Didn't expect an article of this quality from redbull.com. It's a decent look into the history of consumer VR.<p>That said, this article is months old and I'm probably not the only one who expected some commentary on the Rift debacle.
The Virtual Boy actually wasn't as terrible as everyone says. Sure, it chewed through 6 AA batteries in about 4 hours and was uncomfortable to use, but there were actually some decent games (namely Red Alarm). The 3D was actually noticeable; and the whole black-on-red aesthetic was incredibly immersive.<p>I picked one up for something like $50 (which included 6 games) so I felt it was a decent deal as a 10 year old. No way was it worth $150 or anything, but it was a neat gadget for its time.
Have any of these recent articles mentioned Jaron Lanier? I haven't seen his name mentioned in the discussions, but he did some of the early, seminal work on VR and is generally credited with either coming up with the name or getting it in to the popular vocabulary. Let's not forget the pioneers.
I was a beta tester on the VFX-1. A 17 year old boy's dream come true. I got a choppy 20 fps playing Descent on my Compaq 486 66Mhz with 16MB RAM. I dont remember what video card I had, but in order for it to work I had to remove the cover of my PC and plug it in directly, as it wasnt yet working with VGA cables. Good times.<p>The article states it retailed for $200-$300, which is inaccurate - I remember it costing about $1000. Sadly I was not allowed to keep the beta unit.