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Television Sci-Fi Entertainment Science Technology

The BBC's 1992 TV Show About VR, 3D TVs With Glasses, and Holographic 3D Screens (youtu.be) 54

Posted by BeauHD from the throwback-Thursday dept.
dryriver writes: 27 years ago, the BBC's "Tomorrow's World" show broadcasted this little gem of a program [currently available on YouTube]. After showing old Red-Cyan Anaglyph movies, Victorian Stereoscopes, lenticular-printed holograms and a monochrome laser hologram projected into a sheet of glass, the presenter shows off a stereoscopic 3D CRT computer display with active shutter glasses. The program then takes us to a laboratory at Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, where a supercomputer is feeding 3D wireframe graphics into the world's first glasses-free holographic 3D display prototype using a Tellurium Dioxide crystal. One of the researchers at the lab predicts that "years from now, advances in LCD technology may make this kind of display cheap enough to use in the home."

A presenter then shows a bulky plastic VR headset larger than an Oculus Rift and explains how VR will let you experience completely computer-generated worlds as if you are there. The presenter notes that 1992 VR headsets may be "too bulky" for the average user, and shows a mockup of much smaller VR glasses about the size of Magic Leap's AR glasses, noting that "these are already in development." What is astonishing about watching this 27-year-old TV broadcast is a) the realization that much of today's stereo stereo 3D tech was already around in some form or another in the early 1990s; b) VR headsets took an incredibly long time to reach the consumer and are still too bulky; and that c) almost three decades later, MIT's prototype holographic glasses-free 3D display technology never made its way into consumer hands or households.
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The BBC's 1992 TV Show About VR, 3D TVs With Glasses, and Holographic 3D Screens More

The BBC's 1992 TV Show About VR, 3D TVs With Glasses, and Holographic 3D Screens

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  • Tomorrow's World did a special episode on what life would be like in 2020. I'd love to see it again.

    I remember they predicted we would sleep floating in the air on some kind of levitated bed.

  • Not a huge amount of progress since then (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @06:20AM (#59540832) Homepage

    Me and some friends played a VR game called Legend Quest back in nottingham in the early 90s. It was an early VR system by W Industries - you had the goggles and a little wand you held that you waved around and acted as your virtual arm/sword etc. IIRC it ran on an Amgia video toaster system and for its day it was bloody good with good 3D effect and good games. Apart from resolution and angle of view little seems to have changed in the intervening 27 years. The headsets are just as bulky and the games just as few and far between.

    IMO VR will never take off until headsets can be dispensed with entirely and the 3D effect produced some other way , perhaps direct laser into the eyes, or 3D solid cube screen, who knows.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      thing with the holographic display etc is that people just don't feel it's worth the money and hassle. also it's really hard to make content for.

      there's quite a lot of vr content now though and vr amusement park thingys at malls and such...

      there are lots of "obvious ideas" that are tried every few years. a lot of times they fail for the same exact reasons they did before. like alternative input systems for a pc, alternative mouses and such. having to flail your hands around is NOT an improvement.. it's no

    • Re:Not a huge amount of progress since then (Score:5, Interesting)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @07:44AM (#59540940)

      IMO VR will never take off until headsets can be dispensed with entirely

      Why do you think that? Have you tried a modern VR headset? it may look bulky but a lot of thought has gone into mounting and weight. They are quite light and most are generally comfortable to the point you can happily wear them hours on end (the most comfortable IMO is the Rift S with its halo band, the least is the Quest, and most of the others lie somewhere in between).

      As for taking off... they are very much on a linear growth line with this year being an exception that is pushing it more towards exponential. Estimates are between 7-8million headsets shipped by year end and several vendors have product lines completely sold out because of ....

      The headsets are just as bulky and the games just as few and far between.

      games. There are thousands of VR specific games on the markets. Hundreds of actually good games. And a handful of games that could be considered AAA VR exclusive, not counting the actual AAA games which have been ported over to VR. 2 years ago I would have stood right behind your statement.To claim games are few and far between at the end of 2019 given the several major, high quality and high budget releases this year is not really a valid criticism anymore.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Needed money, art work, computing power... back then.
      We have that now and still nothing...
      What is "astonishing" is the spending that is still used to back VR...
      It failed then, it failing now...yet still its presented as "astonishing" tech new...

    • I tried the VR Atari Jaguar headset with Doom, there was no stereoscopic effect in that particular game but head tracking was used to turn your character. It was very laggy and inaccurate, and there were big cables attached. The screens inside the headset were small and didn't cover much of your view.

      https://www.geek.com/games/the... [geek.com]

      I also tried the Dactyl Nightmare arcade game and while the viewing experience was marginally better, the complexity of the game was very basic even for then and the frame rate

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )

      IMO VR will never take off until headsets can be dispensed with entirely and the 3D effect produced some other way

      Just as important, but rarely gets talked about, is how it would work with people who wear glasses. Not only that, but glasses go in both directions, nearsighted and farsighted. I can focus about 4-12 inches with both eyes and no glasses (it's my "stealth trifocals"), though my left eye could focus down to 1.5 inches until I turned 45. Other people can't focus less than 2-3 feet or more without wearing glasses, but are just fine with distance vision. I can't see how it would be possible to work with all eye

  • > VR will let you experience completely computer-generated worlds as if you are there

    Yeah.. I've tried many different VR sims but none of them felt anything like "as if you are there"... I don't think they ever will either!

