In 1962, cinematographer Morton Heilig invented a machine he called the Sensorama, which was:
an immersive 3-D virtual reality motorbike ride, in a form factor resembling an arcade game. Heilig saw Sensorama as the future of cinema, an immersive experience, complete with nine different fans to simulate the wind blowing on the user’s face, vibrating seat (to simulate driving over cobblestones), and the aromas of jasmine and hibiscus as the driver passed a flower garden, or the smell of baking pizza as one passed by an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.
This predecessor of all modern virtual reality devices died a quiet death, when Heilig couldn't get funding.