VREAM
| Private | |
| Industry | Software |
| Fate | Acquired by Platinum Technology Inc. |
| Successor | Platinum Technology |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Defunct | November 1, 1996 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
|
Key people
|
Edward R. LaHood (Founder and CEO) Ken Gaebler (Co-Founder) Dan Malven (Co-Founder) |
VREAM, Inc. was a US technology company that functioned between 1991 and 1996. It was one of the first companies to develop PC-based software for authoring and viewing virtual reality (VR) environments.
The company was founded in Chicago in 1991 by former McKinsey & Company consultant Edward R. LaHood, who derived the name VREAM from the phrase "virtual reality dream." LaHood was joined by co-founders Ken Gaebler. and Dan Malven in 1993.
In 1991, LaHood created VREAMScript, a scripting language for virtual reality environments that allowed for the definition of complex 3D objects, environment attributes, object attributes, and triggers for cause-and-effect relationships. The company then created a PC-based authoring tool, the VREAM Virtual Reality Development System, to build virtual reality environments and an accompanying runtime player, the VREAM Runtime System, that allowed end users to experience the virtual environments, moving through them in real-time while interacting with the rendered, virtual objects.
The VREAM Virtual Reality System, which included the VREAM Virtual Reality Development System and the VREAM Runtime System, was released for purchase in December, 1992, with a $1,495 price point and with support for a wide range of immersive devices, including the Power Glove.
Prior to 1992, rendering real-time 3D graphics had only been possible on high-end workstations, and creating a real-time 3D graphics simulation required strong programming skills. The growing power of PCs, driven by such innovations as the Pentium chip (introduced by Intel in March 1993), made bringing virtual reality simulations to the PC a possibility, and LaHood's strong programming skills allowed him to be first to market with a PC-based virtual reality authoring solution that could be used by non-programmers. (LaHood was not, however, the first to bring virtual reality to the PC; that credit goes to Sense8 founders Patrice Gelband and Eric Gullichsen who, earlier in 1992, introduced WorldToolKit, a VR programmer's library that allowed developers to build "virtual world" applications that ran on desktop computers.)
Due to its accessibility to non-programmers and those who could not afford high-end workstations, VREAM's software quickly became popular in the hobbyist virtual reality community. It was used for architectural walkthroughs, manufacturing training, game development, engineering prototyping, data visualization and other simulations. The software was even used in the treatment of fear of public speaking, acrophobia and male erectile disorder.
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