QuickTime VR introduced 360 VR to the world in 1995
Now that VR is hot again, it is good to see what it was like 20 years ago. This is the QTVR launch presentation in 1995 Apple WWDC. Don't miss Part 2. There is a lot of cool demo toward the end and is still relevant today.
What a fun flashback, Eric. It was a privilege for me to be a part of the early development and testing of QTVR. I photographed the original Apple Company Store tour (along with Ted Casey) used in the demo and on the original QTVR Authoring Tools Suite software, as well as the Young America (America's Cup boat), Candlestick Park, Billy Joel / Elton John concert, etc. for Apple during those days. It was great fun to work with you, Ken Turkowski, and the many other talented folks in the QuickTIme VR group back then. I always was disappointed that Apple dropped its support for QuickTime VR years later. So many of us saw so much potential in the technology. But apparently, Steve Jobs felt it to be a waste of time. The efforts to reproduce it with Flash afterward brought more problems than solutions, it seemed. Fortunately, VR seems to have found a resurgence today in HTML5, which works relatively seamlessly across platforms and browsers. Now what we need is a standardized format for motion or cinematic VR, and commitment to VR on platforms beyond the problematic head mounted displays. It's also encouraging to see that Apple is again working in the VR realm. It's all very hush-hush now, but there is lots of evidence that these efforts are underway, including numerous patent applications and grants for the technologies. I think it's going to take a company like Apple, with its razor sharp focus on user experience and its tremendous R&D and financial resources, to bring this latest wave of VR / AR successfully to the masses. (And yes, I still have my original copy of the QuickTime Authoring Tools Suite on my office shelves, too. Ah, the joys of MPW programming... )
I still have my copy of the Virtual Museum.
QTVR... ahead of it's time... but need to get were we are now.
Thanks for this flashback. :-)
And shortly thereafter, in 1996, I dropped everything and started the Virtually Real Group in NYC. It was a very exciting time...