1. 1 A Brief History of VR Reading: Burdea, Chapter 1

2. 2 Organization Three-Dimensional Display Virtual Reality Systems Important Events

3. 3 3D Display 1838-1948 - Early Systems 1967 - Traub’s Varifocal Mirror 1979 - LEEP Optics 1970s - Computer-based stereo displays 1985 - Commercial LC shutter displays

4. 4 Early 3D Display 1838 - Wheatstone Stereoscope 1849 - Brewster Stereoscope 1903 - Parallax Barrier 1915 – First 3D movie 1948 - Holography

5. 5 Volumetric Displays 1967 - Traub’s Varifocal Mirror 1981 – Larry Sher at BB&N SpaceGraph 1986 - Patent Number 4,607,255 UNC Chapel Hill VFM Video

6. 6 Commercial Shutter Glasses for CRT-based Stereoscopic Display Time- multiplexed stereoscopic display 1970s – PLZT Ceramic Shutters 1985 - Commercial LC shutter displays

7. 7 LEEP Optics Eric Howlett, Pop-Optix Labs 1979 Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) Originally for stereoscopic still photo viewing Lenses correct for intentional camera distortion Later used in HMDs

8. 8 LEEP Optics

9. 9 Virtual Reality Systems 1929 – Link Flight Simulator 1946 – First computer (ENIAC) 1956 – Sensorama 1960 – Heileg’s HMD 1965-68 – The Ultimate Display 1972 – Pong 1973 – Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. 1976 – Videoplace 1977 – Apple, Commodore, and Radio Shack PCs 1979 – First Data Glove [Sayre] (powerglove -89) 1981 – SGI founded 1985 – NASA AMES 1986-89 – Super Cockpit Program 1990s – Boom Displays 1992 – CAVE (at Siggraph) 1995 – Workbench 1998 – Walking Experiment

10. 10 Link Flight Simulator 1929 - Edward Link develops a mechanical flight simulator Train in a synthetic environment Used mechanical linkages Instrument (blind) flying http://www.wpafb.a f.mil/museum/early_ years/ey19a.htm

11. 11 Sensorama Morton Heilig, 1956 Motorcycle simulator - all senses visual (city scenes) sound (engine, city sounds) vibration (engine) smell (exhaust, food) Extend the notion of a ‘movie’

12. 12 Heilig’s HMD (1960) Simulation Mask from Heilig’s 1960 patent 3D photographic slides WFOV optics with focus control Stereo sound Smell

13. 13 Ivan Sutherland The Ultimate Display (FIPS 1965) Data Visualization: “A display connected to a digital computer…is a looking glass into a mathematical wonderland.” Body Tracking: “The computer can easily sense the positions of almost any of our body muscles.”

14. 14 Ultimate Display (cont.) Virtual Environments that mimic real environments: “A chair display in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal.” VEs that go beyond reality: “There is no reason why the objects displayed by a computer have to follow ordinary rules of physical reality with which we are familiar.”

15. 15 First HMD-Based VR 1965 - The Ultimate Display paper by Sutherland 1968 - Ian Sutherland’s HMD

16. 16 Molecular Docking Simulator Incorporated force feedback Visualize an abstract simulation

17. 17 Data Gloves Light, electrical or metal detectors compute “bend” Electrical sensors detect pinches. Force feedback mechanical linkages

18. 18 1983 - Artificial Reality Responsive Environment Is an environment where human behavior is perceived by a computer which interprets what it observes and responds through intelligent visual and auditory displays Contained many of the ideas that define: VR Context Aware Computing Video Place

19. 19 1985 - Nasa Ames HMD McGreevy and and Humphries Wearable immersive HMDs LCD “Watchman” displays LEEP Optics Led to VIVID, led by Scott Fisher

20. 20 Super Cockpit - Tom Furness Wright Patterson Air Force Base Visual, auditory, tactile Head, eye, speech, and hand input Designed to deal with problem of pilot information overload Flight controls and tasks too complicated Research only Big system, not safe for ejecting

21. 21 FakeSpace Boom Display - early 1990s

22. 22 CAVE - 1992

23. 23 Virtual Workbench-1995 (Responsive Workbench, Immersidesk, etc.)

24. 24 Current Best VE UNC Pit Experiment Fear of Heights a Strong Response Thousands of visitors Compelling Experience Haptics Low Latency High Visual Quality

25. 25 Major VR Companies Computing Power DisplayInteractionLocomotion 80s Evans & Sutherland HMDGloves, Joysticks, Custom Built Electromagnetic (4’ radius) 90s Silicon Graphics Inc. HMD, CAVE Gloves, Joysticks, Force Feedback Electromagnetic Optical (room sized) Curren t PCHMD, CAVE Real Objects Force Feedback Electromagnetic Optical (room sized) Future Tablet, PDA, PC HMD, CAVE Projectors Real Objects Natural interaction Anywhere, Outdoors

26. 26 VR Events 1985 - VPL Founded 1987 - VR in Scientific American 1990 – SIGGRAPH Panel Session 1991 - ICAT (International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence) in Japan 1995 – IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (VRAIS 95). 1995 – Beginning of Clinical VR 1998 – DisneyQuest opens 1999 – VRAIS replaced by IEEE VR Conference

27. 27 VPL Founded - 1985 First VR Company VPL Research by Jaron Lanier and Thomas Zimmerman Data Glove Term: Virtual Reality

28. 28 VR Comes to the Public’s Attention 1987 Article by Jim Foley that features the VPL Data Glove

29. 29 Siggraph 1990 Special Session: Hip, Hype and Hope – The Three Faces of Virtual Worlds Chair:Bob Jacobson, University of Washington Panelists:John Barlow, Author and Songwritter Nolan Bushnell, Aaps, Inc. Esther Dyson, Editor, Release 1.0, Analyst Tom Furness, Human Interface Technology Lab Timothy Leary, University of Pittsburgh Warren Robinette, University of North Carolina Randall Walser, Autodesk

30. 30 1995 - First IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (now IEEE VR) VRAIS 93 in Seattle Research Frontiers in VR workshop at Visualization 93 “Timothy Leary Wasn’t Invited” http://www.cs.uncc.edu/~lfhodges/UNCCVR/Fall03/VRAIS95.gif

31. 31 1995 - Effectiveness of computer-generated (VR) graded exposure in the treatment of acrophobia in American Journal of Psychiatry

32. 32 First IEEE VR in 1999 Announced at VRAIS 98 in Atlanta First IEEE VR held in Houston in 1999 http://www.cs.uncc.edu/~lfhodges/UNCCVR/Fall03/VR99.pdf 2003 – Los Angelos, CA 2004 - Chicago

33. 33 Major Reinvigoration: Hardware Evolution High expense PC performance surpasses Graphics supercomputers SGI RealityEngine (300k tris – 1993) XBOX (150 mil tri/sec - 2001) XBOX360 (500 mil tri/sec - 2005) Large Volume Displays VR Estimated $3.4 billion industry in 2005