Movies that influenced the development of Virtual Reality

1:02 a.m. / Posted by cogspace /

While flicking through the tv a few nights back, I came across a program on Discovery Channel, it was called "Sci Fi Saved My Life: The Matrix".


Much of the material was a re-hash of what is widely known in the research community about the state-of-the-art in VR. I persisted with the program as it contained an interesting interview with Jaron Lanier
However watching the show got me thinking about the list of movies that have been and continue to be important in influencing developments and research in VR. Here is a list of some notable movies:
Seminal Hollywood moments that have been influenced by, or have influenced developments in technology.

StarWars 1977-2008
TRON 1982, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner and Cindy Morgan
Brainstorm 1983, starring Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood and Louise Fletcher
Videodrome 1983, starring James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits and Peter Dvorsky
Total Recall 1990, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside
The Lawnmower Man 1992, starring Jeff Fahey and Pierce Brosnan
Disclosure 1994, starring Michael Douglas, Demi Moore and Donald Sutherland
Strange Days 1995, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, and Juliette Lewis
Virtuosity 1995, starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Kelly Lynch
Johnny Mnemonic 1995, starring Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Dina Meyer and Ice-T
Andoromedia 1998, starring Hiroko Shimabukuro and Eriko Imai 
The Matrix 1999, starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne
ExistenZ 1999, starring Jude Law, Jason Leigh, Ian Holm and Willem Dafoe
The Thirteenth Floor, 1999 starring Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol and Armin Mueller-Stahl
Avalon 2001, starring Malgorzata Foremniak and Wladyslaw Kowalski
Minority Report 2002, starring Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow and Colin Farrell

If you feel I have omitted an influential movie or have anything to say on the above please leave a comment.
Dave

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2 comments:

Anonymous on 5:01 p.m.

Also Johnny Mnemonic based on Gibson story (terrible movie btw, Tekwar - TV movie and
Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

Rooney's Knees

Comment by cogspace on 11:24 p.m.

Yup, I agree, it could be argued that Johnny Mnemonic contributed to VR (by simply using, hence promoting some of the concepts), however I couldn't honestly say the same about Lawnmower Man 2.
I've never heard of Tekwar - do you have a link?

I'll add in Johnny Mnemonic to the list.

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