When we talk of virtual reality or VR, the names that come to mind most often might be Mark Zuckerberg, Samsung, and other big names. However, even before these names have made waves for making VR a byword in our modern society, VR would be impossible without these early innovators on the list.
Mort Heilig
Mort Heilig started building a machine in 1958 which he called the Sensorama. He launched the machine in 1964 allowing people to feel, smell, and and hear Brooklyn while riding on a stationary bicycle. To describe the Sensorama more specifically, Heilig installed a large screen in front of the bike showing the city of Brooklyn in full color. There's also a fan blowing in your face to give the feeling of the breeze while biking through the streets.
Ivan Sutherland
Ivan Sutherland is considered the father of computer graphics. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, CalTech, and MIT. He first started building his VR machine in 1966 which he called the Ultimate Display. He described his work by saying, "A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked."
Myron Krueger
Myron Krueger had a PhD in computer science and one of those who experimented with the idea of virtual reality. He created Videoplace, a computer-free device which allowed two people to interact with each other using a video screen and projected images. His work was one of the inspirations for room-sized reality technology later called as CAVE.
Eric Howlett
Graduated from MIT, he held different types of jobs which led him to invent the stereoscopic optics system, which helped shape modern VR technology by introducing wide field of view. The principle explains that a very wide angle view can be achieved by "pre-distorting images to neutralize distortion."
Michael Naimark
Michael Naimark developed the Aspen Movie Map which can be effectively and simply described as the earlier version of Google Maps. In fact, he was Google's first resident artist for its VR division.
