Eric Howlett
Eric Mayorga Howlett (December 27, 1926 – December 11, 2011) was the inventor of the LEEP (Large Expanse Extra Perspective), extreme wide-angle stereoscopic optics used in photographic and virtual reality systems.
According to Wayne Carlson, professor of design at Ohio State University:
"The Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system was designed by Eric Howlett in 1979 and provides the basis for most of the current virtual reality helmets available today. The combined system gave a very wide field of view stereoscopic image. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth [field of view] in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned [used] for the NASA Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation) by Scott Fisher."
Howlett was born in Miami, Florida, and raised on Long Island, New York, where he attended the progressive Roslyn High School. His mother, Margaret Mayorga, was the author of A Short History of the American Drama, which had been her master’s thesis and which became a standard reference in libraries. She originated and edited The Best One-Act Plays of 19xx, an annual series published variously by Dodd, Mead & Company, Samuel French and Little Brown from 1937 to 1961. Eric had no siblings and was encouraged very early by his mother who recognized his talent in math and science. She moved several times to ensure he would attend the best public school available at that time. As a senior in high school he was one of 40 Westinghouse Science Talent Search finalists, meeting Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House in 1944. He also received a full scholarship from Grumman Aircraft to any college or university in the country. He chose MIT, but left to serve in the US Navy from 1944 to 1946, returning to MIT and graduating in 1949 with a BSc in Physics.
