Virtuality

Dr. Jonathan Waldern developed early VR prototypes at Leicester Polytechnic/Loughborough University, including a 1986 stereoscopic “Roaming Caterpillar” system. W Industries refined several prototype pods before the fifth prototype became the basis of the commercial Virtuality 1000SU, launched at the Computer Graphics ’90 exhibition at Alexandra Palace, London, in November 1990. The 1000 series was built around an Amiga 3000 with 4 MB RAM and a pair of Texas Instruments TMS34020-based graphics accelerators (one per eye). The Visette headset used two Panasonic LCD screens (372×250 per eye) derived from a camcorder accessory; because the screens were too heavy to mount directly in front of the eyes, they were placed at the sides and reflected into the lenses with mirrors. The stand-up 1000CS used a Polhemus magnetic tracking ring at waist height to track both the headset and the space joystick; the sit-down 1000SD used a cheaper Ascension tracker with a shorter range, acceptable because the player remained seated. The arcade 1000CS shipped in 1991 with games including Dactyl Nightmare (a multiplayer arena shooter with a pterodactyl that snatched players), Grid Busters, Hero, and Legend Quest. The SD unit offered Battlesphere, Exorex, Total Destruction, VTOL, and Flying Aces. About 1,200 Virtuality arcade machines were in use before the company filed for bankruptcy in 1997.

The “CS” suffix stood for “Cyberspace,” pure marketing for the early-1990s VR hype. Dactyl Nightmare is sometimes cited as one of the first commercial networked first-person deathmatch games, predating Doom. * The headset mirrors were a literal workaround for overweight LCDs.