Antonin Artaud coined the term “virtual reality” in 1938, describing it as “theatre of the mind,” though the concept of VR has been around for much longer. The first examples of VR can be found in the 1800s, with panoramic paintings and computer-generated imagery.
In addition, in 1935, Stanley G. Weinbaum published “Pygmalion’s Spectacles,” a book about a spectacular pair of goggles that could transport users into a fictional world.
Morton Heilig invented the Sensorama, one of the first VR systems to simulate all senses, in 1957. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland invented the Sword of Damocles, widely regarded as the first VR headset. This large and expensive device was only used for research.
Many years later, in 2010, Oculus VR, which was later acquired by Meta, released the first modern VR headset. Since then, VR technology has advanced, with new headsets released by companies including HTC, Sony, and Microsoft.