Prince of Persia (Game)

Prince of Persia (often shortened to "POP" or "PoP") is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released October 3, 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in computer games. Mechner used a process called rotoscoping, in which he studied many hours of film of his younger brother David running and jumping in white clothes. Also unusual was the method of combat: protagonist and enemies fought with swords, not projectile weapons, as was the case in most contemporary games. Mechner has said that when he started programming, the first ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark had been one of the main inspirations for the character's acrobatic responses in a dangerous environment.
After the original release on the Apple II, Prince of Persia was ported to a wide range of platforms. The game managed to surprise and captivate the player despite being at first glance, repetitive. This was achieved by interspersing intelligent puzzles and deadly traps all along the path the Prince had to take to complete the game — all this packaged in fluid, life-like motion.
Prince of Persia also influenced a sub-genre, which imitated the sprawling non-scrolling levels, fluid animation, and control style pioneered by Prince.

Plot
The game is set in Ancient Persia. While the Sultan is fighting a war in a foreign land, the Grand Vizier Jaffar seizes power. Jaffar's only obstacle to the throne is the Sultan's daughter, the Princess. Jaffar throws her lover into the palace dungeons and locks the Princess in a tower, giving her an ultimatum: she must marry Jaffar or die. She has one hour to decide her fate.
The player controls the Princess's nameless lover. In order to win the game, he must escape the dungeons and make his way to the palace tower, defeating Jaffar and freeing the Princess in under 60 minutes.
The character of Jaffar is loosely based on Ja'far bin Yahya Barmaki, a Persian vizier who was executed for allegedly having an affair with a princess. He is a recurring character in the Arabian Nights and elsewhere in film and literature.

Ports

Mechner used videos of his younger brother, David, as a reference for the original animation for the Apple II version of the game, and copied for the IBM PC version of the game, seen here.
Prince of Persia was originally released for the Apple II in 1989. One year later it was ported to other personal computers such as the Amiga, the Amstrad CPC, the Atari ST, and the PC (DOS). The game was ported in 1991 to the Japanese PC Engine, using the Super CD-ROM format (but got distributed in the US only two years later). In 1992, when the home console market was growing steadily, versions for the Master System, Sega CD, TurboGrafx-CD (the American version of the PC Engine), NES, and Game Boy were released, as well as a version with enhanced artwork for the Macintosh. A Mega Drive/Genesis version followed in 1993 and an enhanced version for the SNES was released later in 1995, with additional levels not present in any other version. Another port was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999. Java versions for mobile devices appeared in the early 2000s. For the revival title, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Macintosh version was included as a secret that could be unlocked. The first level of the game was also made into a secret 3D minigame in The Sands of Time. The 2010 Wii version of "The Forgotten Sands" included the 3D remake and the SNES version of the original game.
The SAM Coupé version, released in 1992, is unique because it was programmed unofficially using graphics copied pixel by pixel from paused frames of the Amiga version and only shown to Domark (the UK distributors of Prince of Persia) for potential release near completion. Although the computer had a very small user base and no other mainstream support, the release was allowed because of the very high quality of the conversion and the fact that it would incur almost no further development costs. Due to its independently produced status and the fact that the work was done almost entirely by one individual, Chris White, this version of Prince of Persia has several unique bugs.
The PC Engine/TurboGrafx-CD and Sega CD versions used the CD format to incorporate animated cutscenes with voice tracks and CD Audio soundtracks. Both versions of the game had improved graphics that seem to be based on the Macintosh version, where the Princess had a turban and colored clothing.
The Mega Drive/Genesis port also had improved graphics and background music. The Mega Drive version differs with the Genesis version in that it has four additional unique levels and new kinds of potions (some freeze time, others give you additional minutes to complete the game).
The SNES version is also unique. Aside from graphic and aural enhancements, the game has twenty levels instead of the original's thirteen; the original levels that remained had some extra rooms or different routes. Also, there are boss battles, some of which are not the typical swordfighters, and that involves not only swordfighting but dodging as well. The player was also given two hours to rescue the Princess (all other versions were limited to one hour). The prologue is also different, showing the Prince dating the Princess, then being arrested and beaten. The scene of the Prince being beaten is only available on the Japanese version of the game; it was censored in the North American and European versions. The SNES version was ported and developed by NCS and published by Konami in America and Europe.

