A Brief History of Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality has captured imaginations for decades, evolving from early conceptual experiments to the nowadays consumer VR headsets of today. Its history spans pioneering inventions, periods of hype and disappointment, and a modern resurgence that has brought VR into the mainstream.

Early Concepts and Prototypes

In the early 20th century, inventors began building devices to simulate experiences. A notable example was the Link Trainer flight simulator created in 1929, which let pilots train in a controlled artificial environment. Even science fiction writers talked about VR-like experiences: Stanley G. Weinbaum’s story "Pygmalion’s Spectacles" imagined glasses that could immerse the wearer in a fictional world complete with sight, sound, smell, and touch.

By the 1960s, such ideas had been realized in real prototypes. Cinematographer Morton Heilig built the Sensorama (patented in 1962), an arcade-style machine that provided 3D visuals, audio, vibrations, and even aromas to create an immersive experience. Heilig also invented the first head-mounted display device in 1960, the Telesphere Mask, which offered stereoscopic 3D visuals and sound though it had no motion tracking.

Morton Heilig’s Sensorama (1962) was one of the earliest multi-sensory VR machines, providing an immersive "experience theater" with 3D motion pictures, stereo sound, wind effect,s and scents.

Laying the Foundations (1960s–1980s)

In 1968, Ivan Sutherland — often called the grandfather of VR — showed the first computer-powered head-mounted display. Nicknamed the “Sword of Damocles” this bulky device was suspended from the ceiling and showed simple wireframe graphics in real-time. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, research into VR continued in labs and military projects (for example, improved flight simulators and interactive computer environments).

First VR Head Mounted Display, The Sword of Damocles

The field finally got its name in 1987 when Jaron Lanier popularized the term “virtual reality”. Lanier’s company, VPL Research, was the first to sell VR equipment like the DataGlove (for hand tracking) and EyePhone headset, bringing earlier lab concepts into commercial development.

1990s: Hype and Setbacks

By the early 1990s, VR burst into arcades and the public eye. The Virtuality arcade machines, introduced in 1991, let users don VR headsets and play 3D games with others in real time. Major electronics companies also jumped on the VR trend. Sega announced a prototype Sega VR headset for its console in 1993, featuring head-tracking and LCD screens, but it never progressed beyond prototypes

In 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy, a tabletop 3D gaming device. Touted as a portable VR console, it featured stereoscopic graphics but displayed only red and black visuals; the Virtual Boy was a commercial flop due to limited color, discomfort, and lack of software support. These high-profile failures caused VR to lose momentum by the late 1990s, and the technology entered a quieter period.

The Modern VR Revival

After a lull, VR was revitalized in the 2010s thanks to advances in computing and displays. In 2012, a young enthusiast named Palmer Luckey created a promising prototype headset called the Oculus Rift, which offered a wide field of view and fresh immersion that reignited interest in VR. That same year, Luckey’s Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign raised about $2.4 million to develop the Rift headset , marking a turning point for consumer VR. In 2014, Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus signaled that VR was making a big comeback.

Other tech giants also launched VR projects around this time – for example, Sony’s announcement of a PlayStation VR system and Google’s release of the low-cost Cardboard viewer in 2014 showed broad industry interest.

The Oculus Rift (Consumer Version 1, released 2016) helped kick off the modern VR boom. That year, high-end consumer VR systems like the Rift and HTC Vive brought immersive gaming and room-scale motion tracking into homes. This wave of new hardware – from PC-tethered headsets to smartphone-based VR kits – made immersive experiences more accessible to the public. Soon after, mobile VR and standalone headsets (which require no connected computer or phone) further broadened access to virtual reality.

Conclusion

Today, VR technology continues to advance and expand beyond gaming, finding uses in education, training, medicine, and other fields – a testament to how far the vision of virtual reality has come since its early beginnings.