21st Century Technology

 

    When I think about 21st Century technology I immediately think about the evolution of virtual reality. The earliest we can trace the concept of virtual reality is back to 1838 with the creation of the stereoscope. The stereoscope was created by Sir Charles Wheatstone and used a pair of mirrors at 45 degree angles to the viewer's eye, each reflecting a picture located off to the side. 

    The first VR machine, named the Sensorama, was created in 1956 by cinematographer Morton Heilig. It was a large booth that fit 4 people and combined multiple technologies such as 3D video, audio, vibrations, smell and atmospheric effects. At the time this was known as the "cinema of the future" and the goal was to fully immerse people into the movies that they were watching. Since the creation of the Sensorama, many advancement have been made for the creation of virtual reality products, each new product aiming to make entertainment more and more immersive.  

    With the current virtual reality products being sold, the goal is mostly to provide a new, immersive gaming experience; however, I believe this technology will lead to amazing things in the future. Considering the technology developed is still evolving, I believe that it could be used for even more immersive gaming and in-depth learning experiences. With that being said we still have a long ways to go for many of these advancements, but compared to where we started, we have made incredible progress.