beka valentineMar 18
1990s VR on the web was such an incredibly utopian vision, it's a real shame we don't have any movement remotely like that today
Show threadbeka valentineMar 18

i feel like a lot of folx don't really understand what VR was like back then, so let me give you some context:

in the early 90s, VR was really hot shit. VPL had invented a bunch of incredible VR technology, including VR surgery, VR musical instruments, VR headsets

Show threadbeka valentineMar 18

and VR data gloves. this was all 1980s tech, it was all very expensive and not available to the average person.

but in the very late 80s and early 90s, we suddenly got a bunch of commercially available, home consumer VR: the Powerglove and Virtual Boy, Sega VR

Show threadbeka valentineMar 18
Virtuality started manufacturing dedicated VR gaming rigs that were basically a new format for the Arcade Machine -- instead of a cabinet with a TV, it was a race car cockpit with a VR headset
Show threadbeka valentineMar 18

you could even go to art shows and computer game arcades in strip malls and play PC games there, some of which were VR games

VR was everywhere and and moving fast. it was clearly the future

Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²
@beka_valentine first experience i had with google paint on an htc vive left me breathless and ecstatic which i have never experienced before. scarcity is an easy way to pander to investors. people act like someone is gonna undercut them if they make a product that someone could use outside of this ecosystem of vr-only experiences. it's cool that this happens to every single technology we can't invent ourselves. the internet is the worst possible version of every technology decision made since its inception. the creation of software itself is the one i was personally privy to
Mar 18 at 5:26pmWeb