Morton Leonard Heilig (December 22, 1926 – May 14, 1997) was an American pioneer in
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...
(VR) technology and a filmmaker. He applied his
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
experience and with the help of his partner developed the
Sensorama over several years from 1957, patenting it in 1962.
Sensorama
It was big, bulky, and shaped like a 1980s era video arcade game. The
Sensorama was quite impressive for 1960s technology. The viewing cabinet gave the viewer the experience of riding a motorcycle on the streets of Brooklyn. The viewer felt the wind on their face, the vibration of the motorcycle seat, a
3D view, and even smells of the city.
Heilig wanted to create “cinema of the future.” The
Sensorama was doomed, however, from the high costs of the filmmaking. The problem was not that the apparatus addressed the wrong senses; the business community just couldn't figure out how to sell it. He was not able to find the amount of funds necessary to create new 3-D films “obtained with three 35 mm cameras mounted on the cameraman.”
Filmmaker
Heilig was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the short films "Assembly Line" (1961) and "Destination: Man" (1965). He was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the feature film "Once" (1974). He directed episodes of the TV series Diver Dan (1961). He was a production executive for the film They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969).
[http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f89438b retrieved may 5,2018]
Morton Heilig is buried at
Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Eden Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard, Mission Hills, Los Angeles, Mission Hills, California, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. It ...
in
Mission Hills,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, California, USA.
References
External links
mortonheilig.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilig, Morton
1926 births
1997 deaths
20th-century American inventors
Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Virtual reality pioneers