And today let me introduce you to Morton Heilig, famous for the fact that he is called the “father” of virtuality. And all because of the incredible Sensorama apparatus patented by him in 1962. The name comes from a combination of "sense" and "panorama" - panoramic sensitivity. And, just imagine, Hayling was neither a computer scientist, nor an inventor as such, but just a novice cinematographer.
The idea of the invention arose back in the 50s, when Heiling thought: how to show 100% of the image in the cinema, and not 20% of the two-dimensional? To achieve this, he tried to use the idea of another invention of 1952 - "Cinerama", where three cameras were shown on a semicircular screen. By the way, “Cinerama” did not take root, despite a good idea: it was inconvenient to watch.
But this was not enough for Heiling, because he wanted people to literally "move" into another reality. He added surround stereo sound to his device (more than two speakers were used), several fans to create the effect of wind, a vaporizer of odors and vibrating mechanisms built into the seat so that a person could feel bumps and bumps when riding a motorcycle.
Motorcycle tour of Brooklyn.
Yes, this is the program that Sensorama presented to the user. The man sat on the seat, stuck his head into the camera and found himself behind the wheel of a motorcycle that raced through the streets of Brooklyn. And the person not only saw a three-dimensional movie, but also felt the sound synchronized with the picture, "wind in the face", bumps and potholes in the road surface, and, sweeping past the bushes, inhaled the smell of jasmine.
And all this is absolutely without "numbers", only analog "sensations". Feedback and interactivity has not yet been envisaged. However, the experience of the virtual trip was so strong that a number of newspapers called "Sensorama" a simulator.
Morton Heilig directs a movie for Sensorama.
Promotional video:
In order to shoot films for his device, the inventor even created his own 3D movie camera for shooting short films. It was a 35mm film camera, with three lenses and three film devices, but at the same time it turned out to be acceptably small for use without tripods. Heilig has shot many short films: the famous "Motorcycle", as well as "Belly Dance", "Buggy in the Dunes" and, interestingly, "I'm in a Coca-Cola Bottle."
Happinnes exists? Yes! Let it be virtual:)
It is all the more surprising that such a revolutionary idea did not find an opportunity for mass implementation. Morton Heilig built the only experimental apparatus for his own money. For his own money, he registered the company "Sensorama Inc." and shot an advertisement to promote his invention. But … business turned out to be deaf to this progressive, but expensive idea.
Heilig nevertheless continued to create 3D worlds, worked with Disney in the 70s, created the Thrillerama 3D theater, and in the 80s and 90s "switched" to selling his own skate and scooter designs.
