Unfortunately, I’m in the category of vertigo sufferers when donning the Oculus Rift. I tried one on tonight for the first time. I had it on for maybe 10 minutes before I had to take it off. I almost had to look around for a barf bag.

A bit of a disappointment.

Back in 1995 I had a prototype head-mounted display shipped from California for a Virtual Reality project we had undertaken. I distinctly remember the hand-wrapped package made from two boxes taped together haphazardly. The goggle’s plastic was coarse and a bright light green and black. The duckbill shaped front was unbalanced. The latency was on the order of hundreds of milliseconds and had terrible angular sensor resolution. I think the screen had poor color saturation and contrast. I don’t think it ever made it past the prototype phase.

We had other prototypes and products, like the Virtual I/O, which may have been the most popular at the time.

The Rift is far superior than those, but I still sense a very hobbyist kind of experience.

There is some kind of irresistible siren song of 3D virtual reality goggles for each generation of programmers. Prior to the Virtual I/O generation, there were Evans and Sutherland displays that had to be mounted on a articulated arm to support the weight.

I may no longer be in the demographic for these, but I understand the appeal. So here’s a toast to the next generation!