Space Invaders (Game)

Space Invaders​ (スペースインベーダー Supēsu Inbēdā?) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. In designing the game, Nishikado drew inspiration from popular media: Breakout, The War of the Worlds, and Star Wars. To complete it, he had to design custom hardware and development tools.
Though simple by today's standards, with basic two-dimensional graphics, it was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helped expand the video game industry from a novelty to a global industry. When first released, Space Invaders was very successful and popular. Following its release, the game caused a temporary shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, and by 2007 had earned Taito US$500 million in revenue. Guinness World Records ranks it the top arcade game.
The game has been the inspiration for other video games, re-released on numerous platforms, and led to several sequels. The 1980 Atari 2600 version quadrupled the system's sales and became the first "killer app" for video game consoles. Space Invaders has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows, and been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions. The pixelated enemy alien has become a pop culture icon, often used as a synechdoche representing video games as a whole.

Gameplay

The player-controlled laser cannon shoots the aliens as they descend to the bottom of the screen.
Space Invaders is a two-dimensional fixed shooter game in which the player controls a laser cannon by moving it horizontally across the bottom of the screen and firing at descending aliens. The aim is to defeat five rows of eleven aliens—some versions feature different numbers—that move horizontally back and forth across the screen as they advance towards the bottom of the screen. The player defeats an alien, and earns points, by shooting it with the laser cannon. As more aliens are defeated, the aliens' movement and the game's music both speed up. Defeating the aliens brings another wave that is more difficult, a loop which can continue indefinitely.
The aliens attempt to destroy the cannon by firing at it while they approach the bottom of the screen. If they reach the bottom, the alien invasion is successful and the game ends. A special "mystery ship" will occasionally move across the top of the screen and award bonus points if destroyed. The laser cannon is partially protected by several stationary defense bunkers—the number varies by version—that are gradually destroyed by projectiles from the aliens and player.

Development
Space Invaders was created by Tomohiro Nishikado, who spent a year designing the game and developing the necessary hardware to produce it. The game's inspiration is reported to have come from varying sources, including an adaptation of the mechanical game Space Monsters released by Taito in 1972, and a dream about Japanese school children who are waiting for Santa Claus and are attacked by invading aliens. However, Nishikado has cited Atari's arcade game Breakout as his inspiration. He aimed to create a shooting game that featured the same sense of achievement from completing stages and destroying targets, but with more complex graphics. Nishikado used a similar layout to that of Breakout, but altered the game mechanics. Rather than bounce a ball to attack static objects, players are given the ability to fire projectiles at their own discretion to attack moving enemies.
Early enemy designs included tanks, combat planes, and battleships. Nishikado, however, was not satisfied with the enemy movements; technical limitations made it difficult to simulate flying. Humans would have been easier to simulate, but Nishikado considered shooting them immoral. After seeing a magazine feature about Star Wars, he thought of using a space theme. Nishikado drew inspiration for the aliens from H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds—he watched a film adaptation as a child—and created initial bitmap images after the octopus-like aliens. Other alien designs were modeled after squids and crabs. The game was originally titled Space Monsters, inspired by a popular song in Japan at the time ("Monster"), but was changed to Space Invaders by Nishikado's superiors.

Hardware
Because microcomputers in Japan were not powerful enough at the time to perform the complex tasks involved in designing and programming Space Invaders, Nishikado had to design his own custom hardware and development tools for the game. He created the arcade board using new microprocessors from the United States. The game uses an Intel 8080 central processing unit, and features raster graphics on a CRT monitor and monaural sound generated by analogue circuitry. Despite the specially developed hardware, Nishikado was unable to program the game as he wanted—the Control Program board was not powerful enough to display the graphics in color or move the enemies faster—and considered the development of the hardware the most difficult part of the whole process. While programming the game, Nishikado discovered that the processor was able to render the alien graphics faster the fewer are on screen. Rather than design the game to compensate for the speed increase, he decided to keep it as a challenging gameplay mechanic.
Space Invaders was first released in a cocktail-table format with black and white graphics, while the Western release by Midway was in an upright cabinet format. The upright cabinet uses strips of orange and green cellophane over the screen to simulate color graphics. The graphics are reflected onto a painted backdrop of a moon against a space background. Later Japanese releases also used colored cellophane. The cabinet artwork features large, humanoid monsters not present in the game. Nishikado attributes this to the artist basing the designs on the original title, Space Monsters, rather than referring to the in-game graphics.

