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Virtual Reality

A primary category of immersive technology, Virtual Reality (VR) was born out of early experiments and research in the 1960s. It grew in popularity up until the 1990s, then nearly disappeared from the public eye in what Jaron Lanier would refer to as VR’s “long winter.” With little obvious consumer potential, developments were largely confined to the military and university research labs.

The past decade brought a resurgence of consumer VR with a wave of innovations we are still riding today. Virtual Reality and related developments will profoundly impact the way we work, learn, and play, and raise unanticipated ethical challenges.

Virtual Reality in Education.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality refers to a digitally simulated immersive environment where users can look, move around, or interact with a virtual space or objects. Wearing a VR headset blocks out your surrounding environment, creating an immersive virtual experience. As Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford put it when done well VR is a human experience, not a media experience.

Early VR headsets were bulky and difficult to wear until the consumer VR revolution which began with the Oculus Kickstarter project. Now, we are seeing the rapid development of standalone HMDs which helps keep the technology out of the way of the experience.

Since 2018, VR has often been subsumed under the umbrella concept of XR, Extended Reality. But the term Virtual Reality remains widely used and is often better understood by the general public.

Historical Overview and Developments

Every emerging technology has precursors and Virtual Reality is no exception. Predating any hardware development was the 1935 publication of ‘Pygmalion’s Spectacles,’ a sci-fi story of an unusual pair of goggles that gave people a 3D experience that included touch and olfactory elements. In 1957, Morton Helig invented the Sensorama which appeared in 1962. The massive device was a multimedia cabinet that offered a non-digital interactive experience that incorporated sight, smell, touch, sound, and vibrations. The nearly refrigerator-size device promised “the cinema of the future.”

The Sensorama - a precursor to Virtual Reality.

In the late 1960s, Ivan Sutherland’s remarkable work gave us a true Virtual Reality headset – still so large that it had to be hung from the ceiling and was jokingly referred to as the “Sword of Damocles.” Around the same time, Tom Furness was developing immersive devices for the U.S. military.

The early work of these pioneers culminated in Virtual Reality projects for flight simulation, industrial use, and military applications. Early achievements included David Em’s navigable worlds for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (as NASA’s Artist in Residence), Eric Howlett’s LEEP optical system (which became the basis for early VR imaging), and Janon Lanier’s invention of several groundbreaking devices at VPL Research (he also popularized the term “virtual reality”). The VR boom expanded in the 1990s, as the gaming and entertainment industries embraced the technology, and pop culture took notice (especially with Brett Leonard’s 1992 film, Lawnmower Man). However, the cost and size of the devices doomed the early efforts to expand its use in education, the sciences, and entertainment. When Disney closed all but one of its massive DisneyQuest VR experiences in 2001, it seemed to mark the end of an era.

The Resurgence of Virtual Reality

Palmer Luckey Rift Kickstarter project
Palmer Luckey, “I brought virtual reality back from the dead.”

Virtual Reality resurfaced at the beginning of the last decade with Palmer Luckey’s Oculus Kickstarter project in 2012 (which raised an astonishing $2.4 million from 10,000 contributors) and Google Cardboard (a DIY cardboard viewer that was initially distributed as conference swag) in 2014. Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR for US$2.3 billion would lead to the release of developer kits for the Oculus Rift (the DK1) in 2013 and commercial release in March 2016. Paralleling these developments, the HTC Vive and Sony Playstation HMDs were released in the same year and shortly after, the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go arrived.

The lighter-weight headsets provided creators and consumers with more affordable access to the technology even though devices like the Rift and the Vive remained costly due to the need for a gaming computer. The field continued to progress with headsets from HP (the Reverb), Lenovo, and Facebook’s Oculus Quest in 2019, which as a standalone head-mounted display (HMD), sharply lowered the barriers in terms of cost and ease of use.

With the Facebook Connect conference in 2020, we have seen new developments, including a significantly upgraded Oculus Quest 2, Project Aria to research and deliver AR glasses by next year, and Facebook’s “Infinite Office”, a project to merge virtual and real elements (including a physical keyboard) which could leverage the benefits of Virtual Reality for productivity in the Quest ecosystem.

The latest Virtual Reality Headset from Facebook, the Oculus Quest 2 is smaller, lighter, and incorporates a better display.

