Virtual Reality: A Journey From Vision to Commodity

This work is a thorough account of virtual reality's (VR) historical change from vision to commodity. The technology's manifestations are organized into the pre-Sutherland era, beginning approximately in the 18th century, the post-Sutherland milestones of the 70s and the 80s, and the pop culture of the 80s and 90s that triggered its short-lived industrious rise, followed by a spectacular fall. Although the timeline of the evolution of the VR apparatus has been previously documented, little has been said regarding milestone continuity and how technological and market progression relate to the underlying forces that keep propelling VR's slow-burning development and cultural diffusion. Those forces aim toward the “ultimate display”; however, our analysis rejects this goal and examines how, instead, the VR experience has gradually developed.