A Scientometric History of IEEE VR

As of IEEE VR 2023, there have been 30 installments of the IEEE Virtual Reality conference (VR) or its predecessor, the Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (VRAIS). As such, it seems an opportune time to reflect on the intellectual history of the conference, and by extension, the VR research community. This article uses scientometric techniques to undertake such an intellectual history, using co-word analysis and citation analysis to identify core themes and trends in VR research over time. We identify the papers that have stood the test of time, the most esteemed authors and researchers in the IEEE VR community, and the topics that have shaped our field to date.