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History of Virtual Reality
Hard- & Software
Introduction
Immersion in strange, fantastic worlds has fascinated our human nature for a long time. Virtual reality offers us a fairly uncomplicated technical possibility for this. But how did such technical possibilities come about in the first place? In the following, the forefathers of VR will be discussed and the pioneers of the eighties and their visions will be presented in more detail. Furthermore, we will clarify how virtual reality made the leap into the mass market.
Ancestors of VR
In 1788, the Irish painter Robert Barker exhibited a 360-degree circular painting in Edinburgh. The exhibition quickly attracted public attention and was eventually transferred to London in 1792 under the name "The Panorama". For this, Barker made a canvas 15 meters high and 100 meters long. In the center of this circular structure, he erected a raised, cylindrical platform. Anyone who wanted to see the panoramic image in its entirety had to turn on his or her own axis.
In 1838, the English physicist Charles Wheatstone developed the world's first stereoscope. This initially rather bulky construct consisted of a wooden board in the center of which two mirrors were fixed at a 45-degree angle. Pictures were attached to the sides of it. In 1849, the stereoscope was further developed by David Brewster. The latter made a box into which one looked through two lenses. A flap on the side was used to change the position of the images inserted. Brewster presented his further development to the public in 1851. Decades later, stereoscope production is a worldwide industry.
In 1929, organ builder Edward Link designed the first rudimentary flight simulator, the "Link Trainer." This consisted of a darkened cabin. A moving motor made it possible to rotate, tilt and rock the aircraft, and loudspeakers played the sounds of the motor. From 1934, the "Link-Trainer" was used by the Army Air Corps for training purposes.
In 1935, Stanley G. Weinbaum described the principle of VR glasses in his book "Pygmalion's Spectacles - A Short Story". The protagonist Dan Berk meets a strange scientist who lets him try out a miraculous pair of glasses. With their help, he is transported into a fictional world, with which and its inhabitants can be interacted.
VR in the 60's
In 1955, philosopher, inventor and filmmaker Morton Heilig conceived an arcade machine capable of playing stereoscopic 3D movies. A vibrating handlebar, a moving seat and stereo sound were intended to give the viewer an immersive experience. In 1962, it patented the concept under the name "Sensorama". But success on the market failed to materialize.
In 1965, computer scientist Ivan Sutherland described the concept of a simulated world in which users could interact with objects without having to observe the rules of physics. A computer provides the necessary haptic and visual stimuli. His concept is called "The Ultimate Display."
Together with student Bob Sproul, Sutherland developed a pair of data glasses linked to computers in 1968. The ceiling-mounted structure used steel tubes to create a virtual image that was projected directly onto the user's eyes via mirrors. Because of its weight, the construction was nicknamed the "Sword of Damocles".
VR in the 80's
Eric Howlett developed the so-called "LEEP Panoramic Photography System", a stereoscopic photography system, in 1980. This consists of a wide-angle camera and a viewing device that achieves a field of view of up to 140 degrees.
In 1982, MIT graduate and musician Thomas G. Zimmermann files a patent for an optical flex sensor. This is a glove that can detect finger movements by means of light refraction.
Together with Jaron Lanier, Zimmermann founded the company VPL Research in 1984, which pioneered today's VR with its innovative developments. For example, they developed their own programming language specifically for VR applications. In addition, VPL focused on the further development of the data glove. This was now able to perform three-dimensional position recognition of the hands by means of an ultrasound tracking system, among other things.
In 1985, NASA developed a concept for VR goggles, the so-called "Virtual Environment Display System". This involved a motorcycle helmet on which a 120° wide-angle display system and sensors for motion control were mounted. The system was intended to enable engineers, for example, to view their designs in a simulated environment. From 1986 onwards, further developments were made in a cooperation with VPL Research, using the "Data Glove" as an input device.
VPL Research further developed the "Data Glove" into a data suit. This was primarily used in the film industry together with motion capture systems. In 1987, the first commercial VR glasses were developed in cooperation with NASA. These were called "Eye-Phone HRX" and were primarily used by companies and in science due to the high unit price. However, the system failed to catch on and VPL Research filed for bankruptcy in 1990.
At Christmas 1989, the toy manufacturer Mattel and Nintendo launched the so-called "Power Glove". This was a data glove for the NES that had been slimmed down to a controller. The basis for this was the "Data Glove" from VPL. Only one year later, in October 1990, Nintendo stopped the production of the "Power Glove" again. The reason for this was the low sales figures as well as technical problems regarding the controller.
