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The Lawnmower Man was the first feature film to depict a new type of technology that enabled characters to explore synthetic, simulated worlds through an emerging new medium called virtual reality (VR). That was 1992.
Using head-mounted displays (HMD) the size of crash helmets and gloves with sensors, VR users were experiencing computer-generated environments and stories in new ways. Through the idea of “presence” – the feeling of actually being part of an artificially created place – any adventure was now possible, at least if the buzz was to be believed.
The film was a hit; now Hollywood studios were watching, waiting for the technology to mature to a point where they could actually create VR experiences for audiences. This idea of “convergence” between old and new media was a hot topic, and extremely attractive as a potential new revenue stream for studios.
But by 2000, the technology had not progressed substantially. Resolution in headsets was poor and equipment was unreliable and expensive. Many found using VR for more than a few minutes physically nauseating, which doomed its fate.
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VR has found success in areas such as medicine, where doctors can practise complex surgeries without risk to human life. Shutterstock
Hollywood moved its attention elsewhere and VR faded away, maintaining life only through continuing research involving medical and other specialist simulation areas where benefits outweighed the costs.
New horizons
Despite growing interest in sci-fi TV shows and films, VR lay dormant for more than a decade. Then in 2012 the landscape changed. A new start-up company called Oculusannounced the development of a new head-mounted display that was lighter, clearer and most importantly, cheaper than past systems.
At first public response was limited, but the announcement sowed the seeds for VR’s return. In 2014, Google announced Cardboard, a simple and inexpensive (often free) system that enables any modern smartphone to function as an head-mounted display.
Samsung took this idea further through the introduction of Gear VR, which uses the Galaxy mobile phone to form its own HMD system. The shift from requiring dedicated hardware to run VR applications to the freedom of using smartphones suddenly expanded the potential VR market to tens of millions.
Offerings from tech giants HTC and Sony soon followed and the VR hype returned. Predictions from Goldman Sachs and others trumpeted a new VR market worth $80 billion by 2025.
Unlike the first wave of VR systems, which relied solely on computer-generated imagery, these new products spurred the development of an additional type of VR content – 360° video or “Cinematic Virtual Reality” (CVR).
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Source: The Conversation