


This final segment from AT&T’s 1993 Vision of the Future isn’t too far from what’s happenin’ here in 2010, but 17 years later, AT&T is still not a player. Part1 and Part2 are almost as much fun. Tweet [Переводчик] Related posts:

  1. Display Mounted Head? – Kimera
  2. Arcade “Player Retainer” – HeadGames VR2000
  3. Virtual Boy – Another Perspective…


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 including surround-sound – was completed and premiered at the annual SIGGRAPH Conference. This video provides an overview [...] Related posts:

  1. So Serious – 1980′s Virtual Reality from NASA
  2. 10 Reasons Why Virtual Reality Did Not Become a Standard
  3. Is VR the New Wasteland? (from 1993….)


I’ve gotten a ton of emails hurled at me about the Liquid Image MRG2.2 VR helmet. The gist of most of them is: “Hey, I love the wide field of view and how rugged the MRG2.2 is, but I wish I could upgrade the LCD resolution, and, is there a way to make this HMD [...] Related posts:

  1. 6 lbs. 12 oz. – It’s a Baby Headmount! – Liquid Image MRG2
  2. Mnemonic’s MRG2.2 Upgrade – Augmented Reality + Kinect
  3. Tearing Out the Guts of a Virtual Research VR-4 Helmet


You know the wave has crested when Regis and Kathie Lee make your specialty an early morning featurette. Reeg hams it up beautifully. If it hadn’t been for that 3:30am load in, it might have been perfect. Dave Polinchock provides expert narration. Quick glimpse of an SGI Indigo on the left, and the Virtual Research [...] Related posts:

  1. Myron Kruger Takes a Spin in the Flight Helmet
  2. Warning Will Robinson, Warning!
  3. Nothing New Under the Sun!


The product slick offers a virtually indestructible carry case. I’m not completely sure why, as the Liquid Image MRG2 helmet shell, constructed of multi-layer fiberglass, was non-virtually (i.e. real-world) indestructible. The MRG2 was actually quite clever, inasmuch as it could be manufactured with about $200 of tools. No fancy injection molds or custom optics. Although [...] Related posts:

  1. Liquid Image MRG2.2 Disassembly and Potential Upgrades
  2. Mnemonic’s MRG2.2 Upgrade – Augmented Reality + Kinect
  3. Tearing Out the Guts of a Virtual Research VR-4 Helmet


“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 spirit of these pioneers, here’s a couple of snaps with Myron [...] Related posts:

  1. Regis Takes a Spin
  2. Flight Helmet – Redux
  3. Take Flight in the Virtual World


Back in 1993 this $700 device promised you could watch TV and wash your car at the same time, a claim seemingly backed up by Consumer Reports: Related posts:

  1. Night vision goggles of Red Army!
  2. Take Flight in the Virtual World
  3. 10 Reasons Why Virtual Reality Did Not Become a Standard


In early 1993 many friends and associates received this letter:

Distinguished Associate or Friend, We are pleased to introduce to you the beginning of a new chapter in the progress of virtual reality, in terms of its technology as well as its distribution.
Related posts:
  1. Number 5 in PC World’s “Ugliest Products in Tech History” – VIRTUAL BOY