VPL Research

VPL Research was one of the first companies in history that developed and sold virtual reality products. It was founded by VR pioneer Jaron Lanier in 1984. VPL started in the corner of Lanier's cottage in the San Francisco Bay Area. "VPL" stood for "Visual Programming Languages", and Lanier said that the goal of the company was to create a visual programming language to bring programming to a mass audience.

Products

The Data Glove

This device originally started as an input system for computers. It was later used for virtual reality systems. Thomas Zimmerman invented the prototype of the Data Glove and began looking for other people to help work on it. The device was using 6502 microcontrollers. Zimmerman met Mitch Altman and asked him to join VPL part-time because Altman knew how to program the microcontrollers.

The system was wired to a computer. It was interactive and contained fiber-optic bundles to track movements and orientation. That data would then be transmitted to the computer so that the information could be duplicated virtually. It allowed for people to manipulate and re-orient virtual objects. Applications for this wearable device centered on input computer control, gaming, and also the potential for remote surgery.

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Viipuri Province

The Viipuri Province (Finnish: Viipurin lääni, commonly abbreviated Vpl, Swedish: Viborgs län or Wiborgs län) was a province of Finland from 1812 to 1945.

History

The predecessor of the province was Vyborg Governorate, which was established in 1744 from territories ceded by the Swedish Empire to Russia in 1721 (Treaty of Nystad) and in 1743 (Treaty of Åbo). These territories originated as parts of the County of Viborg and Nyslott and Kexholm County in 1721, and parts of the County of Savolax and Kymmenegård in 1743. The governorate was also known as Old Finland.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and other parties against Napoleonic France. However, following the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France. In 1808, supported by France, Russia successfully challenged Swedish control over Finland in the Finnish War. In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland east of the Torne River to Russia. The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and were reconstituted into the autonomic Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian Tsar as Grand Duke.