The Convergence of VR and AI

With the rapid advance of the technology, we are beginning to see a convergence of Virtual Reality with artificial intelligence. AI will deeply influence how virtual environments are generated, the use of avatars in VR simulations, and data gathering and analysis of user experience in virtual environments. The latter is particularly important both for the development of adaptive and personalized learning experiences in education and workforce training – and for what it means in terms of individual privacy.

One area where AI and VR will intersect is in the use of displays used in HMDs in the future that incorporate foveated rendering. These displays will reconstruct the peripheral details of our vision in virtual experiences through machine learning algorithms to compress the display data streams. HMDs utilizing this technology will likely require eye-tracking capabilities (as in the Vive Pro Eye). The developments here fit into the broader emerging media landscape where AI is being used to resolve high-resolution rendering challenges (see the forthcoming version of Unreal 5). Overcoming the hardware limitations of current Virtual Reality devices opens exciting opportunities in creating new immersive environments and could raise ethical concerns about the authenticity of our virtual experiences.

Impact of Virtual Reality on Society

Virtual Reality is creating fascinating opportunities for Education, Media, Storytelling, Journalism, Work, and Retail environments. It is already beginning to transform entertainment and learning even though we are in the first steps of a long journey. In the end, it will impact society far more than the development of the graphical interface at the Xerox PARC labs in the 1970s for computing.

VR and Ethical Issues

Virtual Reality and Ethical Issues

We are only now beginning to identify the ethical issues that will be raised by Virtual Reality. AS VR continues to progress, it will eventually blur the boundaries between the real world and the virtual in our everyday lives. We now live in a world of deep fake videos and fake news. It won’t be too long in the future where we’ll have to deal with a far more complex category – fake experiences. It is precisely this intersection of the real and the virtual that both fascinates and concerns us. It is where our work at Digital Bodies resides.

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

NY Times jumps into virtual reality

November 12, 2019October 21, 2015
NY Times Headquarters

After layoffs, paywalls, and endless redesign of websites, what does traditional news media try next? Virtual reality of course. The New York Times announced a new NYT VR initiative in partnership with …

Read more NY Times jumps into virtual reality

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality Education, Entertainment, and Shopping

July 27, 2018October 18, 2015

  What would happen if you combined virtual reality education, entertainment, and shopping all in one platform? Educational purists might squirm but it’s not such a foreign concept in higher education. If …

Read more Virtual Reality Education, Entertainment, and Shopping

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

The CNN Debate in Virtual Reality – The Reviews

February 2, 2020October 14, 2015
Stephen Colbert Virtual Reality

We didn’t have the opportunity to experience CNN’s attempt to use Virtual Reality in the political debate last night, but it’s worth reading the reviews. This was live-streaming virtual reality in the …

Read more The CNN Debate in Virtual Reality – The Reviews

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Google Street View now in Virtual Reality

February 1, 2020October 12, 2015
Google Cardboard

We should have seen this coming – Google Street View will now offer a Virtual Reality experience. Google announced that they are providing full support for the use of Google Cardboard VR …

Read more Google Street View now in Virtual Reality

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Ridley Scott’s Secret Virtual Reality Project

December 21, 2017October 1, 2015

Movie director Ridley Scott is working on a secret Virtual Reality project. The 78 year old filmmaker, well-known for his science-fiction work, has been this year with The Martian coming out along with …

Read more Ridley Scott’s Secret Virtual Reality Project

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

New Samsung Gear VR – Affordable Virtual Reality

June 28, 2016September 25, 2015
Samsung Gear VR

  The new Samsung Gear VR announced at the Oculus Developers Conference promises to bring Virtual Reality to everyone. Unlike Oculus Rift where you are tethered to a computer, the new Gear …

Read more New Samsung Gear VR – Affordable Virtual Reality

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Have You Seen Jaunt Virtual Reality?

November 17, 2019September 19, 2015
Jaunt Virtual Reality

If you haven’t taken a look at the new Jaunt Virtual Reality, you should. This Palo Alto company is getting attention – they just announced a massive round of funding in excess …

Read more Have You Seen Jaunt Virtual Reality?

