Virtual Reality Pioneer Tom Furness on the Past, Present, and Future of VR in Health Care

Back in the mid-1960s, rotary-dial telephones were the norm, music cassette tapes were brand new, and microwave ovens hadn't made it into houses yet. That's also when newly minted electrical engineer Thomas Fumess joined a U.S. Air Force Lab and began developing what would become the first virtual reality (VR) systems, including the fighter-jet Super Cockpit that gives pilots 3D representations of avionics data, along with the ability to use voice commands, hand gestures, and even eye movements to control the aircraft. Now 50 -plus years later, Fumess is known as "the grandfather of VR," and he continues to push the limits of VR at the University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Lab (HIT Lab) and sister HIT Labs in New Zealand and Australia. Here, Fumess (Figure 1) describes his role in the early rise of VR, how he transitioned his work from the military to the public sector -especially for medical applications -and what he thinks must happen before VR can realize its vast potential in health care.