Experimentation has been on with regard to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and some companies accepted them while some decided to underplay them.
There is indeed much gossip about virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Although, they indeed are modern sophisticated technological applications and no doubt not many people are aware of the earliest iterations of VR/AR being at least half a century old (or even more).
One does need to become more aware of the history of this technology which has been rather spiced up with pop culture.
Small Steps with Early Beginnings
The first implementation of VR is indeed by some experts traced as back as 1838. Charles Wheatstone did find that the human brain makes use of 2D images which are viewed by each different eye separately, and they are merged together in order to process a 3D image. He thus invented the stereoscope, a device that that does allow people to see two side-by-side pictures through a pair of “glasses” in order to simulate a sense of depth. Although extremely crude, this technology is indeed based on the same principle that is made use of today for the popular Google Cardboard and therefore this happens to be the first VR headset prototype. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) has indeed been given much importance.
However, the first devices that could really identify as fully-developed VR headsets are found a century later, during the ’60s and ’70s. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland did create the Sword of Damocles, a head-mounted display which has been connected for the first time to a computer that could indeed generate primitive wireframe graphics rather than simply a camera or a fixed picture.
Virtual Reality in the ’80s and ’90s
The ’80s and ’90s were no doubt an opportune time for technological applications which could indeed benefit mankind in several ways. vr was no different and appeared as unusual devices. VR back then was a huge fan, and was indeed had been widely popularized by tons of movies and comics that did depict it as being the futuristic tech that allowed people to live in a “virtual world.” In other words, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) has indeed carved a niche for themselves in the modern technological applications.
Despite being a fully interactive and virtual environment, early VR devices did not gain much ground. A lot of purported “VR headsets” were in fact merely rudimentary and extremely bulky 3D units. Even the most advanced ones were rather prevented by motion blur issues and poor head tracking and also ended up causing severe physical discomfort after brief use.
The Futuristic Age of Virtual Reality
One may take note of the fact that after repeated failed attempts of the early ’90s, at the dawn of the 21st-century one did not observe in terms of VR. A notable exception was indeed interesting, but an only moderately related iteration of this technology in the form of a stereoscopic 3D mode for Google Street View that had been launched in 2010. Consumers and developers did lose interest in VR and AR technologies for a while.
The situation did change considerably. VR games were in demand. The processing power of the newest high-end graphics cards does allow gamers to rediscover the hidden potential of this technology. In a matter of few years, competitors such as the HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard started coming up with a new type of VR. By 2016, hundreds of companies were indeed developing their own different VR products which were to be used in a lot of different fields other than just entertainment.