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Storytelling in VR: When Images Come to Life

February 1, 2020September 11, 2015
Storytelling in VR

Virtual reality will change the way stories are told and in the process the way they are created. With the recent tech developments and VR projects in the making there’s little doubt …

Read more Storytelling in VR: When Images Come to Life

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality, VR Experience

A VR 360 Experience in a Cereal Box

July 15, 2018September 9, 2015
VR 360 Experience in a Cereal Box

How about a VR 360 Experience in a cereal box?? Yes, Kellogg is now offering cardboard VR goggles in a Nutri-grain cereal promotion in New Zealand. All you need is the box, …

Read more A VR 360 Experience in a Cereal Box

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality, Wearables

SXSW – Please Support Our SXSW Proposals

February 2, 2020September 6, 2015

SXSW 2016 We thoroughly enjoyed leading a Core Conversation on Wearable Technology at SXSW 2015. We have submitted two proposals for 2016, one to SXSWedu and one to SXSW-Interactive. Part of the …

Read more SXSW – Please Support Our SXSW Proposals

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Learning, Virtual Reality

Huge Virtual Reality Center Opens in Australia

June 28, 2016August 22, 2015

A Virtual Reality gaming center has opened in Melbourne, Australia. According to TNW: A new ‘free-roam’ gaming center in Melbourne, Australia called Zero Latency has opened to the public, designed to offer a genuinely …

Read more Huge Virtual Reality Center Opens in Australia

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Star Wars Virtual Reality Lab at ILM

July 27, 2018August 15, 2015

Here’s a glimpse into the Star Wars Virtual Reality lab at the Industrial Light and Magic studio. This isn’t your Oculus Rift VR, but the future of entertainment and media. Things are …

Read more Star Wars Virtual Reality Lab at ILM

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Time Magazine’s Hilarious Cover on Virtual Reality

June 28, 2016August 9, 2015
Time Magazine Cover

Time Magazine does an unintentionally humorous cover photo and article on Virtual Reality. But now that you’ve glanced at it, you can’t look away. And unfortunately, the image is seared into your …

Read more Time Magazine’s Hilarious Cover on Virtual Reality

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Oculus VR Buys Pebbles Digital Sensing Technology

December 30, 2015July 16, 2015

Oculus VR announced Thursday that it agreed to buy Pebbles Interfaces, one of the leading firms in the development of depth and motion-sensing technology. It could be a major step forward in …

Read more Oculus VR Buys Pebbles Digital Sensing Technology

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality, Wearables

Immersive Learning: The Wearable Pop-up Studio @ NMC

December 27, 2017July 5, 2015

We had a blast exploring immersive learning at the 2015 New Media Consortium conference in Washington, DC, creating a Wearable Pop-up Studio for the NMC Idea Lab. Immersive Learning Increasingly, we live …

Read more Immersive Learning: The Wearable Pop-up Studio @ NMC

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Learning, Virtual Reality

Expeditions – Google Offers Immersive Learning

May 30, 2015May 28, 2015

Immersive learning is about to get a lot more real this fall with Expeditions – the new Google tool which will allow teachers to take students on virtual trips using the Google …

Read more Expeditions – Google Offers Immersive Learning

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality Amusement Park – The Void

July 27, 2018May 18, 2015

Virtual Reality company “The Void” announced it is creating a new 100,000 Square foot VR amusement park in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Here’s the rendering of the entrance to its gaming center: 4D Virtual …

Read more Virtual Reality Amusement Park – The Void

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality Comes to Tribeca Film Festival

July 27, 2018April 27, 2015

Virtual Reality was the new arrival at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, spurred on by the development of inexpensive VR gear from Oculus, Samsung and Google (Google Cardboard). Stanford professor Jeremy …

Read more Virtual Reality Comes to Tribeca Film Festival

Digital Bodies » Virtual Reality »

Categories Virtual Reality

Stunning Virtual Reality – the RoundMe App

February 2, 2020April 17, 2015

After a wave of Virtual Reality apps for Android phones (no surprise given Google’s role here), VR apps are now coming to the iPhone. RoundMe is a newcomer to this group and after …

Read more Stunning Virtual Reality – the RoundMe App

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Consulting Services

During this time of isolation due to the pandemic, we can help you engage students and clients through AR, VR, and innovative online collaboration tools. Take a look at our consulting services and featured talks.

We offer talks highlighting augmented and virtual reality developments, future trends, design thinking sessions, and provide experiential workshops for education, nonprofit and corporate clients.

About Digital Bodies

Digital Bodies provides news and analysis of VR, AR, and AI and how these developments will impact education and society. The convergence of these technologies will transform how we communicate, learn, understand the world, and ourselves. We focus on a future where experiences will be available on demand, and the boundary between the real and the virtual disappear – and all that these developments imply for education and human experience.  The possibilities are exciting, the ethical challenges profound. 

Have a tip or a story for us? Working on an innovative project in XR or related technologies? Please get in touch!

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