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VREAM

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VREAM
Information
Industry Virtual reality software
Founded 1991
Founder Edward R. LaHood
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States
Notable Personnel Edward R. LaHood (president and CEO), Ken Gaebler (vice president of sales and marketing)
Products VREAM Virtual Reality Development System, VREAM Runtime System, VRCreator, WIRL
Parent PLATINUM technology (from December 1996)


VREAM (VREAM, Inc.) was a Chicago software company that made tools for building and viewing virtual reality worlds on ordinary personal computers. Edward R. LaHood founded it in 1991.[1][2] Its VREAM Virtual Reality Development System, an authoring package for DOS-based PCs, was exhibited at SIGGRAPH 1992.[3] In the mid-1990s the company moved to the Web with WIRL, a VRML browser plug-in, and VRCreator, a VRML authoring tool.[4][5]

PLATINUM technology, a systems software vendor based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, invested in VREAM in early 1996 and acquired the whole company on 13 December 1996 in exchange for 760,383 shares of its common stock, valued at about US$10.3 million at the time.[6][7] VREAM no longer exists as an independent company.

Reviewed 7 October 2026. Checked every claim against the cited 1992-1999 sources: archived VREAM press releases, SIGGRAPH and AI Expert listings, Meckler VR'94 program, Chicago Tribune, Wired, Windows Magazine, PLATINUM SEC filings, Gaebler's account, CACM, Tech Monitor and CNET. About review dates.

History

Founding and the PC authoring system

LaHood formed VREAM in Chicago in 1991. A 1996 company profile describes him as a programmer since the age of eleven and a former management consultant at Andersen Consulting and McKinsey & Company.[1] According to a later VREAM press release, the company created VREAMScript in 1991, an open, high-level script language for representing virtual reality content, including object behaviors and cause-and-effect logic.[4] Ken Gaebler, VREAM's vice president of sales and marketing,[5] later described himself as a co-founder. He wrote that a friend first came up with the idea while he was finishing a management degree at the Yale School of Management, and he dates his own time at VREAM to 1993-1996.[8]

At the SIGGRAPH 1992 exhibition, VREAM showed the VREAM Virtual Reality Development System. The SIGGRAPH exhibitor listing describes it as an off-the-shelf virtual reality system for DOS-based PCs that let users define, enter and interact with 3D worlds in real time through a mouse-driven, point-and-click interface.[3] A 1992 vendor guide in AI Expert listed the package at US$1,495.[9] A March 1993 Chicago Tribune article on virtual reality in the office reported that LaHood, as president of VREAM, was hoping to enter the "world-building" software market that year with the US$1,495 package. The same article quoted Tom Coull, president of Sense8, whose WorldToolKit sold for US$3,500.[10]

By May 1994 the line had three parts: the Development System at US$795, a Runtime System at US$59 that let end users explore finished worlds with a joystick, mouse and keyboard, and an Advanced Runtime System at US$295 that supported every device the system handled, including head-mounted displays, 3D tracking systems and gloves.[11] At Meckler's Virtual Reality '94 conference in San Jose (11-13 May 1994), LaHood taught a half-day tutorial on VREAM 2.0 for DOS and Windows, which the program described as letting non-programmers build interactive, textured virtual worlds on a PC.[12] VREAM also bought the back cover of the January-February 1994 issue of PCVR magazine to advertise the system.[13]

Gaebler later wrote that the company's code let 386 and 486 PCs, then thought too slow for real-time 3D, author and render virtual worlds. In his account, customers used it for architectural walkthroughs, engineering simulations, data visualization and 3D games, and the market at the time was perhaps 5,000 enthusiasts worldwide.[8] VREAM said in 1995 that it had users in more than fifty countries.[2]

WIRL and VRCreator

At Mecklermedia's VRWorld '95 conference in May 1995, VREAM announced WIRL (Web Interactive Reality Layer), a 3D Web browser built on its Windows virtual reality engine. Conference visitors wore head-mounted displays with 3D trackers and moved between worlds hosted on separate Web sites, among them a virtual Wrigley Field. WIRL read VRML and added behaviors and logic beyond VRML 1.0 through VREAMScript. It used Microsoft's Reality Lab renderer, and VREAM claimed it could reach about 120,000 polygons per second on a 90 MHz Pentium.[14] On the same date, VREAM announced a paid beta program for VRCreator, the Windows successor to its authoring system, with a one-time US$1,000 fee and a production release targeted for the first quarter of 1996.[2]

The first public WIRL release (Alpha Release 1.0) came out on 24 January 1996 as a free Netscape Navigator plug-in for Windows 95 and Windows NT. A US$29 subscription added features and support.[4] The May 1996 Wired Top 10 ranked WIRL fourth among the most downloaded Winsock applications, with 2,631 downloads as of 31 January 1996 according to the Consummate Winsock Apps List.[15] In February 1996 VREAM announced UniVR (Unified Virtual Reality), a technology base meant to give all of its products a common interface and feature set and to support the Moving Worlds proposal for VRML 2.0 and Java.[16]

