December 17th, 1903, 10:35 am
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
Overview
On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved the first powered, manned flight on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although the flight lasted only 12 seconds and traveled just 120 feet, it forever changed transportation, communication, and the course of modern history.
A Groundbreaking Early VR Experience
FIRST was one of CGO Studios’ earliest historical VR recreations and a groundbreaking educational experience when it was first introduced to the VR community in 2015. The project was created to let audiences truly Witness History by placing them at the site of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
Built with Smithsonian Experts
To ensure historical accuracy, CGO worked closely with leading experts from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., including Dr. Peter Jakab, Head Curator, and Dr. Tom Crouch, Senior Curator. Their guidance helped shape the recreation of the Wright Brothers’ achievement, the surrounding landscape, and the details of the historic moment.
Technology Partnership
The project was initially co-sponsored by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to showcase their prototype graphics card, later released as the Radeon R9 Fury X. CGO worked in close partnership with AMD and engineers at Oculus to optimize the experience for the Oculus Crescent Bay prototype headset, nine months before the commercial release of the Oculus Rift.
Public Debut and Reception
FIRST was first shown to journalists at AMD’s private booth at E3 in June 2015, followed by presentations at major industry events including Comic-Con, SIGGRAPH, and the Toronto International Film Festival. During this initial “summer tour,” the experience was extremely well received by major publications, including the Financial Times and Fortune, which praised the piece and named it one of the standout VR experiences of its time.
