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Why did responsiveness matter more than realistic graphics in Myron Krueger's virtual environment projects?

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early head-mounted display device — virtual reality Early head-mounted display device developed by Ivan Sutherland at Harvard University, c. 1967.

In Myron Krueger’s virtual environment projects, such as VIDEOPLACE, responsiveness was prioritized over realistic graphics because the fundamental goal of his work was to create a collaborative, interactive relationship between the human body and the computer.12

Unlike training or research simulations that focus on the user perceiving a computer-generated world, Krueger’s systems were designed to reverse this dynamic: the computer was tasked with perceiving the user’s real-world actions and translating them into immediate interactions within the virtual space. By shifting the emphasis to the system's ability to process and react to human gestures, Krueger determined that the fidelity of visual representation was less critical than the rapidity of the system's response to sensory input. This focus on interaction allowed the user to actively manipulate virtual objects rather than merely observing them, which Krueger identified as central to creating a compelling virtual reality experience.2