    • Re:Not really (Score:5, Interesting)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @07:46AM (#59540944)

      I don't think they ever will either!

      I recommend trying Elite Dangerous in VR with an appropriate joystick and an Index headset. It's basically ideal in terms of making you feel like you're somewhere given your perspective is chair locked in the game.

  • Get off my lawn... (Score:4)

    by idji ( 984038 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @07:22AM (#59540904)
    We weren't stone age savages in 1992. We knew all this stuff very well.
  • 3d goggles? Meh. What about the flying cars we were told were in our future?

    • Go buy one if you want it. It'll cost you at least 6 figures, and you might have to know the right people, but they are available.

  • did they also like to eat SHORTS? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    it made no sense back then, it made no sense five years ago, and it makes no sense today

    https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]

    make sure they're properly seasoned!

  • Headsets took long to reach consumers... (Score:3)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @07:52AM (#59540958)

    Because of technological limitations. Sure VR has existed for a while. However only recently have we gotten to a point where
    a) headsets have pixel densities that allow you to experience an actual world rather than a series of jagged lines being drawn in front of your eyes.
    b) computers are powerful enough to actually render the high resolution game worlds.
    c) physiological constraints are understood enough and technology has allowed us to circumvent the problem of strapping a vomit inducing device on our heads.
    d) computers are fast enough (in terms of frame rate and reduced latency) to actually feel part of the world rather than disconnected from it.

    There were a lot of problems to solve. There still are. Having had a mild interest in this for years and considering it a novelty, 2019 is the year that changed my mind. I can only recommend someone go to a local VR lab and have a play. Unfortunately many don't have modern headsets yet so remember anything you play will likely be even better if you feel the need of buying a computer accessory that doesn't cost much in the grand scheme of a gaming machine (other than motherboard, keyboard, mouse, and powersupply, the Rift S is the cheapest component in my gaming computer)

  • It's a solution in search of a problem.

    Outside of a very few things (like sex, or perhaps surgery), doing things in clunky 3D space is simply not better. It's the whole reason that we computerized things to begin with, to not have to do that.

    I'm reminded of that silly movie where the character was using a VR system to find and steal a "file" from an actual VR filing cabinet. Aside from the plot point that the VR system demo had improper security controls, it made it laughably obvious why such a system wou

    • It's a solution in search of a problem.

      said the pixel art creator when the first dedicated GPU hit the market.

      If you think this is anything in search of a "problem" then I suggest actually trying a VR headset at a VR lab sometime. It's not solving a problem as much as it is expanding the possibilities games can afford users, much like the 3D accelerator, the Soundblaster, and each new game controller to hit the market. They weren't solving "problems" either but rather increasing opportunities.

      Try play Beat Saber with a mouse and keyboard. (Don't

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shotgun ( 30919 )

      No. There were actual problems to solve.

      I'm a pilot that has survived several engine outs in the real world. I say that to establish that I know how to fly a plane. I could never land one in a simulator other than as a barely controlled crash.

      With the VR headset, I can plant it on the numbers just like in real life. The difference is the ability to orient myself in the real world. Now I can practice on navigation/communication/emergency situation skills and not worry about making it home for dinner.

      Thi

  • The New 3DS has a display with a parallax barrier like lenticulars and uses a user facing camera to track the eye position to adjust it, allowing glasses-free 3D. It works really well but you have to be within a certain distance of the display and that would be tough to achieve on a TV..

    The iPhone also tried to fake 3D with parallax effects at one point using gyroscopes to adjust the wallpaper to simulate depth.

    There was a demo of a head mounted Wii Remote to use this effect on a TV: https://youtube.com/wat [youtube.com]

  • Pretty interesting. Here is another 1992 show about VR (from America). Computer Chronicles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • Tech back then needed better CPU, GPU power, art work... and funding...
    Decades later we have the CPU, GPU, artist and funding... and still "VR" fails ...
    The only news in this story is the way the UK gov and UK private sector invested in VR and the emerging computer sector and failed.

    Want to do VR... invest a lot of money and try again and again and again... find more money and try and fail...

