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Sir Charles Wheatstone was the first to describe stereopsis in 1838 and was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1840 for his explanation of binocular vision, a research which led him to construct the stereoscope.
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In 1935 American science fiction writer Stanley Weinbaum presented a fictional model for VR in his short story Pygmalion's Spectacles.
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It was a large booth that could fit up to four people at a time. It combined multiple technologies to stimulate all of the senses: there was a combined full colour 3D video, audio, vibrations, smell and atmospheric effects, such as wind.
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It was the first head-mounted display
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Headsight was the first motion tracking HMD. It had built-in video screens for each eye and a head-tracking system.
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The concept was of a virtual world viewed through an HMD which replicated reality so well that the user would not be able to differentiate from actual reality. This included the user being able to interact with objects. This concept featured computer hardware to form the virtual world and to keep it functioning in real-time. His paper is seen as the fundamental blueprint for VR.
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This assisted in the progression of VR because the military subsequently provided a lot of funding for producing better flight simulators.
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This head-mount connected to a computer rather than a camera and was quite primitive as it could only show simple virtual wire-frame shapes. These 3D models changed perspective when the user moved their head due to the tracking system. It was never developed beyond a lab project because it was too heavy for users to comfortably wear; they had to be strapped in because it was suspended from the ceiling.
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He created computer-generated environments that responded to the people in it. These projects led to VIDEOPLACE technology which is mentioned later.
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This featured a 180-degree field of vision by using three screens surrounding the cockpit.
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It used computer graphics, projectors, video cameras, video displays and position-sensing technology and it didn't use goggles or gloves. VIDEOPLACE consisted of dark rooms with large video screens to surround the user in VR.
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This program enabled users to virtually wander through Aspen city in Colorado, like with Google Street View. There were three modes: summer, winter and polygons.
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A head tracker in the HMD followed the pilot's eye movements to match computer-generated images.
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These gloves were the first wired gloves. They monitored hand movements by using light emitters and photocells in the gloves' fingers. So, when the user moved their fingers the amount of light hitting the photocell varied which then converted the finger movements into electrical signals. This may have been the beginning of gesture recognition.
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This company is known as the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. They developed a range of VR equipment, such as, the DataGlove, EyePhone HMD and the Audio Sphere.
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The training cockpit featured: computer-generated 3D maps, advanced infrared and radar imagery and the pilot could see and hear in real-time. The helmet's tracking system and sensors allowed the pilot to control the aircraft using gestures, speech and eye movements.
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Jaron Lanier popularised the term "Virtual Reality" while at VPL Research. The VR and graphics-related patents were later bought by Sun Microsystems. The company Dimension International created a software that could build 3D worlds in a PC.
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through this company real-time binaural 3D audio processing was developed.
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This was the first mass-produced VR entertainment system. A Virtuality pod featured VR headsets and real-time immersive stereoscopic 3D images. Some of the machines could be networked together for multi-player games. Eventually some of the very popular arcade games, like Pac-Man, had VR versions.
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which played 3D monochrome video games. It was the first portable console to display 3D graphics. But it was a commercial failure due to:
The lack of colour graphics
The lack of software support
It wasn't comfortable to use
One year later it was discontinued. -
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It led to Virtools VR Pack.
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Immersive Media was identified as the contractor that captured the imagery for four of the five cities initially mapped by Street View, using its patented dodecahedral camera array on a moving car.
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It featured a 90-degree field of vision, which had never been seen before, and relied on a computer's processing power to deliver the images. This new development boosted and refreshed interest in VR.
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This was a defining moment in VR's history because VR gained momentum rapidly after this.
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a low-cost and do-it-yourself stereoscopic viewer for smartphones.
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a headset that uses a Samsung Galaxy smartphone as a viewer.
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for example:
The Wall Street Journal launched a VR roller coaster that followed the ups and downs of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The BBC created a 360-degree video where users view a Syrian migrant camp.
The Washington Post released a VR experience of the Oval Office at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
RYOT, a media company, exhibited Confinement, a short VR film about solitary confinement in US prisons.
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Most of the headsets had dynamic binaural audio. Haptic interfaces were underdeveloped. Haptic interfaces are systems that allow humans to interact with a computer using their touch and movements - like the Gloveone gloves that were being developed. This meant that handsets were typically button-operated. HTC released its HTC VIVE SteamVR headset. This was the first commercial release of a headset with sensor-based tracking which allowed users to move freely in a space.
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including HTC, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft Sony, Samsung etc. Sony may be developing a similar location tracking tech to HTC's VIVE for the PlayStation 4.
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Virtual reality has significantly progressed and is now being used in a variety of ways, from providing immersive gaming experiences, to helping treat psychological disorders, to teaching new skills and even taking terminally ill people on virtual journeys. VR has many applications and with the rise in smartphone technology VR will be even more accessible.
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Oculus Quest, Facebook's standalone headset, created a lot of interest and momentum, selling out in many locations and generating $5 million worth of content sales. The shift from tethered to standalone VR headsets represented a shift within the immersive ecosystem, as standalone headsets are much easier to use for the average consumer. Road to VR reported that the monthly-connected VR headsets on Steam had surpassed 1 million for the first time.
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The Quest 2 received mostly positive reviews as an incremental update to the Quest and continues to sell in the millions around the world.