Pong (Game)

Pong (marketed as PONG) is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity. The aim is to defeat your opponent in a simulated table tennis game by earning a higher score. The game was originally manufactured by Atari Incorporated (Atari), who released it in 1972. Pong was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work, Atari decided to manufacture the game.
Pong quickly became a success and is the first commercially successful video game, which led to the start of the video game industry. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Pong's gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to produce more innovative games. Several sequels were released that built upon the original's gameplay by adding new features. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a home version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. It was also a commercial success and led to numerous copies. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release. Pong has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows and video games, and has been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions.

Gameplay
The two paddles return the ball back and forth. The score is kept by the numbers (0 and 1) at the top of the screen.

Pong is a two-dimensional sports game which simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left side of the screen, and can compete against either a computer controlled opponent or another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The aim is for a player to earn more points than the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other.

Development and history

Atari engineer Allan Alcorn designed and built Pong as a training exercise.

Pong was the first game developed by Atari Inc., founded in June 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. After producing Computer Space, Bushnell decided to form a company to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. Their first contract was with Bally Technologies for a driving game. Soon after the founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because of his experience with electrical engineering and computer science; Bushnell and Dabney also had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience with video games. To acclimate Alcorn to creating games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly meant to be a warm-up exercise. Bushnell told Alcorn that he had a contract with General Electric for a product, and asked Alcorn to create a simple game with one moving spot, two paddles, and digits for score keeping. The project was inspired by a game included in the first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey—in May 1972, Bushnell had visited the Magnavox Profit Caravan in Burlingame, California where he played the Magnavox Odyssey demonstration, specifically the table tennis game.
Alcorn first examined Bushnell's schematics for Computer Space, but found them to be illegible. He went on to create his own designs based on his knowledge of transistor–transistor logic and Bushnell's game. Feeling the basic game was too boring, Alcorn added features to give the game more appeal. He divided the paddle into eight segments to change the ball's angle of return. For example, the center segments return the ball a 90° angle in relation to the paddle, while the outer segments return the ball at smaller angles. He also made the ball accelerate the more it was returned back and forth between paddles; missing the ball reset the speed. Another feature was that the in-game paddles could not reach the top of screen. This was caused by a simple circuit which had an inherent defect. Instead of dedicating time to fixing the defect, Alcorn decided it gave the game more difficulty and helped limit the time the game could be played; he imagined two skilled players being able to play forever otherwise.
Three months into development, Bushnell told Alcorn he wanted the game to feature realistic sound effects and a roaring crowd. Dabney also wanted the game to "boo" and "hiss" when a player lost a round. Alcorn was running out of room on the circuit board and did not know how to create such sounds with digital circuits. After inspecting the sync generator, he discovered it could generate different tones and used those for the game's sound effects. To construct the prototype, Alcorn purchased a black and white television set from a local store, placed it into a 4 feet (1.2 m) wooden cabinet, and soldered the wires into boards to create the necessary circuitry. The prototype impressed Bushnell and Dabney so much that they felt it could be a profitable product and decided to test its marketability.

Atari had established a pinball route consisting of local businesses to generate steady income. In September 1972, Bushnell and Alcorn installed the Pong prototype at a local bar, Andy Capp's Tavern; they selected the bar because of their good working relation with the bar's manager, Bill Gaddis. They placed the prototype on one of the tables near the other entertainment machines: a jukebox, pinball machines, and Computer Space. The game was well received the first night and its popularity continued to grow over the next one and a half weeks. Bushnell then went on a business trip to Chicago to demonstrate Pong to executives at Bally and Midway Manufacturing; he intended to use Pong to fulfill his contract with Bally, rather than the driving game. A few days later, the prototype began exhibiting complications and Gattis contacted Alcorn to fix it. Upon inspecting the machine, Alcorn discovered the mechanisms had jammed from an overflow of quarters.
After hearing about the game's success, Bushnell decided there would be more profit for Atari to manufacture the game rather than license it, but the interest of Bally and Midway had already been piqued. Bushnell decided to inform each of the two groups that the other was not interested—Bushnell told the Bally executives that the Midway executives did not want it and vice versa—to preserve the relationships for future dealings. Upon hearing this, the two groups declined Bushnell's offer. Bushnell had difficulty finding financial backing for Pong; banks viewed it as a variant of pinball, which at the time the general public associated with the Mafia. Atari eventually obtained a line of credit from Wells Fargo that it used to expand their facilities to house an assembly line. Management sought assembly workers at the local unemployment office, but was unable to keep up with demand. The first arcade cabinets produced were assembled very slowly, about ten machines a day, many of which failed quality testing. Atari eventually streamlined the process and began producing the game in greater quantities. By 1973, they began shipping Pong to other countries with the aid of foreign partners.

