Ever wonder why it's so hard to predict when a technology will reach a particular level of advancement? Self-driving cars, general artificial intelligence, ubiquitous virtual reality, extranational financial and coordination systems...
When we think of sufficiently advanced technologies, there are usually several steps of unknowns that need to be solved or invented before we can deliver a product that is socially acceptable. What happens in between those steps? We thrash.
Since the 1980s, we've prototyped large clunky systems, whose extremes made it into aviation training and game arcades. The focus was stereo vision (a separate image rendered for each eye). Consumer systems for home were not near the horizon.
In 2009, a group of hobbyists realized that hardware availability of components needed to design home-grade VR was viable! The first prototype of the Oculus Rift was born. This started a burst of development around an open source hardware Kickstarter! An ecosystem bloomed, and thousands of contributors piled on over a few years.
Ever wonder why it's so hard to predict when a technology will reach a particular level of advancement? Self-driving cars, general artificial intelligence, ubiquitous virtual reality, extranational financial and coordination systems...
When we think of sufficiently advanced technologies, there are usually several steps of unknowns that need to be solved or invented before we can deliver a product that is socially acceptable. What happens in between those steps? We thrash.