Morton Heilig’s 1962 machine that combined stereoscopic film with sound, smell, and motion was called Sensorama.
Heilig designed Sensorama as a multisensory experience rather than as a computer-generated world. The device presented short prerecorded scenes through a stereoscopic display while adding stereo sound, body movement, airflow, and odors. One demonstration simulated riding a motorcycle through Brooklyn, including road vibration and city smells.
Sensorama predates modern head-mounted VR by decades. It did not track a user’s head position or render interactive computer graphics, so it is more accurately described as an early immersive simulator. Its importance lies in Heilig’s attempt to involve several senses at once.
The machine is sometimes confused with the View-Master, which displayed stereoscopic images but did not provide Sensorama’s motion, sound, and scent effects. Heilig patented Sensorama in the early 1960s, but the system did not become a mass-market product.