Virtuality is a line of virtual reality gaming machines that could be found in arcades and 'Virtuality Centres' in the 1990s and are still for sale and private hire.

There are two types of cabinet, or ‘pod’ - one where the player stands up (SU), the other where they sit down (SD) - they key point of both being the head-mounted display (the 'Visette') containing two LCD screens, at a resolution of 276x372, four speakers and a microphone. The SU units have a circle of waist-height sensors and a free-moving joystick (the 'Space Joystick'); the SD design has the player sitting down with joysticks, a steering wheel, or yoke for control.

The stereoscopic display reacts to head movements, the position of the joystick controls movement of the player's virtual hand, and a button on the joystick moves the player forwards in the game arena.

1000 Series

Introduced in October 1991, and powered by an Amiga 3000, the 1000CS and 1000SD have a distinctive helmet comprising a brightly coloured front panel with 'VIRTUALITY' embossed across it.

1000CS games

• Dactyl Nightmare - Multiplayer map with several levels and platforms; grenade launcher weapons and pterodactyl enemy.
• Grid Busters - Robot shoot-em-up.
• Hero - Locked door puzzle.
• Legend Quest - Fantasy adventure.
• VTOL – A Harrier Jump Jet simulator.

1000SD games

• Battlesphere – Space battle.
• Exorex – Robot warriors.
• Total Destruction – Stock car racing.

2000 Series

The 2000SU and SD models were introduced in 1994, powered by an Intel 486-PC. They have several more games, including Dactyl Nightmare 2 - Race For The Eggs! and Pac-Man VR.

There was also a 3000 series.

Company

Created by W. Industries (later renamed Virtuality Limited) based in Leicester, United Kingdom, Virtuality was sold to Cybermind UK in a bankruptcy deal, and was then sold to Arcadian Virtual Reality L.L.C. in 2004.

References

External links

• Arcadian Virtual Reality LLC—the current owner of Virtuality
• Arcade History—where all the above games can be found
• Cybermind—nice overview of the different systems