Morton Heilig

Morton Leonard Heilig (December 22, 1926 – May 14, 1997)[1] was a pioneer in Virtual Reality (VR) technology and filmmaker.[2] He applied his cinematographer experience and with the help of his partner developed the Sensorama over several years from 1957, patenting it in 1962.[3]

Sensorama

It was big, bulky, and shaped like a 1980s era video arcade game. The Sensorama was quite impressive for 1960s technology. The game gave the player the experience of riding a motorcycle on the streets of Brooklyn. The player felt the wind on their face, the vibration of the motorcycle seat, a 3D view, and even smells of the city.[4]

Heilig wanted to create “cinema of the future.” [5] The Sensorama was doomed, however, from the high costs of the filmmaking. The problem was not that the apparatus addressed the wrong senses; the business community just couldn't figure out how to sell it.[6] He was not able to find the amount of funds necessary to create new 3-D films “obtained with three 35 mm cameras mounted on the cameraman.”[7]

Filmmaker

Heilig was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the short films "Assembly Line" (1961) and "Destination: Man" (1965). He was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the feature film "Once" (1974). He directed episodes of the TV series Diver Dan (1961). He was a production executive for the film They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969). [8] [9]

Morton Heilig is buried at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

References
  1. "Morton Heilig: The Father of Virtual Reality".
  2. Pimentel, K., & Teixeira, K. (1993). Virtual reality. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8306-4065-2.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Patent search results
  4. Kock, N. (2008). "E-collaboration and e-commerce in virtual worlds: The potential of Second Life and World of Warcraft" (PDF). International Journal of e-Collaboration. 4 (3): 1–13.
  5. "Morton Heilig (American cinematographer)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
  6. Laurel, B. (1993), Computers as Theatre, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, pp. 49–65
  7. Scott Tate (Fall 1996). "Virtual Reality: A Historical Perspective".
  8. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0374147/?ref_=nv_sr_1 retrieved 5/5/18
  9. http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f89438b retrieved may 5,2018
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.