WHAT WAS THE FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) HEADSET?
At the time of writing this post, Apple has just announced that they are releasing a brand new virtual reality headset called “Apple Vision Pro,” which will be available for an eye-watering $3,499. Pocket change… cries in poor.
But Apple isn’t the first to the party. That then begs the question, who was the first to create a virtual reality headset?
In 1968, Ivan Sutherland, an American computer scientist who was an associate professor of electrical engineering at Harvard University, worked with some students at the time to develop the first virtual reality headset.
Sutherland and his talented team created what was known as “The Sword of Damocles.” Thankfully, the team managed to capture footage of the testing, which shows the headset in action. The headset, sensors and all the intricate parts of the system birthed augmented reality/vr. It’s worth noting that the headset was never actually released to the public due to its size and weight.
However, some may argue that while Sutherland was the first to create the first head-mounted headset, he may not have been the first to come up with the idea of virtual/augmented reality.
Morton Heilig, a filmmaker, applied his cinematography experience to create the “Sensorama,” which is essentially like watching a 4D movie with your head inside a computer screen.
Either way, both Heilig and Sutherland should be praised for their creativity and brilliance in creating their respective devices. I wonder how much Apple would have loved to have them both around today…!