Virtual Reality and Games

The concept of Virtual Reality (VR) dates back to around 1930, where different technologies and concepts arise. For instance, in 1929 Edward Link created the Link Trainer (further patented in 1931), reported to be the first example of a commercial flight simulator, being entirely electromechanical. Also, in the 1930s, the visionary, science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum brings a story (Pygmalion's Spectacles) that introduces the early idea of a pair of goggles that makes the wearer experience a fictional world through holograms, smell, taste, and touch. Weinbaum describes uncanny experiences for those wearing the goggles, aligned with the modern experiences of VR. It is in the mid 1950s when cinematographer Morton Heilig developed the Sensorama (further patented in 1962), which resembled a kind of an arcade-style theatre cabinet. The technology integrated in the Sensorama allowed an individual seeing stereoscopic films enhanced with seat motion, vibration, stereo sound, wind, and aromas, which were triggered during the films [1], intending to fully immerse the individual in the film. Since then, many authors have used VR as platforms that support a variety of fields, such as training and learning [2,3,4,5], entertainment [6,7,8], flight and driving simulation [9,10,11], cultural heritage [12,13,14], and scientific and medical visualizations [15,16,17], to cite some