Virtual reality under the microscope: the revolution you haven't noticed

Virtual reality has long since moved from the realm of science fiction to everyday life, offering users immersive experiences in digital worlds like the Wachowski movie The Matrix. Throughout its history, VR has been dependent on the general development of scientific and technological progress and has now finally reached the necessary perfection to cause not just a wow effect, but also to be used in practical or creative areas. In this article, we will look at the key technologies that are indispensable for creating this “triumph of illusions.”

From stereoscope to Apple Vision

The history of virtual reality goes back to the 19th century, when the first devices to create the illusion of depth appeared. In 1838, Charles Wheatstone invented the stereoscope, which used two images taken at different angles for each eye, creating the effect of three-dimensionality. This invention became the basis for photography and cinema.

In the 1930s, scientists experimented with mechanical simulators, such as the Link Trainer, to train pilots, which simulated flight without real risk. It was used to train more than 500 thousand American pilots during World War II.

The turning point came in the 1960s. Ivan Sutherland, a pioneer of computer graphics, created the first head-mounted display (HMD) — “Sword of Damocles” in 1968. This bulky device, suspended from the ceiling, displayed simple grid-like surfaces.

In the 1980s, NASA and the military developed VR for simulations, and in the late 80s and early 90s, the first commercial attempts appeared. Virtuality released arcade machines with VR helmets, and Sega announced Sega VR for the Genesis console, although the project was canceled due to technical problems

Technology has inspired the film industry. Thus, in 1992, the film The Lawnmower, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, was released under its influence. But for many decades, hardware did not allow us to talk about the “fullness” of the technology.

Nintendo’s Virtual Boy product, released in 1995, was a resounding failure in all aspects. These were bulky glasses with built-in displays and a conventional console joystick. They were so heavy that they came with a special stand. At the same time, the displays inside were monochrome, and the graphics were very primitive even for that time. Still, Nintendo managed to release 22 games for the console.

VR flourished in the 2010s, with Palmer Luckey, who founded Oculus, playing a key role. In 2012, the Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign raised millions, attracting the attention of Facebook (now Meta), which bought the company in 2014. Rift was the first mass-produced high-resolution VR device. Its early prototype was presented by John Carmack himself.

The success of the Oculus Rift also gave impetus to the development of mobile VR, as glasses that could be paired with a smartphone to create a virtual experience began to appear on the market. You can read more about them in my to the previous article.

In 2016, HTC Vive with external tracking and PlayStation VR for consoles were released, but standalone headsets changed the rules of the game. 2019 brought two headsets at once: Oculus Quest, which could work without a PC, using a mobile platform, and Valve Index with unique controllers that tracked each finger at 87 points. A year later, Meta Quest 2 became a hit thanks to its affordable price and extensive game library.

And finally, in 2023, Meta Quest 3 was released with improved hardware and a new type of pancake lenses, which we will discuss in more detail. The global market for augmented and virtual reality helmets grew more than 2.3 times year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023 amid the release of new models. Anda year later, Apple introduced a niche product — Vision Pro (2024), focusing on mixed reality.

VR technologies: from tracking to hardware

Modern VR headsets are based on sophisticated technologies that give their users maximum immersion.

For VR, the so-called “degrees of freedom” (DoF) are very important They correlate to the number of axes of physical movement that a virtual reality headset can track. Movements in the real world need to be recognized before they can be converted into corresponding movements in virtual reality. For example, a VR headset with 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) can track all six axes of motion.

Tracking and positioning

Tracking tracks head and arm movements and provides spatial positioning. There are two main methods: outside-in and inside-out. Outside-in uses external sensors, such as the base stations in the HTC Vive, to accurately position you. An example of external positioning is Lighthouse, the SteamVR tracking system. It consists of small rectangular devices called base stations. They emit precisely synchronized infrared laser beams in the game area, which are recognized by the virtual reality headset (HMD) and used to determine their location and orientation.

The infrared lasers of the base stations alternate between horizontal and vertical beams several times per second. Meanwhile, each tracked object (HMD) has its own array of photodiode sensors. They analyze these pulses, and an internal chip continuously calculates the position of the object using the physical location of its photodiodes.

