THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SPATIAL COMPUTING

Is Vision Pro the future market leader, or just an overpriced gimmick? We look at the history and future ofvirtual and augmented reality

WRITTEN BY IAN OSBORNE

VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED reality have been sci–fi staples for years. Virtual reality puts you in an alternate world, where you can look, move and interact as if you were really there (think Star Trek’s holodeck). Augmented reality overlays computer– generated graphics and information over the real world, so you see both through your glasses or on your screen (like in Pokémon Go). These concepts have a longer history than you realize in the actual world too.

Over the last few years, the technology has matured to the point where it’s ready to change the world. We’re promised immersive games, with the player at the center of the action. Video chats could be transformed, with the participants sitting around a virtual table in a virtual living room or office, probably drinking virtual coffee. Your augmented reality glasses could be used to find directions, which could then be superimposed on the street as you walk or drive. And if promoters replaced a seat at a concert or sporting event with a 360–degree HD camera, they could sell that seat hundreds of times over to virtual reality enthusiasts all over the world.

Here we look at the past, present and future of virtual and augmented reality. Where it came from, where it’s going, and how Apple fits into this space.

The Past

VR and AR have been around longer than you think

THE ROOTS OF virtual reality can be traced back to 3D games and software where the environment is viewed from a first-person perspective. And these didn’t start with Doom either. Which was the first such title is disputed; it’s either space shooter Spasim or the blaster Maze War, both of which were released around 1974. They weren’t actually virtual reality, of course. The gamer played them on a computer screen, just like any other game. But it’s here one of its key features was established; the environment was viewed through the player’s eyes, instead of their being represented as an on–screen avatar. Later first– person games included the ZX81’s 3D Monster Maze, Wolfenstein 3D and, of course, Doom.

From these basic first–person video games, the first–person shooter genre eventually took shape. When computers and consoles grew powerful enough, as well as moving through a virtual 3D environment, you could also look around in a 360– degree space by moving your in–game head. You now had the ability to look up and down, not just left and right.

Headsets with motion tracking had been worked on since the 1960s, mostly by the military for training and viewing dangerous situations. Myron W. Krueger’s VIDEOPLACE appeared in 1975, and is generally regarded as the first interactive VR system. It didn’t feature a helmet, but its cameras and screens could measure the position of the user and react accordingly. The VITAL helmet, developed as a pilot training tool by McDonnell–Douglas, included a head tracker. Also of note is Ivan Sutherland’s Sword of Damocles, a head–mounted display which hung from the ceiling and added computer–generation graphics to the user’s perception of the world.