Immersive Archive

Immersive Archive

The Immersive Archive is focused on developing simulations that restore and exhibit XR devices and visions throughout immersive media history. Similar in concept and function to a Film Archive or Internet Archive that collect, restore, and conserve a wide range of media, the objective here is to provide users an interactive, first person, immersive experience of the XR medium throughout its evolution, with links to a rich context of historical background and archival materials for deeper exploration.

The first phase of this project has focused on the development of proof-of-concept simulations of the first efforts to develop XR technologies.  These immersive experiences include:

  • The Sensorama device developed in the late 1950s by Mort Heilig, which provided a multisensory, immersive cinema experience. 
  • The head-mounted display project led by Ivan Sutherland in the late 1960s, which prototyped many of the computational and display technologies (like the "Sword of Damocles" tracking system) still used in contemporary VR and AR media.  
  •  The Virtual Environment Workstation Project (VIEWlab) at NASA’s Ames Research Center that pioneered the development of many key VR technologies including fully immersive head-coupled displays, datagloves, and 3-D audio technology (1985-1990).

Project Website:   https://immersivearchive.org/

Project Team:

  • Zeynep Abes
  • Nathan Fairchild
  • Scott Fisher
  • Spencer Lin
  • Michael Wahba
  • Katrina Xiao

Recent Press: 

  • CHM Newsletter: "CHM Artifact Helps Decode Virtual Reality-Documenting the Genesis of VR . . . with VR" (Link) 
  • BBC: "The history of virtual reality that led to Apple Vision Pro" (Link)