Morton Leonard Heilig (December 22, 1926 – May 14, 1997) was an American pioneer invirtual reality (VR) technology and a filmmaker.[1] He applied hiscinematographer experience and with the help of his partner developed theSensorama over several years from 1957, patenting it in 1962.[2]
TheSensorama is big, bulky, and shaped like a 1980s era video arcade game. It was impressive for 1960s technology. The viewing cabinet gave the viewer the experience of riding a motorcycle on the streets of Brooklyn. The viewer felt the wind on their face, the vibration of the motorcycle seat, astereoscopic 3D view, and smells of the city.[3]
Heilig wanted to create “cinema of the future.”[4] The Sensorama was doomed, however, from the high costs of the filmmaking. The problem was not that the apparatus addressed the wrong senses; the business community just couldn't figure out how to sell it.[5] He was not able to find the amount of funds necessary to create new 3-D films “obtained with three 35 mm cameras mounted on the cameraman.”[6]
Heilig was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the short filmsAssembly Line (1961), which was awarded the San Giorgio Medal at the Venice Film Festival, andDestination: Man (1965), as well asThe Film Maker about the making ofThe Greatest Show on Earth. He was the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor of the feature filmOnce (1974). For theUS Information Agency, he producedWIlson Riles (1972) about the superintendent of public instruction in the state of California and served as a cinematographer onThe Entrepreneur: Malcolm Arbita. He also directed the TV seriesDiver Dan (1961). He was a production executive for the filmThey Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969).[7][8]
Morton Heilig is buried atEden Memorial Park Cemetery inMission Hills,Los Angeles, California, USA.
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