#1347: One of the Grandfathers of VR Tom Furness on the Origins of Virtual Reality

Tom Furness has been working on virtual reality technologies since 1966, but most of his early work with the United States Air Force has remained fairly secret (see my previous interviews in episodes #245 and #347). Ivan Sutherland and Mort Heileg are often cited as early VR pioneers, but Furness was also working secretly at Wright Patterson Air Force base on the first helmet-mounted displays, visually-coupled systems, and eventually The Super Cockpit. It wasn't until he was given permission to speak about The Super Cockpit project in the mid-80s that the world got to learn about the advances in VR technologies he'd been working on.

I had a chance to catch up with Furness at the AWE 2023 on June 1st, just ahead of Apple's announcement of the Apple Vision Pro that happened a few days later on June 5th. We talk about the Virtual World Society, and the meeting of XR industry CEOs and leaders at AWE to have an off-the-record conversation about the impacts of AI and how to collaborate to help bring about a more exalted future of the XR industry.

Furness also shares a bit more context of the early history of VR, as he's has been working continuously within for the past 57-58 years. I think it's really important to look back upon where these immersive and spatial computing technologies have come from in order to get a better idea for where they might be going. Furness also recently won the inaugural member's choice Ethical Values Award from the XR Guild for significant contributions to the XR industry, and continues to lead the Virtual World Society to promote the more pro-social uses of XR technologies.