All About the History of Virtual Reality in Education

By Chris Daily

Projected to reach over $84 billion by 2028, the virtual reality market is one of the fastest-growing in the world. These technologies are blowing up industries like business, entertainment, healthcare, and, yes, education.

Since it’s difficult to pinpoint where a solution is headed without looking into its past, we’re going to dive into VR’s history today, Here, we’re going to talk about the history of virtual reality specifically in the education sector. Read on to learn about VR’s development… and to understand where these platforms are headed in 2022 and beyond.

The History of Virtual Reality in the Early Days

The foundation of virtual reality dates back to 1956. Morton Heilig, who had a heavy background in the film industry, designed a Sensorama machine to help people feel like they were inside the movie. This early VR system allowed people in the theater to simulate a motorcycle ride through a city in a virtual world, complete with multisensory experiences.

This paved the way for Ivan Sutherland to build a head-mounted device that immersed people inside a picture in 1965. This device was a sort of prototype for the VR headsets that later became popular in schools and other educational settings.