How VR Got Off the Ground
1966
VR visionary Tom Furness begins creating helmet-mounted displays to help Air Force pilots better navigate complex fighter jet technologies.
1971
Tom helps create the first Visually Coupled Airborne Systems Simulator to give pilots a virtual view of system displays that won’t physically fit into limited cockpit space.
1986
Tom directs the Air Force’s Super Cockpit program, enabling data to be projected in real-time into a 3D virtual space—and allowing pilots to control aircraft with gestures, utterances and eye movements.
2015
Tom co-founds the Virtual World Society, extending VR’s application to the sciences, education and the arts.