Thomas A. Furness on impact innovation, VR and the metaverse
Tom Furness has been thinking about virtual reality longer than most VR users have been alive. He built some of the first helmet-mounted displays for the US Air Force, and what would become the Super Cockpit. Leaving the military, he helped found the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, and created the non-profit, educational association, the Virtual World Society. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, an electrical engineer and a pioneer in the field of VR. He is known as the 'grandfather of VR' because he has been working on VR since the 1960s.