Page 52 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 8.4

irtual Reality is but the latest attempt
vby creators to cater to humanities Is MIxed,
longtime love affair with immersion, which is
to feel present at a scene where our physical
bodies are not. From the 360-degree life-
size panoramic murals from the nineteenth
century to the stereoscopic View-Masters AugMented,
first patented in 1939, creators living on the
cutting edge have always used the technology
of the time in their efforts to transport the
And VIrtuAl
imagination to fantastical realms.

The technology behind modern-day virtual
reality is not a new a concept. Stanley G.
Weinbaum wrote Pygmalion’s Spectacles in
the 1930’s; a story about a pair of goggles that
allowed the wearer to experience a fictional reAlIty the
world through a holographic display, while
also allowing the user to enjoy the sensations
of sound, smell, taste, and touch.
Future oF
The story describes an experience that
is remarkably like what you would see when
donning one of today’s VR helmets, albeit
sans taste, touch, and smell – although
innovators are making inroads into adding FAntAsy?
these sensations to the experience as well.

in 1962 morton heilig debuted his
sensorama, a 3D film experience which
didn’t just play 3D movies, it also created
a sense of immersion through wind, stereo
sound, aromas, and even had a vibrating seat,
so viewers would feel every bump as they
careened down a dirt track on a motorbike.
Sadly, the machine was too complicated, and
development stalled due to lack of investment.

Morton Heilig is also responsible for the
very first Vr head-mounted display (hmD), a
system which so closely resembles the style
of today’s headsets you would be forgiven
for thinking that it’s a modern-day prototype,
rather than a curiosity from the 1960’s.

Since those early days there have been
many attempts at bringing virtual reality to
the mainstream, from commercial arcade
machines by Virtual reality Group in 1991,
to home console devices such as the Sega
Vr headset in 1993, and nintendo’s doomed
Virtual Boy in 1995.

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