VR-1 is a virtual reality amusement park attraction released by Sega. Installed publicly for the first time in July 1994 at the opening of the original Joypolis indoor theme park, Yokohama Joypolis, it represented the culmination of Sega's Japanese AM teams and the Virtuality Group's collaborative developments in the field of VR. In 1996 and 1997, respectively, it was also installed at SegaWorld London and Sega World Sydney.
Combining 4 eight seater motion base pods with 32 VR headsets and a 3 minute long first-person rail shooter game, the attraction offered a virtual reality experience believed to be unparalleled in its time. The headset used in the attraction, officially dubbed the "Mega Visor Display", has been retrospectively credited as one of the most advanced head-mounted displays of its generation, not fully matched in performance until the 2010s, and influencing newer attempts.
VR-1 is not to be confused with the similarly titled Sega VR, which, though developed under the same company, was a separate project and headset, ultimately seeing no permanent public use or release.
History
Background
The first commercial virtual reality craze across the world occurred around the time of the early 1990s. The Virtuality products, developed by W. Industries' Virtuality Group under the leadership of Dr. Jonathan Waldern, were among the most well-known and high-profile examples. Installed at numerous events and entertainment centers, the systems and technology were an enticing concept for arcades, as well as the home console market, however the hardware available to consumers at that time was still very limited - headsets were often large, hulking objects, outputting low resolutions and low frame rate graphics.
During the same time period, Japanese video game companies Sega and Namco had developed a rivalry. Both were competitors as far back as the 1960s, however this relationship had grown through the rise of the "taikan" motion experience games such as OutRun. In 1990, a year in which both made considerable advancements, Sega released the rotational R360 arcade cabinet, which was then significantly outclassed by Namco's Galaxian 3 ride attraction, at that time only available at The International Garden and Greenery Exposition. Though a burden on research and development costs, the attractions received positive feedback from gamers.
Additionally, the two companies were also competing with each other by opening increasingly bigger entertainment facilities in their native countries; Namco again led the way, launching the Plabo venue in Osaka with a downsized version of Galaxian 3 and Virtuality pods in late 1991, and the first theme park ran by a video game company, Wonder Eggs, at the start of the following year, where the original Galaxian 3 installation was permanently relocated. Sega held their own, opening a large number of family-friendly Sega World amusement arcades and announcing plans for their own theme parks across the world. Sega had also shown more interest in creating their own VR hardware, initially with the Sega VR project headed by Sega of America.
Development
While Sega of America developed the ultimately never released Sega VR project, Sega of Japan sought outside help for their own separate virtual reality endeavours. By July 1993, W. Industries, owners of the Virtuality Group, had won a £3.5 million contract with Sega to work alongside company's "AM" arcade research and development divisions. Jonathan Waldern and Hayao Nakayama were photographed together at the public announcement, making the front page of the Japanese Game Machine coin-op newspaper and marking a notable moment for VR's continued development. At this stage, it was not yet specified which headset would be utilized as part of the agreement.
Virtuality and Sega worked together in the offices of the latter company's AM3 division in Japan, with two programmers (Andy Reece and Stephen Northcott) and two artists from the former relocating there. Whilst undertaking development on the original arcade project, the two teams shared unique optics designs and patented technology, in an attempt to work towards the creation of a headset that would set a benchmark for VR moving forward. Numerous new iterations and versions were developed under tight secrecy to work out which types would work best in terms of ergonomic and graphical quality, some of which based on the advanced Visette. Eventually, the designs were finalized, with the finished product christened the "Mega Visor Display".