About: The Forte VFX1 was a consumer-level head-mounted display marketed during the mid-1990s. It comprised a helmet, a handheld controller, and an ISA interface board, and offered head tracking, stereoscopic 3D, and stereo audio. The VFX1 was developed in the early 1990s by Forte Technologies, Incorporated. It was released in 1995 with an MSRP of US$695 and an average retail price of $599 and was sold in the US in retail stores including CompUSA and Babbage’s. It was superseded by Interactive Imaging Systems’ VFX3D in 2000.
VFX1 Headgear Specs and Info…
Device: VFX1 Headgear, (Forte VFX1)
Manufacturer: Forte Technologies, Inc.
Announced Date: Unknown
Release Date: May 1995
Launch Price: $995 (£734)
Device Type: VR Headset (PC Powered)
Display: X2 0.7 inch LCD panels at 263 × 230 (Per Eye)
Diagonal Field of View(FOV): 45°
Refresh Rate: 30 Hz
Weight: 11.33 g (2.5 lb)
CPU: N/A
GPU: N/A
Battery: N/A
Tracking: 3 DoF Non-positional (Gyroscope Based)
Controllers: CyberPuck handheld controller
Our Thoughts: The early 90’s were an exciting time for computing and one of the most revolutionary technologies was virtual reality. The Forte VFX one headgear was a virtual reality gaming helmet born in 1995 and like most other VR headsets at the time like the Virtuality Gaming System it was way ahead of its time and the technology just couldn’t handle the vision. Head movements were tracked with internal sensors for pitch (70 degrees), roll (70 degrees), and yaw (360 degrees). Head movements were tracked with internal sensors for pitch (70 degrees), roll (70 degrees), and yaw (360 degrees). A hand-held controller called the CyberPuck offered three buttons and internal sensors for pitch and roll. It could emulate a mouse and be connected to the helmet by an ACCESS.bus interface cable.
But to be fair of the Forte VFX1 it was without a doubt the most fully featured VR helmet available on the consumer market for a good number of years far surpassing the I-Glasses and other headsets at the time. To their credit, Forte technologies took their time and spent over 5 years in the development stage.
Sources used…
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VFX1_Headgear