It was interesting to see this video pop up in the Washington Post article. I actually made it on my own time using one of the early portable Hi 8 video cameras. I I have no idea who uploaded it or how they got a copy.

We had created a "skunkworks" project to work on virtual reality at Autodesk. We had a working system with a head mounted display and a data glove that allowed you to interact with objects. Timothy Leary came by to see what we were up, and to try out the system - so I decided to film him.

I only screened the video a couple of times, the first time on a Friday night after work to an wildly eclectic group that included Stewart Brand, Ted Nelson, Todd Rundgren, and John Walker, the founder of Autodesk. Really the personification of the intersection between the Counterculture and Silicon Valley that the author talks about.

We were convinced that virtual reality was just around the corner - and it may finally now be coming true with the Oculus Rift...only 25 years later!

- John Forbes