Bomberman (Game)

Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games in the series are still being published to this day. Today, Bomberman is featured in over 70 different games. Being commercially successful, with over 10 million units of games sold, the series "has since become known as the first name in multiplayer games", despite older games being capable of holding more than two players at the same time (like Atari 2600's Warlords, released on 1980, that features 4-players gameplay).

Story
The games are set somewhere in a galaxy known as the Bomber Nebula, on Planet Bomber. The original MSX game (as well as the PS1 version) had no real storyline. The NES and Game Boy versions begin with "Bomberman" (the eponymous character of the game) growing bored of making bombs in an underground factory of the Bungeling Empire. After hearing a rumor that robots reaching the surface become human, he decides to escape. When he does, he transforms and becomes known as the "Runner." This storyline was discontinued (outside of possibly Act Zero). In the Turbografx-16 game, Bomberman is instead the first robot of his kind created by Dr. Mimori. Despite being a prototype, he accepts his role as a defender of justice.
To distinguish him from other Bombermen, the main character is also given the name White Bomberman (or Shirobon). In earlier appearances, the second Bomberman model (known as Black Bomberman) is an enemy due to a programming error, but starting with Super Bomberman the two have forged an alliance. They have joined forces to handle bigger threats, most notably the evil alien Bagulaa (also spelled Bagular, Burglar or Bugler), who is most infamously known as the creator of the Five Dastardly Bombers. Paths were also crossed with an intergalactic crime organization called the Hige-Hige Bandits (led by Mujoe and MechaDoc), as well as a mysterious rival known as Regulus. There is no central series antagonist, but these are the most common.
Bomberman appears to be part of an intergalactic police force to help protect the galaxy. This has been elaborated upon in later games, where a friendly figure named Dr. Ein directs Bomberman's objectives. There is also Bomber Base on Planet Bomber, where Bomberman trains daily. After the shapeshifter (if fed) Pommy was introduced, Charaboms became a part of the gameplay in some later single player games. A Bomberman model called Max also became a semi-regular member of the crew, seemingly replacing Black Bomberman in those appearances.
In the Bomberman Land series, he takes on the name Cheerful White and is paired with Bookworm Green, Kid Blue, Cute Pink, Giant Gold and Cool Black.

Gameplay
The general goal throughout the series is to complete the levels by strategically placing bombs in order to kill enemies and destroy obstacles. Exploding bombs can set off other bombs, kill or injure enemies and destroy obstacles. However, they can also kill or injure the player character, destroy powerups, and sometimes "anger" the exit, causing it to generate more enemies. Most Bomberman games also feature a multiplayer mode, where other Bombermen act as opponents, and the last one standing is the winner. In this mode, powerups are plentiful. Although most games in the Bomberman series use the same type of maze-based levels established by the original game, some are Zelda-like adventure games, Mario-like platformers, Tetris-like puzzle games, and kart racers. It is considered to be a classic franchise by many video game players.