VRCreator 2.0, announced on 20 September 1996, was a drag-and-drop VRML 2.0 authoring tool for Windows 95 and NT, built on Microsoft's Direct3D. It came with a library of more than 1,000 objects, textures, sounds and behaviors and sold for US$99.[5] In October 1996 VREAM released WIRL 1.1 as an ActiveX control for Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, alongside the Netscape plug-in.[17] On 18 October 1996 the company announced that the ActiveX version would be included in the retail Microsoft Internet Explorer Starter Kit, and that the Netscape version shipped in the Netscape Power Pack.[18] PC Magazine gave WIRL 1.1 its Editors' Choice for VRML browsers in its 5 November 1996 issue.[19] VREAM's site also said that ATI Technologies and Matrox had agreed to bundle WIRL with their 3D graphics cards, and that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates had used a WIRL virtual shopping demo in two keynote speeches.[20]

Investment and acquisition by PLATINUM technology

Gaebler writes that VREAM was funded at first from the founders' credit cards and then raised US$750,000 from a venture capital group in November 1995, which gave the investors about a third of the company.[8] On 16 February 1996 VREAM announced an equity investment by PLATINUM technology and its affiliated fund Platinum Venture Partners. PLATINUM took an advisory seat on VREAM's board and said it planned to use VREAM's data visualization and virtual reality interface technology in its POEMS systems management console.[6] PLATINUM's later filings put its own direct purchase, made in January 1996, at 400,000 shares of VREAM Series A preferred stock for US$50,000. When the acquisition closed, Platinum Venture Partners I and II held about 17% and 22.67% of VREAM. Because several PLATINUM officers and directors had interests in those funds, a special board committee reviewed the deal and obtained a fairness opinion from an independent investment bank.[21]

PLATINUM acquired all of VREAM's outstanding stock on 13 December 1996 for 760,383 shares of common stock and assumed VREAM stock options that converted into options on 70,257 PLATINUM shares. Its 1996 annual report described VREAM as "a leading provider of virtual reality software for the World Wide Web and other interactive environments".[7] Gaebler's own account dates the sale to November 1996 and puts the price at US$10 million.[8]

Under PLATINUM

VREAM kept selling under its own name after the sale. Windows Magazine listed VRCreator 2.0 Personal Edition (US$129) and the free WIRL 2.0 browser as VREAM products in September 1997, and expected WIRL to gain VRML 2.0 support shortly.[22] PLATINUM's annual report for 1997 still listed VREAM, Inc. as an Illinois subsidiary.[23] Gaebler says he stayed at PLATINUM until September 1998.[8]

PLATINUM went on to buy other VRML developers, Intervista Software and Cosmo Software, in 1998. In early 1999 it said it would release its VRML authoring and viewing tools as open source, then laid off about 1,000 staff, including nearly all of the VRML developers from those two acquisitions.[24] On 29 March 1999 Computer Associates agreed to acquire PLATINUM in a deal valued at more than US$3.5 billion.[25]

Products

Product Introduced Platform Notes
VREAMScript 1991 Platform-independent script language VREAM's language for representing virtual reality content, including behaviors and cause-and-effect logic; files used the .VRW extension[4][14]
VREAM Virtual Reality Development System Shown at SIGGRAPH 1992 DOS PCs (version 2.0 for DOS and Windows by 1994) Point-and-click world authoring; US$1,495 in 1992, US$795 by May 1994[3][9][11][12]
VREAM Runtime System and Advanced Runtime System By 1994 DOS PCs Players for finished worlds; US$59 (joystick, mouse, keyboard) and US$295 (all supported devices, including HMDs, trackers and gloves)[11]
VRCreator Beta May 1995; version 2.0 announced September 1996 Windows, Windows NT, Windows 95 Successor authoring tool; VRCreator 2.0 supported VRML 2.0, used Direct3D and sold for US$99[2][5]
WIRL (Web Interactive Reality Layer) Announced May 1995; alpha January 1996; ActiveX October 1996 Windows 95 and NT, as a Netscape Navigator plug-in and Internet Explorer ActiveX control VRML browser with VREAMScript extensions; PC Magazine Editors' Choice, November 1996[14][4][17][19]

VREAM also ran a services practice that built custom virtual reality applications. Its site listed past and current clients including Burger King (visualization and user testing of future restaurant designs), Imagination Pilots (a virtual reality game) and Bombardier (a Sea-Doo watercraft trade show promotion).[1]

