The exploration stage of VR technology

As early as 1929, Edwin A.link invented a simple robotic vehicle after long-term flight training using trainer trainers (the wings were shorter and did not produce enough lifting force needed to leave the ground). It trains pilots at a fixed location indoors, making the passengers feel and sitting on a real plane, so that the trainees can learn how to operate the flight through the simulator.

In 1956, American film photographer Morton Heileg developed a IMAX system called Sensorama's multi-channel experience. This is a set of stereoscopic display devices that are only viewable by one person and have a variety of sensory stimuli. In 1960, Morton Heileg acquired the American patent for single-use stereoscopic television equipment, which contained the idea of virtual reality technology.

In 1965, the founder of Computer graphics, Ivan Sutherland, published a paper entitled "The Ultimate Display" at the Joint Conference on International information Processing, which proposed a new theory of human-computer collaboration that feels real and interactive. That is, whether you can not see the computer-generated virtual world through the computer screen, but rather to immerse the observer directly in the computer-generated virtual world, as we live in the objective world. This theory was later recognized as a milestone in virtual reality technology, so Ivan Sutherland is not only the father of computer graphics, but also the father of "virtual reality technology".

Ivan Sutherland

To achieve the "ultimate display" goal, Ivan Sutherland has been working on the development of a helmet display (Helmet mounted DISPLAY,HMD) for the next few years. In 1966, the world's first helmet-display experimental model was interviewed at the Lincoln Lab, and Ivan Sutherland named it "imminent danger". In 1988, Ivan was able to develop a completed helmet-mounted stereoscopic display and head tracking system under the organization of Harvard University.

At the time of computer graphics technology, Ivan Sutherland achieved remarkable achievements. Based on this research, Ivan published a paper entitled "A Head-mounted 3D Display" in 1968. In this paper, the design requirements and construction principle of the helmet display are analyzed deeply, and the design prototype of the device is described, which becomes the foundation of the three-dimensional display technology.

In addition to the research on the interactive devices of visual immersion, people are exploring the interactive devices of tactile immersion. In 1967, the University of North Carolina in the United States began the Grup program to study the implementation technology of force feedback (Feedback) devices.

In 1973, Myron Krurger proposed the concept of "Artificial Reality", which was the early emergence of virtual reality vocabulary.

The exploration stage of VR technology