Virtual reality of the 1800s: The stereoscopic ancestor of today's tech

As virtual reality continues to gain traction and popularity today in gaming, technology, and education spaces, there is a somewhat forgotten ancestor of this technology that captivated viewers over 150 years ago: the stereoscope. The device was a twin-lens viewer that presented the world in three dimensions, long before computers and today's digital headsets of Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.

As photography was a recent invention of the same period, it's amazing how quickly a three-dimensional version was invented. The stereoscope was the Victorian equivalent of Web 3.0, the current term for the movement from our two dimensional social media to three dimensional interactive platforms.?Audiences could travel the world from the comfort of their living rooms, all without electricity.

In the late 1830s. British scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone wrote a paper describing the ability of the human brain to view two separate but slightly different flat images, one with each eye, and then re-assemble them into one three-dimensional image. Stereopsis is the visual perception of differential distances among objects in one's line of sight. The brain automatically merges what each eye sees into one three-dimensional image.?The end result of this discovery was magical and would soon captivate the world.

Not long after the original paper was published, prototypes of a viewing device were explored. Scientist David Brewster designed a portable, hand-held version for mass market audience. His stereoscope could hold a card with two side-by-side images and create a stereo view through twin lenses. Images mounted?on carboard could be easily produced around the world, and tourists were able to buy them while on travel and bring them home to share with friends and family. One such card of the U.S. Capitol is shown below. When viewed with the handheld view device at the appropriate distance for focus, a three-dimensional image of this moment in time jumps from the page.

While the technology of the stereoscope was simple and lacking in the features that make today's virtual reality interactive, the images it generated captivated audiences well into the 20th Century. The virtual reality technology of today is descendant of this Victorian glass, wood, tin, and paper ancestor. With better headsets being created every year, the medium is still searching for increased utility in today's marketplace. 3D applications are looking to move beyond entertainment and gaming to find a more universal, persistent application in our increasingly sophisticated, digital world.?