Main Characters


Bomberman, also referred to as "White Bomberman", "White Bomber", "Cheerful White" in (Bomberman Land Touch!), "Bomber John" (in Bomberman Touch), and (in Japan) Shirobon, is the hero of the series. In the standard games, he is the protagonist and player-character. He is usually portrayed as the heroic yet cheerful type, often saving his home planet from disaster. Like all Bombermen, he has the ability to generate bombs in his hands. In later games, such as Bomberman Max and Bomberman Tournament, he is shown to be part of an interplanetary police force stationed at Bomber Base. The White Bomberman also made appearances in other games, such as Wario Blast, a Bomberman game featuring Nintendo mascot Mario's rival, Wario (although that was not the case in Japan). He also appears in DreamMix TV World Fighters—a Hudson fighting game with characters from Hudson Soft, Konami, and Takara. He even make a giant playable appearance in Star Parodier, a spoof of the Star Soldier series, which is also developed by Hudson Soft. He has been featured in three anime series; Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden and Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden Victory are based on the marble shooting game B-Daman while Bomberman Jetters is inspired by the video game of the same name.
Black Bomberman (Cool Black in Bomberman Land Touch!) looks identical to Bomberman, only he is colored black. In many of his first appearances, he was shown to be the main rival of Bomberman, often performing acts such as robbing banks to fight him. He eventually becomes a gradual friend of Bomberman, and acts as the second player in the two-player story modes of the games. Hudson has given him a cool and collected personality in the later games. He also leads Red Bomber, Blue Bomber, Green Bomber and Yellow Bomber.
Max first appears in Bomberman Max as one of the main characters. He is somewhat competitive and arrogant, as shown in that despite the urgency of the mission, he challenges Bomberman to a contest to who can gather the most karabons. Max wears a black suited armor with a helmet that completely hides his face. He is also a playable character in the game Bomberman Jetters, where he joins Bomberman in the fight against the Hige Hige Bandits again, and he is an unlockable character in Bomberman Generation. He is also unlockable in Bomberman 2 DS.
Dr. Ein is a scientist who assists Bomberman. He is eccentric and doesn't seem to show many emotions. He is fat, has white spiky hair, and glasses with spirals covering the lenses. Despite never having a playable appearance, one of the customization sets in Bomberman Live lets Bomberman wear Dr. Ein's lab coat and glasses.
Karabon are small creatures that help Bomberman progress by granting him abilities. First appearing in Bomberman Max, each game featuring Karabon feature a unique set of them. Bomberman often find Karabon trapped in cages, and he can partner with one to use its ability. He can also fuse them together and battle them against others. Pommy is a recurring Karabon, who first appears in Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, where he is a loyal, but cowardly sidekick and a mimic. He is capable of shooting lightning and taking on many different forms.
Louie (also known as Rooi) are kangaroo-like animals with rabbit ears who help Bomberman by letting him ride on their backs. In Super Bomberman 4, they were replaced by various animals, and in Saturn Bomberman by the dinosaur-like Tirra.
The Fiendish Bombers (a.k.a the Five Dastardly Bombers) are a gang of five recurring boss enemies in several games of the series. Magnet Bomber sports a scarf-like cape and has a magnet shape attached to his helmet, and uses bombs that are attracted to his enemies. Golem Bomber is much larger than the others and he utilizes fire bombs. Pretty Bomber is distinguished from her male counterparts by her pink skirt, yellow neckerchief, and the large yellow heart attached to her helmet. She also appears as a close friend to Bomberman in several games, where both White and Black Bomber are attracted to her. Brain Bomber is the engineer of the group, who wears a cloak and has the symbol of a crown on his helmet. He is shorter than the other characters and sometimes floats above the group. Plasma Bomber is the leader. Plasma Bomber wears a neckerchief and has a lightning bolt attached to his helmet that can create electric currents.
Bagura (Bagular in the West) is the main villain in many of the games. He resembles a blue and white, large, elderly man with a bushy white beard, a monocle and a cape. He first appears as the main villain of Bomberman '94, in which he attempts to run a comet-disguised ship into Planet Bomber after throwing it into chaos. He later appears in several games, including Super Bomberman 3, Super Bomberman 4, Bomberman Hero, Bomberman World and Neo Bomberman. In some odd appearances, he is reduced to a brain that wants to rebuild an empire and wants revenge on Bomberman. In the anime, he is the true leader of the Hige Hige Bandits, with Mujoe as his second-in-command. Dr. MechaDoc also serves the group by creating technology, such as the Hige-Hige Bandits, small robotic minions who are very weak and serve under Mujoe.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones. Some advanced, haptic systems now include tactile information, generally known as force feedback, in medical and gaming applications. Furthermore, virtual reality covers remote communication environments which provide virtual presence of users with the concepts of telepresence and telexistence.
Users can interact with a virtual environment or a virtual artifact (VA) either through the use of standard input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, or through multimodal devices such as a wired glove, the Polhemus, and omnidirectional treadmills. The simulated environment can be similar to the real world—for example, in simulations for pilot or combat training—or it can differ significantly from reality, such as in VR games. In practice, it is currently very difficult to create a high-fidelity virtual reality experience, due largely to technical limitations on processing power, image resolution, and communication bandwidth; however, the technology's proponents hope that such limitations will be overcome as processor, imaging, and data communication technologies become more powerful and cost-effective over time.

