Readers’ Reviews

ALL OF THE REVIEWS FOR VIRTUAL REALITY 1.0 – THE 90’S ARE FIVE STARS.

HERE’S WHAT SOME OF OUR READERS HAVE TO SAY.

“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ANYONE WITH A STRONG INTEREST IN THE HISTORY OR FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Although I was too young and on the wrong coast during the times covered in this book, many of the people and events and featured within have inspired my lifelong fascination with virtual reality. This book offers an up-close look at the burgeoning virtual reality industry of the early to mid-nineteen nineties, the first time that VR was a revolutionary new technology destined to take the world by storm.

This book is a well-curated selection of articles from the CyberEdge Journal, an industry newsletter with a grassroots feel (the Road to VR of the nineties?) It was refreshing to see numerous reminders of the strong influence of psychedelia, philosophy, sex, and the art on the history of virtual reality, and the vintage products ads are a real treat.

As virtual reality once again appears to be on the verge of taking off in a big way, this book is a rich resource to many of the people, products, books, movies, and pioneers of the field, and provides a nice dose of context and perspective from the last time VR was on top of the world. Highly recommended for anyone with a strong interest in the history or future of virtual reality.”

Karl @ SVVR (Silicon Valley Virtual Reality)

“WHETHER A VR VETERAN OR VR NEOPHYTE, THIS MUST BE IN YOUR LIBRARY

Long before Facebook's astounding two billion dollar acquisition of Oculus, you need look no further (outside of some niche books about specific genre's of virtual travel, medical VR, virtual training, etc) than this historical treasure trove documenting the wonder of "VR 1.0" mixed with the trials & tribulations, spectacular flame-outs, and loads of lost investment dollars. Moreover it's authored by Ben Delaney - a VR pioneer that helped many comprehend all of VR's potential back in the 90s. I say "if you remember VR 1.0 you weren't there," well Ben WAS THERE and performed his journalistic duty with aplomb and documented what all of us could only keep together in snippets.”

Don

“THAT’S WHY I WAS DELIGHTED TO HAVE BEEN ASKED BY BEN DELANEY TO ADD ...

It’s almost impossible to go online at the moment and not be bombarded with the hype and claims of those behind the so-called “new wave” of Virtual Reality developments. That’s why I was delighted to have been asked by Ben Delaney to add some of my own memories to this fantastic new book which features many of the key developments that launched VR back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. However, when I finally received my copy, it became obvious that this was more than just a trip down “memory lane”. Captivated, I read it from cover to cover in one day and came to the conclusion that, if only we could force those individuals and groups out there who are trying to force us to accept today’s allegedly “new” VR tech and wearable computing to read this book, then we might be able to instill a degree of sense into what is simply an over-excited market producing technologies which are unlikely to achieve much more than what we saw some two decades ago!

With contributions from Thomas Furness, Walter Greenleaf, Sandra Kay Helsel, Myron Kreuger, Howard Rheingold, Jon Waldern and many, many more key names in the history of VR, this book is a testament to the mental and physical scars of those who spent substantial portions of their careers trying to sell the concept of a future dominated by immersive technologies at a time when those technologies were simply not ready. Ben’s book is already top of my reading list for our introductory University modules on VR and simulation, as it complements my historical overview and “humans first – technology second” lectures perfectly.

Get this book and read it from cover to cover. It WILL change the way you respond to the hype about VR today and it WILL demonstrate that most of today’s so-called “VR pioneers” are not pioneers at all – they are simply repeating what has actually been done before. OK … the technology may be new and cheaper, but the “human factor”, the questionable quality and reliability of the products and the lack of realistic and credible applications are still very, very much in evidence.

Robert

“UNDERSTAND VIRTUAL REALITY TODAY BY LEARNING WHERE IT STARTED.

Must read for technologists, Virtual Reality lovers and haters.

Working in Virtual Reality as it is today at the Rave Cave in Sterling Heights MI has given me the opportunity to experience future technologies in both hardware and software, but grasping the purpose and business process is difficult without understanding what led us up to this point. This is where Ben Delaney and his book breaks down the foundation, the people that battled through the philosophy, software and hardware necessary to connect humans with computers to immerse them into worlds, or CAD to better understand design, concepts and possible realities. This book tells you where it started, who was involved and why they did it. When you read that next blog post about the new Head Mounted Display, remember that this ground work was laid out nearly 25 years ago and you should read this book about the creators and their experiences to better appreciate and understand your experiences today.

Mike

“I FOUND THIS BOOK VERY INTERESTING, VERY WELL WRITTEN, AND QUITE ENGAGING.

One doesn't need to be a computer geek or developer to enjoy this book. The historical content is engaging, and it provides information about VR that is actually quite fascinating. The author is, without question, a talented writer and he explains the evolution of VR so that even someone completely computer and/or VR illiterate can understand it. I enjoyed this book tremendously. There are many nice images throughout the book, some that provided a real blast from the past.
(Reviewed in previous edition as Sex, Drugs, and Tessellation)

Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite

Review: Jon Peddie Research’s Tech Watch
Virtual Reality 1.0 – the 90’s

This review was published in Jon Peddie Research’s Tech Watch newsletter, VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2, JANUARY 20, 2015 The original title of Virtual Reality - the 90’s was “ Sex Drugs and Tessellation; the Truth about Virtual Reality.” Review © Jon Peddie Research. Used with permission

Have you ever wondered who built the first head-mounted display? Or who first detailed a coherent theory of Cyberspace?

When Ben Delaney was covering virtual reality as editor of CyberEdge Journal, the technology was new and exciting, though the basic concepts had been invented more than 20 years before. Now, in the 21st century, VR has been reborn.

But Delaney says he was surprised to see that many of the same questions and concerns, such as how to eliminate simulator sickness and the relative importance of realism versus interactivity, are being asked by the new generation of developers. He was surprised because these issues were covered in depth in CyberEdge Journal nearly 25 years ago.

Delaney was there at the threshold of VR, and he chronicled it, counseled people on it, tried to help steer it, and watched it fade ... until last year when with a mere $2 billion dollars it was again a hot new thing. VR is like the beautiful man or woman in your dreams, who in real life never quite measures up to expectations. VR is the promise of being able to visit wondrous places such as Middle Earth, or the veins in your arm, outer space, or the space inside a semiconductor—any place, or space, where you really can’t go but want to or need to.

Seeing a need, Delaney put together a book that makes the best articles from CyberEdge Journal available to today’s readers, along with many illustrations that have never before appeared in print and contemporary recollections from some of the pioneers of VR in the 1990s. In these pages readers will meet Ivan Sutherland, inventor of the head-mounted display and interactive 3D graphics; Myron Kreuger, who showed that interactivity was more important than verisimilitude; and yes, Jaron Lanier, poster boy for 1990s VR and the creative thinker who named, and helped create, an industry. One doesn’t need to be a computer geek or developer to enjoy Delaney’s book. The historical content is engaging, and it provides information about VR that is actually quite fascinating.

If you’ve just discovered VR, you need to read this book. If you think you know all about VR, you need to read this book. If you want to find out what the hell this VR stuff is all about .... read this book.