Microscopes were originally invented/discovered in 1590’s, by a man named Zacharias Jansen and his father, who found lining up several glass lens made a magnified image. These magnifying glasses were originally used for observing fleas and other small insects, but soon developed use in the medical field for observing bacteria, observing small things during a surgery, and many other varied uses.
VR technology has been used for quite a long while, all the way back to the early 1930s, where it was used as a "Flight Simulator", to train pilots for WWII.
VR since has come a long way, now being used most notably as an entertainment device. However, VR technology is used in a variety of ways now.