This method, despite its advantage in accuracy, has a big disadvantage — the need for a separate room and being tied to it. That is why progress has been made towards internal positioning, which does not have this disadvantage.

Inside-out has become very popular in standalone headsets. It relies on built-in cameras and sensors (IMUs) that analyze the environment using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). The latter is the most widespread technology because it does not require any additional hardware. It allows the device to create a map of its surroundings while simultaneously determining its own location on this map. 

To create it and position it, the MR device uses algorithms to process data from cameras and inertial modules (IMUs). This typically involves comparing the data to a database of known objects and landmarks, and using object matching and pose estimation techniques to determine the position and orientation of the device.

A very interesting technology is eye tracking, when cameras track the user’s gaze, allowing to optimize the so-called “foveated rendering” — rendering high quality only in the center of vision, which significantly optimizes performance. This is useful in games, reducing the load on the GPU, because why visualize in detail something that is not in the focus of your attention.

Thus, virtual reality headsets no longer need external equipment. A typical example of such an HMD is the Meta Quest 3, in which as many as four cameras and infrared LEDs on the controllers are responsible for tracking and positioning

Binocularity

Before we start talking about image visualization, we need to understand what makes a picture in VR so different from the flat image you’re used to seeing on your monitors.

Binocular vision — is, without exaggeration, a unique property that allows a person to navigate in the surrounding space and estimate the distance to objectsAt first, a child is born without this ability. It is only by the age of six months that the ability to perceive three-dimensionally begins to form. For the development of binocular vision, certain conditions must be met:

• Developed eye muscles;
• Identical bilateral visual acuity;
• The same refractive index of the eyes;
• The location of the eyeballs on the same axis.

If at least one of the factors is missing, vision ceases to be binocular. Close one eye and walk around like this for at least a few minutes, and you’ll see what happens

VR headsets provide a unique immersive experience precisely because they present images in a binocular view, just like in real life. This requires special lenses that focus the image for each eye

How optics work in VR

This HMD optical system has three components (the display), receivers (your eyes), and lenses.

• Light sources in HMDs are displays such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs). A binocular HMD (e.g. Meta Quest 3) usually has two displays that provide separate images for each eye to form a 3D perception using stereoscopy
• Lenses collect light from a source and create visualizations of the virtual three-dimensional world. The ideal VR helmet should provide high-resolution images within a wide field of view (FOV).

When designing an image, it is very important to maximize the characteristics of the human visual system. The viewing angle of the human eye is approximately 120 degrees vertically and almost 360 degrees horizontally, taking into account eye rotation and head movement

Displays and lenses

Nowadays, several types of lenses are most common:

• Fresnel lenses — cheap, with concentric rings to reduce weight (Quest 2, Quest 3S);
• Pancake lenses — flat, compact, with better clarity (Quest 3);
• Aspheric to reduce distortion (Pimax Crystal).

Fresnel lenses are cheap but can cause light artifacts — “god rays”. But the Pancake lenses in Quest 3 provide a wider field of view (FOV) of up to 110 degreesThe Fresnel lenses have concentric grooves that provide a flat design, reduce weight and chromatic aberration.

Aspherical lenses are groove-free and have a specially calculated curvature that minimizes optical artifacts such as distortion or blur.

Displays are the key to visual quality in VR. LCD (liquid crystal) displays are cheap, although they boast high resolution, they have poorer contrast.

OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) offer deep blacks and fast response, but are significantly more expensive. Micro-OLED displays, such as in Apple Vision Pro, reach 4K per eye, offering a high pixel density, although in VR it is more correct to talk about the number of pixels per degree

Hardware

Since headsets are usually standalone and can do without a wired connection to computers, not only image quality has become equally important, but also the hardware platform, which turns an HMD into a self-sufficient device that can do almost everything: from browsing, using APK applications from a smartphone, to creating a personal movie theater and gaming.

