Apr 19, 2016 7:00 AM

Gallery: The History and Future of VR

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Kevin Kelly trying early VR prototypes in Jaron Lanier's lab in 1989.
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Jaron Lanier, who coined the term “virtual reality,” explores a virtual world using a headset that looks a lot like those available today.

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Lanier, exploring a future he helped create.
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The hardware was primitive in 1989, but the experience felt unbelievably real.

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Early prototypes of VR hardware used neoprene surfing suits embroidered with wires, large gloves festooned with electronic components, and modified swimming goggles.
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Kevin Kelly explores a virtual world—in this case, an airy, cartoony block world, not unlike the *Minecraft* universe.

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Lanier's system used gloves to interact with the virtual world, but even today such an interface is not yet consumer-ready. Hardware makers are using simple controllers with buttons.

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