Around 1991-92, fresh out of high school. Took a date to a movie at the theater at the mall (high class, right?) and the US Army (I think) had some kind of DARPA assisted recruiting demo thing... I guess. They had a battlefield VR setup with a rig you strap into with rollers or something for a floor, and very 'Doc Brown' looking VR goggles... Anyway, they had extra sets of goggles for spectators to watch, as well as a flattened version of the operators view up on a quad pane video panel. Before I got my chance behind a pair of spectators VR goggles, I was looking around at the equipment running this amazing setup. Huge bundles of cables running from box to box to widget to thingy, and back behind a black clothed panel stood three full SGI racks, with a smaller one (desksides?) at each side. The demo was a full 360 degree environment built from actual photos or video. Absolutely mind blown into another (Infinite) Reality. I was total in awe from that moment on.
Years later (1998?), Boeing Wichita's surplus store had a teal Indigo2, and an Indy on the shelf. I bought both for a combined $400. Indys are a gateway drug, just look at me now.
