Who thought we’d be doing archeology on Virtual Reality? It’s been almost 25 years (maybe more…) since VR hit the media and sparked the imagination of millions. So much promised, but often not delivered. To call it a “fad” or a “craze” is far too simple. For those of us who were there, VR was a giant wave that swept over us in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and left quite a bit of wreckage behind as the tide receded.

For a while there VR’s promise and growth went hand in hand with the explosion of interest and usage of the internet. The dot.com bubble and subsequent burst notwithstanding, the internet became ubiquitous, but immersive VR did not. Strangely, memories of the VR bubble on the web are fragmentary with great swaths of empty spaces.

For about 20 years I was inside that bubble and I’ve accumulated enormous piles of debris: bookshelves of journals and other written materials, brochures and manuals, cartons and cartons of video, and a warehouse full of mysterious technology artifacts. Each has a bit of a story that might, in time, be forgotten.

My little collection of gadgets and memories are relatively unimportant on their own, but there’s others of you out there who can pile on and contribute here. Drop me a note. You know who you are!

If you’ve got something new to add, something you think needs correcting, or just want to say hi…