The Lawnmower Man debuted in 1992, and beyond legal conflicts or poor reception, that film was one of many reasons the public showed renewed interest in virtual reality in the ’90s. Many companies went all-in on this potential market with various developments and prototypes, and among the most interesting were the I-Glasses from Virtual IO, launched in 1995. Stereoscopic vision, motion tracking, and the ability to connect almost anything with a video output gave it some appeal... at first.
Only a few weeks remain before Half-Life: Alyx makes its presence known on Steam. Besides serving as an intermediate point in Gordon Freeman’s famous franchise, the game is without a doubt one of the biggest bets in favor of virtual reality to date. Despite notable advances in hardware, virtual reality suffers from a serious software deficit. The goal is for Alyx to become the “killer app” of VR headsets, but if it doesn’t succeed, well...
That said, there was a humbler and more primitive time for virtual reality, when hardware left much to be desired, or carried unaffordable prices for the average user. However, in 1995 the I-Glasses from Virtual IO arrived, promising a more balanced and comprehensive solution than what had been seen...
Hardware and Features
Based on two screens with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels per eye (other sources report 320 x 200), the I-Glasses could reproduce virtual environments and track motion in three axes when connected to a compatible computer, or function as a “head-up display” using its composite video input, creating a “virtual screen” equivalent to 80 inches.
Problems and Reliability
The promotional video shows some demos and several compatible games. Headaches, nausea, and dizziness were common when using the I-Glasses, and as if that weren’t enough, there were very negative details about build quality. The cables combined with the connection boxes and power supply were a nightmare, and some users reported catastrophic port failures after using the headset for a couple of weeks. Other variants seem to have corrected that weak point, but it’s clear it wasn’t enough.
The Price
The final blow came from its price. The little available advertising about the I-Glasses indicates that the full edition with motion tracking cost $799 (adjusted for inflation, $1,350), or $599 for the video-limited version, a fortune from any point of view.
Source: Stanford Graphics Lab