XR work

VREAM's software ran on standard PCs and could drive immersive hardware. The 1994 runtime line supported head-mounted displays, 3D trackers and gloves.[11] VRWorld '95 visitors explored WIRL worlds through tracked head-mounted displays, though the browser also worked as "desktop virtual reality" with a monitor, mouse and keyboard.[14] Researchers used the software in early clinical work. A 1997 Communications of the ACM article on virtual reality therapy for phobias said studies at Clark Atlanta University had used a PC with a low-cost headset and head tracker, mouse, joystick, data glove and VREAM software, at a total system cost under US$10,000.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "VREAM Inc. - Services". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227183823/http://www.vream.com:80/2service.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Powerful Virtual Reality Software Now Available: VREAM Ships VRCreator Beta Systems". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1995-05-31. https://web.archive.org/web/19981203083356/http://www.vream.com:80/3press_v.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "VREAM, Inc.". ACM SIGGRAPH History Archives. ACM SIGGRAPH. https://history.siggraph.org/?p=184851. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "VREAM Releases The World's First Interactive Virtual Reality Web Browser, a Plug-in for Netscape Navigator". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-01-24. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184932/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressw2.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "VRML 2.0 Authoring Tool Provides Heavy-Weight Features, Feather-Weight Price". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-09-20. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184853/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressv2.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "PLATINUM technology and Platinum Venture Partners invest in VREAM". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-02-16. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184920/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressp.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "PLATINUM technology, inc. Form 10-K405 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR). PLATINUM technology, inc.. 1997-03-31. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/825703/0000950131-97-002284.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Ken Gaebler. "Entrepreneurial Evolution". Gaebler.com. http://www.gaebler.com/Gaebler_Entrepreneurial_Evolution_2.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Julie Shaw (1992). "Virtual reality resource guide". AI Expert, vol. 7, no. 8 (sci.virtual-worlds archive copy). https://ftp.ludd.ltu.se/pub/misc/virtual-worlds/commercial/ResourceGuide-92.ref. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  10. ↑ "Virtual Reality Enters Office Landscape". Chicago Tribune. 1993-03-14. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/03/14/virtual-reality-enters-office-landscape/. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Jenny Heath (1994-05). "Virtual Reality Resource Guide". AI Expert, vol. 9, no. 5 (sci.virtual-worlds archive copy). https://ftp.ludd.ltu.se/pub/misc/virtual-worlds/commercial/VR-Resource-Guide.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Meckler VR'94, San Jose, California, May 11-13, 1994". sci.virtual-worlds archive. Meckler Corporation. 1994-04-29. https://ftp.ludd.ltu.se/pub/misc/virtual-worlds/conferences/1994/MecklerVR94. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  13. ↑ Benj Edwards (2016-05-10). "Retro Scan - VREAM Virtual Reality Development System". Vintage Computing and Gaming. https://www.vintagecomputing.com/?p=1197. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "A Market First from VREAM: Immersive Virtual Reality Hits the World Wide Web!". sci.virtual-worlds archive. VREAM, Inc.. 1995-05-31. https://ftp.ludd.ltu.se/pub/misc/virtual-worlds/commercial/VREAM_WIRL-browser. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  15. ↑ Gareth Branwyn (1996-05). "Wired Top 10: Most popular Winsock applications". Wired, issue 4.05. https://web.archive.org/web/19991018194250/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.05/top_ten.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  16. ↑ "VREAM Introduces UniVR Technology for Virtual Reality on the Web". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-02-21. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184907/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressu.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Interactive Virtual Reality Web Browser for Internet Explorer Brings New Life to the Internet". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-10. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184844/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressw3.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  18. ↑ "VREAM's WIRL Virtual Reality Web Browser to Ship with Microsoft Internet Explorer Starter Kit". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-10-18. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184827/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressw4.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "VREAM's WIRL Virtual Reality Web Browser Receives PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996-10-24. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227184817/http://www.vream.com:80/3pressw5.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  20. ↑ "VREAM Inc. - What's New!". VREAM, Inc.. VREAM, Inc.. 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/19970227183835/http://www.vream.com:80/2new.html. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  21. ↑ "PLATINUM technology, inc. Form S-1 Registration Statement". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR). PLATINUM technology, inc.. 1997-11-12. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/825703/0000950131-97-006731.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  22. ↑ James Bell (1997-09). "The Web Enters The Third Dimension". Windows Magazine. https://kaisernet.org/library/1997/0901/windo120.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  23. ↑ "PLATINUM technology, inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR). PLATINUM technology, inc.. 1998-03-16. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/825703/0000950131-98-001729.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  24. ↑ "Open Source Tools, Optimism and Worry at VRML 99". Tech Monitor. 1999-03-03. https://techmonitor.ai/?p=70273. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  25. ↑ CNET staff (1999-03-29). "CA buys Platinum in $3.5 billion deal". CNET. https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/ca-buys-platinum-in-3-5-billion-deal/. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  26. ↑ Dorothy Strickland, Larry Hodges, Max North, Suzanne Weghorst (1997-08). "Overcoming Phobias by Virtual Exposure". Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 34-39 (reprint). Association for Computing Machinery. doi:10.1145/257874.257881. https://do2learn.com/aboutus/research/phobia.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
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