Atari's Foray into Virtual Reality

[LeeJ07]

I found this nifty article about Atari's failed attempt to break into the VR market way back in the 1980s, and thought I'd share it here.

 

I don't think Atari's VR efforts are that well known. I'd certainly never heard of it.

 

Atari’s secret VR experiments of the 1980s

 

http://flip.it/.TJ2r

[LeeJ07]

I should note that there really wasn't a so-called "VR Market" back when Atari first started these experiments, so really, they very nearly *created* the market.

[AlamoAtari]

I vaguely remember that, it was around the same time as the mental controler with the headband thing

[RickR]

My gosh, this is pure gold.  Thanks for finding and sharing Lee.

[Ballblaɀer]

Further reading on the Atari Sunnyvale Research Lab:

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/otherprojects/lalab.html

[RickR]

June Foray approves of this foray.

 

[Clint Thompson]

I was for sure this was going to be specifically Mindlink related but was shocked to find out otherwise. As much as I've followed Atari and read online only to still find new projects or things they had worked on amazes me, especially this. 80s VR and 3D movies through a stationary headset in an arcade setting? Bizarre but cool. It would be fascinating to see what any of this was like in person.

 

Thanks for sharing, Lee!