Virtual reality is often used to describe a wide variety of applications commonly associated with immersive, highly visual, 3D environments. The development of CAD software, graphics hardware acceleration, head mounted displays, database gloves, and miniaturization have helped popularize the notion. In the book The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality by Michael R. Heim, seven different concepts of virtual reality are identified: simulation, interaction, artificiality, immersion, telepresence, full-body immersion, and network communication. The definition still has a certain futuristic romanticism attached. People often identify VR with head mounted displays and data suits.

Terminology and concepts
The term "artificial reality", coined by Myron Krueger, has been in use since the 1970s; however, the origin of the term "virtual reality" can be traced back to the French playwright, poet, actor, and director Antonin Artaud. In his seminal book The Theatre and Its Double (1938), Artaud described theatre as "la réalite virtuelle", a virtual reality "in which characters, objects, and images take on the phantasmagoric force of alchemy's visionary internal dramas". It has been used in The Judas Mandala, a 1982 science-fiction novel by Damien Broderick, where the context of use is somewhat different from that defined above. The earliest use cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is in a 1987 article titled "Virtual reality", but the article is not about VR technology. The concept of virtual reality was popularized in mass media by movies such as Brainstorm and The Lawnmower Man. The VR research boom of the 1990s was accompanied by the non-fiction book Virtual Reality (1991) by Howard Rheingold. The book served to demystify the subject, making it more accessible to less technical researchers and enthusiasts, with an impact similar to that which his book The Virtual Community had on virtual community research lines closely related to VR. Multimedia: from Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan and first published in 2001, explores the term and its history from an avant-garde perspective. Philosophical implications of the concept of VR are systematically discussed in the book Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality (1998) by Philip Zhai, wherein the idea of VR is pushed to its logical extreme and ultimate possibility.[citation needed] According to Zhai, virtual reality could be made to have an ontological status equal to that of actual reality. Digital Sensations: Space, Identity and Embodiment in Virtual Reality (1999), written by Ken Hillis, offers a more critical and theoretical academic assessment of the complex set of cultural and political desires and practices culminating in the development of the technology.

Timeline
Virtual reality can trace its roots to the 1860s, when 360-degree art through panoramic murals began to appear. An example of this would be Baldassare Peruzzi's piece titled, Sala delle Prospettive. In the 1920s, vehicle simulators were introduced. Morton Heilig wrote in the 1950s of an "Experience Theatre" that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He built a prototype of his vision dubbed the Sensorama in 1962, along with five short films to be displayed in it while engaging multiple senses (sight, sound, smell, and touch). Predating digital computing, the Sensorama was a mechanical device, which reportedly still functions today. Around this time, Douglas Englebart uses computer screens as both input and output devices. In 1966, Tom Furness introduces a visual flight stimulator for the Air Force. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland, with the help of his student Bob Sproull, created what is widely considered to be the first virtual reality and augmented reality (AR) head mounted display (HMD) system. It was primitive both in terms of user interface and realism, and the HMD to be worn by the user was so heavy it had to be suspended from the ceiling. The graphics comprising the virtual environment were simple wireframe model rooms. The formidable appearance of the device inspired its name, The Sword of Damocles. Also notable among the earlier hypermedia and virtual reality systems was the Aspen Movie Map, which was created at MIT in 1977. The program was a crude virtual simulation of Aspen, Colorado in which users could wander the streets in one of three modes: summer, winter, and polygons. The first two were based on photographs—the researchers actually photographed every possible movement through the city's street grid in both seasons—and the third was a basic 3-D model of the city. In the late 1980s, the term "virtual reality" was popularized by Jaron Lanier, one of the modern pioneers of the field. Lanier had founded the company VPL Research in 1985, which developed and built some of the seminal "goggles and gloves" systems of that decade. In 1991, Antonio Medina, a MIT graduate and NASA scientist, designed a virtual reality system to "drive" Mars rovers from Earth in apparent real time despite the substantial delay of Mars-Earth-Mars signals. The system, termed "Computer-Simulated Teleoperation" as published by Rand, is an extension of virtual reality.