A History of XR Cross Reality Part 1 of 6
“The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.” ~Winston Churchill.
This
the first of six articles describing a history of cross reality,
otherwise known as mixed reality or XR, which encompasses the fields of
virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and virtual worlds (VW). I
have used the lens of science fiction as my time travel machine. This
is not meant as an exhaustive history, as I purposely chose my timeline.
Also in this effort, I engaged pattern-seeking from design research to
sharpen my prediction skills.
These articles started with two
recent research efforts: 1) an invitation to present on any topic at a
local university and 2) a project to forecast the future of XR
technology. As a result, I decided to craft a story, the history of XR.
Said another way, there is a reason this article series is called “A History…”. It is because it is one chosen history.
There are many possible others. For example, some will trace a purely technological history and start with Morton Heilig’s Sensorama device. Others will trace the use of alternative realities and perhaps start with flight simulators.
When I went to find the origins of science fiction, my research indicated that I should start first with paleo futurism. Paleo futurism
is the study of how, in the past, we envisioned the future. Said
another way, we have guessed about the future before. How good are we at
guessing? Once I did some research in paleo futurism, I found that I needed to look to utopian/dystopian literature as the origins of alternative realities in human thought.
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| Photo by Constantinos Kollias on Unsplash |
That brings our time machine’s first stop back to 380 B.C. and Plato’s Republic.
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| Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1181161 |
This
is argued to be the first instance of humankind writing about an
alternative reality for themselves. Plato focused this reality not on
city planning or public education, but on the concept of justice. Plato
pitted 4 different definitions of justice against each other to see how
humanity fared. At least up until 1900, it is a very strong bet that
the rest of our science fiction sources know of this foundation.
(Note:
there may be non-Western roots of alternative realities that go further
back than 380 B.C. My choice to start with Plato simply reflects a place
where I was comfortable starting.)
Our next stop is the early 1500s A.D. What was happening on Earth?
Columbus
had made 2 journeys to the “New World” Undoubtedly, knowledge that new
lands had been discovered was spreading across Europe. The slave trade
had begun.
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| Bry, Theodor de,, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
The Pacific Ocean had just been discovered.
Globalism is on the rise. Colonialism is not far behind.
In
1516, under King Henry the 8th, Brian Tuke was established as the first
Master of the Posts, the progenitor of the Royal Mail.
In Germany, a law established that only water, barley, and hops are the allowed ingredients to make beer.
In
China, the Nantan meteorite fell to Earth. The fall of this meteorite
was eye-witnessed by a farmer in a field and it was a rare iron-nickel
meteorite.
One of the final battles for the Holy Land was won by the Ottomans, establishing the Ottoman empire.
The
Aztecs were in their post classical period. This image is from the
Aztec sun stone, showing the belief in a cyclical calendar. We’ll see
cycles later as a key to prediction.
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| Gary Todd, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons |
The
first social housing was established in Bavaria—which still exists
today. Originally to live here, you had to have been a city resident for
the two prior years, have no source of income, and be a
Catholic. Widowed mothers were the primary residents.
In Venice, the first Jewish ghetto was established by law.
In
Florence, the first uffizi (office) was established for workers to come
to on a daily basis to do their work for the first “corporation.”
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| Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Then, in 1516 Thomas More published Utopia, the progenitor of science fiction.
.jpg) |
| The Folger Shakespeare Library, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
As
I researched, I learned that the definition of utopia was not our
current meaning of perfection or “Eden.” Thomas More intended “Utopia”
to mean “nowhere” or “a place that does not exist.” The book was a
commentary that both supported and criticized socialism. Utopia had a
ruler for life but after he died, there is an election for a new
ruler. There was shared work, food, clothing, land, etc. Punishment for
crime, however, was severe. We would not recognize More’s concept of
justice today. Residents dug away at a peninsular to form the island of
Utopia. Interestingly, Utopia is not isolated for there are still ships
to other nations.
The very next year after Utopia was published,
Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door and Canada was
discovered via the St. Lawrence River. This was a world deep in
change: new worlds, new religions, globalization, and also segregation
and slavery.
So we have our foundation of humans engaging with alternative realities. On to Part 2.
#Quotes
#WinstonChurchill #Reality #CrossReality #MixedReality #VirtualReality
#AugmentedReality #VirtualWorlds #Design #Plato #Republic #Utopia
#ThomasMore #1516 #Transmedia #XR #VR #AR #ARVRinEdu #EdTech #Innovation
#Athens #Globalization #Change
This article was originally posted to LinkedIn on November 17, 2019. Updated on February 24, 2026 with some slighted clarified writing, changed font, and re-added images.