Let’s take a closer look at the platform using the example of the Meta Quest 3 virtual headset. Why choose it? First, it has IDC research for the first 2025, Meta’s products are leading with a share of 50.8%

Company	Market share in Q1 2025	Market share in Q1 2024	Unit growth for Q1 2025/Q1 2024
Meta	50.8%	36.2%	65.9%

The second reason is that this VR headset is, without exaggeration, the best choice for getting acquainted with the technology, because it has a very developed ecosystem and a minimum entry threshold. In addition, I strongly discourage you from starting with the previous outdated versions and the new MetaQuest 3S, as they are based on Fresnel lenses.

I’ve been using MetaQuest 3 for almost two years now and without exaggeration, I consider it the most successful device in decades. It seems that Meta supplied it below cost, if you calculate the sum of all components.

Characteristics:	Meta Quest 3
Display	LCD
Resolution	2064×2208 per eye 1218 PPI
Update frequency	90 Hz, 120 Hz
Viewing angle	110° horizontal and 96° vertical
Optics	Pancake lenses
Lens adjustment	IPD varies from 58 mm to 71 mm
Processor	Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
Mixed reality	2 RGB cameras
Audio	Stereo speakers with 3D spatial sound
DRAM	8 GB
Drive	128-512 GB
Weight, grams	515
Hand tracking	Hybrid computer vision and machine learning sensors (4 IR cameras and 2 RGB cameras)
PC support	Meta Quest Link
Battery, mA/h	8000
Operating time, hours	About two hours depending on the load
Charging time	Approximately 2 hours with 18W power adapter
WiFi	Wi-Fi 6E
Charging interface	USB Type-C
Price, UAH.	≈23000

Snapdragon The XR2 Gen 2 supports full onboard hardware acceleration for some of the headset’s most critical tasks, offloading the CPU:

• Position tracking, which significantly reduces power consumption and latency;
• End-to-end data transmission through the camera, reducing the 50 millisecond delay to 12 milliseconds;
• Motion extrapolation.

8K video is not a problem for this platform at all. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that such a compact device can be so technologically advanced. Although lately it seems that 8 GB of RAM is becoming a bit much, especially if Meta Quest 3 also works in developer mode.

There is a problem of motion sickness and how to deal with it

Motion sickness is a fairly common problem in VR. It occurs due to a conflict between visual cues and the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance. In reality, when you move, your eyes, ears, and muscles are synchronized. In VR, you are visually “flying” or “driving”, but your body is motionless, which causes nausea, dizziness, or headaches.

This may be due to a low refresh rate (less than 90 Hz), a delay of >20 ms, artificial movement without real movement, and, of course, the user’s characteristics. From my personal experience, I can confidently say that my vestibular system has improved significantly in the first few months. Yes, this is not a quick process and you should not be upset at the first negative experience.

The vestibular system also trains and adapts. Over time, I stopped using teleportation in games, and now I can play quite cheerfully in quite mobile games for at least an hour, like the good old DOOM 3 (yes, it works autonomously on the headset), or the legendary FarCry with VR mod, which I wrote about last time. In fact, the VR headset is a real godsend for breathing new life into old games. But we will talk about this in a separate article.

Studies show that women are more susceptible to motion sickness due to hormonal factors, and children are more susceptible due to an underdeveloped vestibular system. In fast-moving games, the problem can be exacerbated. But you will never know the potential of your vestibular system until you try to “pump” itHow to do it?

• Start with short sessions (10-15 minutes), gradually increasing them
• Use comfortable modes: teleportation instead of smooth motion, static scenes, and static games;
• Adjust the pupil distance for clarity;
• Play in a well-ventilated area;
• Hardcore connoisseurs even use anti-nausea pills;
• Play with high FPS and low latency.

Studies from the 2020s show that training helps 70% of users adapt in a week. In the end, motion sickness is not a barrier, but a challenge that can be solved with the right approach.

In general, the topic of virtual reality is very voluminous and in fact — it is a separate “Matrix world” and a whole cultural layer with its own secrets and fun that you will not know until you try it. And while you are being told fairy tales about how “the technology is not ready yet” or how it is “not for everyone,” others have long been enjoying its benefits.