Virtual reality Read Levinson’s Second Life Pioneers: Ivan Sutherland, Jaron Lanier, Mort Heilig
Virtual Reality almost reality immersed in an alternative world
VR pioneer Ivan Sutherland (b. 1938) MIT grad Computer scientist Created Sword of Damocles, sketchpad, creator of computer graphics, CAD Sutherland, Sproull and Associates, which was purchased by Sun Microsystems to form the seed of its research division, Sun Labs, now part of Oracle.
Sword of Damocles Created by Ivan Sutherland in 1968 At MIT First virtual reality “machine” “HMD” to track movement
Mort Heilig (1926-1997) Hollywood’s “father of Virtual Reality” Created the sensorama around the same time as Cinerama* (1950s) Initially known as a camera man *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
The Sensorama Engaging all your senses 1962
Jaron Lanier (b. 1960) Coined the term “virtual reality” in 1980’s Computer scientist Worked at Atari (VR gloves & goggles) Time Magazine's 2010 100 Linden Labs (SL) Founded VPL labs
The Lawnmower Man Movie based loosely upon Stephen King novel 1992 One of the first VR movies (Tron-1982) Used computer graphics, special effects Lauded at the time for FX first time cyberspace made it to the big screen
Current trends Second life-avatars Gaming Medical