Interim Technologies

There are many inventions that have existed in theory and in prototypes for hundreds of years, but they never emerged because they were in line waiting for other technologies to be developed. Leonardo da Vinci had the plans for a helicopter five hundred years ago, and it wasn't until metallurgy matured enough that it could be possible.

AI or self-driving vehicles could have been on the market fifty years ago, but there were other things in the oven that needed to be done first. Ideas and theories are easy, but prototyping depends on the availability of materials and any technologies to manufacture the materials.

The first wearable devices were prototyped in the early 90s when an interim technology was already on the market: the PC. The first PC I encountered was in about 1976, and it was used to play Pong and PacMan. So it had taken a good twenty years to get to the point where there were those kinds of peripherals that could be used for gaming. The fact that we now use computers for many other purposes is just an extremely interesting side effect. Perhaps it took the invention of VR circa 1990 to get us where we are now. That's much quicker than five hundred years.