Short answers, pulled from the story.
3D computer graphics uses a three-dimensional representation of geometric data, stored as mathematical models, to compute and render digital images. The process runs through three phases: 3D modeling to build object shapes from vertices and polygons, layout and animation to position and move objects in a scene, and rendering to calculate how light interacts with surfaces and produce a final image.
William Fetter coined the term computer graphics in 1961 to describe his work at Boeing. His label became the standard name for the entire field.
Futureworld (1976) was one of the first films to include computer animation, featuring a human face and hand that had originally appeared in the 1972 experimental short A Computer Animated Hand. That short was created by University of Utah students Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke.
The earliest known 3D graphics software for home computers is 3D Art Graphics, written by Kazumasa Mitazawa and released in June 1978 for the Apple II.
3D modeling is the process of constructing a mathematical representation of an object's shape from vertices and polygons. 3D rendering is the separate computational step that converts that model into a viewable image by simulating how light travels and interacts with surfaces.
Virtual reality surrounds the viewer with a 3D graphics environment rather than presenting it on a flat screen. The first VR headsets appeared in the late 1950s, but VR did not become widely popular until the 2000s. The Oculus, released in 2012, marked a turning point for consumer VR headsets.