  • I worked at Thinking Machines, which is the supercomputer company that made the machine that drove that synthetic hologram. That display was amazing - it computed a wave front that would have been emitted by a hologram, and modulated a laser to paint that wave front so that what you saw literally was a 3d image that you could look at from any angle. And it was dynamic - you could turn controls to modify the object's size, position, angle, etc., in realtime. And full color. Absolutely amazing that it could w

    • Thanks for sharing that. I wish the images weren't broken on the link.

    • There have been several actual force feedback gaming controllers. Microsoft and others have had PC joysticks with two axis feedback, and there have been quite a few force feedback steering wheel controllers, some even for consoles and going back to the PS2 (Logitech driving force.)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shotgun ( 30919 )

      Another tech that I saw at the Media Lab at the same time that hasn't made it out to consumers yet (sigh) is real force feedback.

      Just an FYI, but that tech actually DID reach consumers. Then a small company [reddit.com] enforced their patent, demanded ridiculous amounts of money, and it all got pulled. Luckily, it looks like that patent ran out this year.

  • One of the most amazing things about VR and 3D stuff is that people don't give a duck for them. They are still niche stuff and most consumers never heard nor want it. Sure, it's cool to see a virtual roller coaster and other similar stuff, but it's not something "Oh my gosh , I need to ride that 3D roller coaster again". Until someone invents a 3D thing that does not need people to wear something in order to see it, this thing won't take off. My 2 cent.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )

      One of the most amazing things about these moving pictures is that people still read paper books and watch stage plays!

      Seriously, the human mind is sufficiently capable of imagining things, and you can write a story with plain words that isn't stuffed full of background images and CGI effects. Even if you don't consider the people who don't want to wear glasses over their glasses, and the people who are unable to properly see 3D stereo video, it's still just a gimmick. On the other hand, once we could do

      • Even if you don't consider the people who don't want to wear glasses over their glasses, and the people who are unable to properly see 3D stereo video, it's still just a gimmick. On the other hand, once we could do color, black-and-white became a rare thing only done for effect

        That's just it. Color was used as a gimmick a handful of times, but is mostly seen as a natural progression toward realism. Cinema stereo 3D has been almost exclusively used as a cheap gimmick and poorly done, mostly through upconversion rather than stereo shooting.

        I always hold up the example of Hugo, a kid's movie, as the best example of 3D ever made. And it treats 3D like a treasure in the same way that it treats old French experimental films. It's a tool for the director of photography to help frame

    • One of the most amazing things about VR and 3D stuff is that people don't give a duck for them.

      I know. I never understood why companies keep selling needle and wool. Based on a survey of Slashdot users I can categorically say that 0% of people enjoy knitting.

  • Jaron Lanier He had this back then but the tech was still catching uo

  • this little gem of a program [currently available on YouTube]

    "Next on BBC1, comedy, with those ever-inventive Birds of a Feather." Great show.

  • I remember watching this as a child and clearly remember the VR sequence. They also did an episode talking about the advent of blue leds, where they said eventually we will have TVs as thin as picture frames. They were bang on with a lot of things in an age where information wasnt readily available.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )

      Blue LEDs were essential for making white light, but we had flat TVs for years without using any LED other than the power light. Pure LED screens are still uncommon except for very small screens (smart phones), and very large (billboard) screens. And R+G+B still makes an inferior white. White LEDs for lighting use a blue LED with phosphors to add in a wide-spectrum yellow.

      Blue LEDs have been important, but more for lighting than for television, where they are mostly used as a backlight behind an LCD screen

  • did make it to our hands... Nintendo 3DS. Never needed glasses for those.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )
      But you still need to be at the right distance and angle for the lenticular 3D to work properly. It won't work so well for the TV in the living room.

  • " What is astonishing about watching this 27-year-old TV broadcast is a) the realization that much of today's stereo stereo 3D tech was already around in some form or another in the early 1990s; b) VR headsets took an incredibly long time to reach the consumer and are still too bulky; and that c) almost three decades later, MIT's prototype holographic glasses-free 3D display technology never made its way into consumer hands or households."

    Not if you lived through the 1990's and followed anything tech relate

    • b) VR headsets took an incredibly long time to reach the consumer and are still too bulky

      Nintendo tried so hard, but then put their headset on a tripod because it was so ridiculously heavy.

  • 3D TV with glasses were not new then (Score:3)

    by Megane ( 129182 ) on Friday December 20, 2019 @11:19AM (#59541508)

    Oh wow it was so long ago, they were predicting the future!

    The Sega Master system was doing 3D with active shutter glasses in 1987; it had already been a consumer product for five years when this show came out.

    https://segaretro.org/3-D_Glasses [segaretro.org]

  • 3D (Score:2)

    by sad_ ( 7868 )

    "What is astonishing about watching this 27-year-old TV broadcast is the realization that much of today's stereo stereo 3D tech was already around in some form or another in the early 1990s"

    early 90's? that stuff has been around for much longer than the 90's.

  • They had VR games at themeparks and were rather pricey considering you only got to play for about 10 minutes for about $8.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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