In 1967, during a virtual reality test conducted at MIT, a malfunction in his device—the Sword of Damocles—led to an irreversible incident. An uncontrolled burst of light struck Sutherland’s retina, rendering him permanently blind. This pivotal moment marked the fracture line between science and belief, between control and collapse. The founding father of digital immersion became its first victim. From that point on, his trajectory shifted. Deprived of sight, the man of science withdrew from the academic world.
Some say he now “sees” differently—through resonance, memory, and intuition. The accident was not a failure but a revelation. By breaking away from the image, he began an inner journey—a quest in which light ceased to be a tool and became a poison. Thus emerged the idea that vision, far from being a strength, might in fact be a weakness.