What was the name of Ivan Sutherland’s 1968 head-mounted display, often called the first VR system?

Ivan Sutherland’s 1968 head-mounted display was called The Sword of Damocles.

Created at Harvard University with student Bob Sproull, the system displayed simple wireframe computer graphics that changed as the user moved. A mechanical arm suspended the heavy headset from the ceiling, which led to its memorable nickname.

The device was not a consumer product and could not render realistic scenes. Its graphics were basic geometric shapes, but it demonstrated important ideas used in later VR: head tracking, stereoscopic displays, and computer-generated viewpoints.

People sometimes identify later commercial headsets as the first VR system because they were easier to use. The Sword of Damocles is instead usually described as the first head-mounted display connected to an interactive computer-generated environment.