1930
First flight simulator
The Link Trainer, a mock airplane fuselage mounted on a platform, simulates the sensation of flying well enough to train half a million military pilots on safety exercises during WWII.
1962
First computer aided VR efforts
Morton Helig invents the Sesorama, one of the earliest VR systems.
1968
First head-mounted VR display
Ivan Sutherland invents the “Sword of Damocles” – a giant, head-mounted VR display.
1978
The first “virtual tour”
A project out of MIT results in a simple virtual tour, called a “movie map”, which allows users to wander the streets of Aspen, Colorado, using computer controls.
1978
Digital imagery evolves
Out of NASA’s JPLG Lab, David Em uses early image-editing software to create the image “Aku.”
1979
Stereoscopic imaging
The Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system, created by Eric Howlett, uses a steroscopic image with a wide field of view to lend depth of field and realism to imagery – the basis of later VR imaging.
1980
“Virtual Reality” coined
Computer Scientist Jaron Lanier founds VPL Research, which develops several early VR devices, and popularizes the term “Virtual Reality.”
1984
Neuromancer
William Gibson publishes his iconic novel, a science fiction story featuring a Virtual Reality dataspace called the “matrix.”
1985
An online virtual world is born
Habitat, “a massively popular multiplayer role playing game,” was created by Randy Farmar and Chip Morningstar and made available as a beta test by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64.
1991
1991-1992: Personal use becomes a reality
The first in-home VR headset, immersive VR movie and functional augmented reality come out of Sega, MIT and NASA – bringing VR one step closer to personal use.
1994
Gaming VR grows more sophisticated
Sega releases the Sega VR-1 motion simulator arcade attraction, which tracks head movement and offers sophisticated graphics in stereoscopic 3D.
1999
The Matrix
The film that launched the public fascination with VR and AI is released in theaters and grosses over $460M worldwide.
2010
Oculus Rift
Partly based on work done by Mark Bolas at USC, Palmer Luckey designs the first prototype of the Oculus Rift. Later Facebook purchases Oculus VR for $2B.
2011
Ready Player One
Book published by Ernest Cline transporting readers into a worldwide Virtual Reality game.
2013
Low-persistence displays
Valve Corporation shares its breakthrough, low-persistence displays, which enable smear-free VR content.
2014
Gaming advances the game
Sony announces Project Morpheus, which becomes the PlayStation VR headset
2014
Facebook purchases Oculus VR for $2B
2015
Google Cardboard
Google announced the DIY stereoscopic viewer Cardboard, used with a smartphone to enable a personal VR experience
2016
The VR boom is here
As of 2016, there are at least 230 companies developing VR-related products. All of the big new-media players have dedicated AR and VR groups.
2016
Sensor-based tracking
The first major commercial release of sensor-based tracking in a VR headset is launched with VIVEs StreamVR product.
2017
Enterprise adoption
Walmart becomes the first company to use VR to train 100K+ associates across 200+ Academies.
2018
Experience on Demand published
Jeremy Bailenson makes 20 years of VR research accessible.
2019
Oculus for Business announced
Facebook starts enterprise-focused VR team.
2019
Immersive Learning at scale
Walmart training over 1M associates using VR.
