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This is a hand-built, prototype headset for one of the first "Virtual Reality" displays ever built. Developed at the NASA-Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California and completed in 1985, it was intended to test concepts of presenting visual information to pilots or astronauts, by creating a computer-generated image of an artificial reality. Sensors tracked the movement of the wearer's head, so that the images displayed moved accordingly, as if he or she were looking out a real cockpit during a flight.

James Humphries donated this to the Museum in 1997.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Human Spaceflight at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Human Spaceflight
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type EQUIPMENT-Training Devices Manufacturer NASA Ames Research Center
 Dimensions Other: 1 ft. 5 in. diameter x 5 in. tall x 1 ft. 1 in. wide (43.2 x 12.7 x 33cm)
 Materials Armature - Styrofoam on which it is mounted
Frame - metal
Headphones - metal, plastic
 Inventory Number A19970613000 Credit Line Gift of James Humphries Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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