VR in the 90's
Dr. Johnathan Waldern, Terry Rowley, Al Humbrich and Richard Holmes founded W-Industries in 1987. Initially developing several simple VR systems based on an Amiga 2000, the company finally introduces the VR Arcades 1000CS and 1000SD in March 1991. Both systems are based on the new AMIGA 3000 computer and a VR goggle with LC display. In the 1000SD unit, the player sits similar to a bumper car. In the 1000CS unit, on the other hand, the user stands on a round platform, which is bordered by a plastic railing. Shortly after the release of the machines, W-Industries also released the "Touch Glove" as its own input device.
W-Industries continued to successfully develop their VR arcade systems in the following years. The 2000CS system was much slimmer in design and was based on an IBM computer with a high computing power for that time. In cooperation with IBM, W-Industries developed the PC VR system "Project Elysium" in 1994. This was primarily intended to appeal to business customers in architecture, education and science. One year later, the company tried to penetrate the home consumer market together with ATARI. However, the joint plans failed and W-Industries, meanwhile renamed Virtuality, had to file for bankruptcy in 1997.
VR in den 2010ern
In 2012, Palmer Luckey, Michael Antonov, Brendan Iribe and Andrew Scott Reise founded the company Oculus VR. The goal of the young founders is to offer technically high-quality VR at a fair price. In early 2013, the first developer kits are delivered to developer studios and John Carmack becomes part of the team. In 2014, Facebook acquires the company for around three billion US dollars.
During the presentation of Windows 10 in January 2015, Microsoft caused a big surprise. The company announced holographic glasses called "HoloLens". More precisely, these are wireless AR glasses that insert virtual objects into the real environment.
In the same year, Valve and HTC announced the HTC Vive at the Mobile World Congress. In mid-2016, it was launched on the market almost simultaneously with the Oculus Rift. Furthermore, Sony released the PlayStation VR for the PlayStation 4 in time for the Christmas business of the same year.
Google and Samsung are trying to make VR affordable for everyone and are relying on a smartphone as a display. In November 2015, the "Samsung Gear VR" appears in collaboration with Oculus VR. Google's cardboard model "Cardboard" appeared a year earlier. However, smartphone VR has hardly been able to establish itself to date.
In Utah, the VR arcade "The Void" opened its doors for the first time in 2017. The location combines virtual with actual reality. To do this, a virtual playing field is recreated in a hall and equipped with real objects, such as walls and doors. Each physical object is then given a virtual counterpart. This makes the VR world more believable. The Void" is now available in numerous major cities in the USA and Europe.
In June 2018, the first self-sufficient VR goggles, the "Oculus Go", will be launched on the market. These offer the user flexibility, comfort and a fair price-performance ratio. Self-sufficient VR glasses no longer need to be connected to a computer. However, the glasses do not recognize any movement in space and are thus limited to 360-degree videos as well as simple games. Then, at the end of the year, another pair of self-contained VR goggles appeared, the "HTC Vive Focus." An included controller enables 2D hand movements in three-dimensional space. This approach leads to a severely limited immersion for users. One year later, this problem is fixed with the "HTC Vive Focus Plus".
In the spring of 2019, the upgrade of the first Rift, the "Oculus Rift S", will be released. This has a high-resolution display, revised controllers and an integrated tracking system.
With the "Oculus Quest", Facebook will release its second VR goggles in the same year. Highlights include more pixels, greater flexibility, and a standalone mode. The Quest generates software sales of around USD 100 million within the first year - a record.
HTC will launch its new VR glasses, the "Vive Cosmos," in October 2019. Spatial orientation is handled by integrated cameras in this model. Teething troubles include rather imprecise tracking and bulky controllers with short battery life.
At the end of the year, HTC and Valve break up. Valve surprisingly decides to go it alone and develops its own glasses called "Valve Index". A high wearing comfort, the high resolution as well as a sophisticated tracking make the Index one of the technically best VR glasses at the moment.
Somewhat surprisingly, Facebook releases the "Oculus Quest 2" in October 2020. The technical improvements compared to the predecessor include frame rates of 120 hertz as well as a more powerful CPU and more integrated memory.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the history of virtual reality has been marked by visionaries and ideas that were often ahead of their time. Most ambitious projects of the eighties and nineties, for example, failed due to the technical limitations of their time. Others completely overreached themselves and disillusioned their customers. Nevertheless, VR finally made the breakthrough in the 2010s and became mass-marketable.
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