Over 20 years before the beginning of the American Civil War, the first ever piece of “virtual reality” was invented. The stereoscope, developed in 1838 by Charles Wheatstone allowed users to view an artificial 3D image, using just a reliance on optical illusion and what was understood about human vision capabilities at the time. Though very primitive compared to the immersive headsets we are familiar with today, this simple piece of tech is a far cry from modern developments. But it all had to start somewhere.
Clunky first generation headsets of the mid-20th century laid the groundwork for the tech behind the 250+ options available right now on Amazon. Take a look at this infographic for more on the history of virtual reality tech, where it all began, and what we can learn from the past to predict the future.
Infographic by: historydegree.net
