Sega VR

Overview

The success of the Genesis prompted Sega to invest heavily in the creation of new accessories for the hardware in an effort to boost sales even further. One of the many R&D projects announced by Sega was Sega VR, a virtual reality headset based on IDEO technology. The display provided internal LCD screens, stereo headphones, and sensors capable of detecting inertia, which allowed the device to track head movements.

Unfortunately, due to negative reactions to consumer testing and poor quality assurance results, the headset never passed the prototype stage. Initially planned for release in 1994 with several games developed specifically for the system, the Sega VR completely vanished after being shown at consumer electronics shows in 1993. Sega claimed it halted development on the device because the experience was so real most users would actually end up hurting themselves, but it's more likely that this was a lie, and the technology inflicted problems common to head-mounted virtual reality displays, including neck pain, nausea, disorientation, and headaches. Due to the interest in virtual reality technology at the time, Sega's development of the headset sparked a flurry of activity along the same lines among the company's competitors, but no other completed device was ever sold.