From PIERRE@division.demon.co.uk Mon Dec 12 05:41:21 1994 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA23197; Mon, 12 Dec 94 05:41:21 -0800 Received: from post.demon.co.uk by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA25864; Mon, 12 Dec 94 05:41:17 -0800 Received: from division.demon.co.uk by post.demon.co.uk id aa12559; 12 Dec 94 13:40 GMT Received: from charon.division.demon.co.uk by division.demon.co.uk (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA11034; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 12:57:10 GMT Received: From GEORGE/WORKQUEUE by charon.division.demon.co.uk via Charon-4.0-VROOM with IPX id 100.941212125213.352; 12 Dec 94 12:50:53 +500 Message-Id: From: Pierre duPont Organization: Division Limited To: scivw@u.washington.edu, scivwa@media.mit.edu, ukvrsig@mailbase.ac.uk, pcmike@aol.com, avatarp@well.sf.ca.us, kaugust@caip.rutgers.edu, san@well.sf.ca.us Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 12:52:11 Subject: PRESS RELEASE: VR Training Program for Disabled Reply-To: dupontp@division.demon.co.uk X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail/Windows (v1.11a) Priority: A Status: OR Virtual Reality Training Program Aims at Independent Travel for Disabled Division's VR system simulates bus travel Dayton, Ohio -- 12 December 1994 -- Virtual reality technology from Division is helping disabled students learn how to use public transportation for greater independence. Students with disabilities have traditionally relied on others for transportation -- parents, friends and school district buses. With practice, however, these students can use public transportation to extend their reach. The Train to Travel project, sponsored by the University of Dayton (UD) Research Institute in cooperation with the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority (RTA), substitutes virtual reality bus rides for the real thing. Students build confidence and competency by taking as many rides as they need on the virtual bus. They learn independently in the classroom, eliminating the need for a teacher to accompany or follow them on real trips, which can require up to 15 hours to achieve the same level of accomplishment. The virtual bus rides offer a "rendition of the scenery that is realistic enough for the students to recognize landmarks when they take the real bus ride," says Lyn Mowafy, project director and associate research psychologist in the aerospace mechanics division's human engineering group at the UD Research Institute.. The virtual rides are also safe -- students can't get lost trying to make a downtown connection and there are no strangers on the virtual bus. Carla Lakatos, director of marketing and planning for RTA, says that the RTA and the transit industry can benefit by using this system to meet the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). "If individuals with disabilities are able to use the fixed route bus service, then the more costly door-to-door services required by ADA can be reserved for those who truly need them," she says. Division's dVISE interactive authoring software was used to create the virtual environment, which runs under the company's dVS virtual world operating system. The ability to display realistic images that respond instantly to user input is provided by Division's ProVision 100 VPX virtual reality system. The Train to Travel project mixes multimedia presentations with virtual reality training. "We feel we've come up with a total training system that pushes cutting-edge technology to the limits," Mowafy says. Basic bus skills are taught using interactive multimedia. In this portion of the program, students learn to recognize landmarks and what to do in case of an emergency, for example. When they've mastered those skills, they progress to the virtual reality environment, wearing a head-mounted display system with head tracking so they can look around the computer-generated landscape. The virtual reality bus route extends from Dunbar High School to the UD campus. This is a route taken by Dayton Public School students with multiple disabilities who work on campus. They see each of the landmarks on the virtual bus ride, learning the appropriate action to take at each site. When they see Sinclair Community College buildings outside the virtual window, they know they need to start looking for the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant, where they will transfer from one bus to another. They know the ride is coming to an end when they see the Montgomery County Fairgrounds and Frisch's Big Boy restaurant on the corner. Both landmarks are clues that UD's Miriam Hall is just up the street, and when they see the college building, it's time to get off the bus. Proof of the concept was presented to the project sponsors in September. "The students really took to the program," says Mowafy. "They seemed very comfortable with the technology and had little trouble grasping the virtual environment. We believe we are going to see real results." The ProVision 100 VPX is a fully integrated VR system combining stereo graphics, 3D sound and low-latency interactivity. VPX graphics in the ProVision 100 are based on Pixel-PlanesOE technology developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and licensed to Division. The Division Group of companies specializes in providing virtual reality technology, products, and services for professional virtual reality applications. Headquartered in Bristol, England, Division has US offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, San Diego, Calif., and Redwood City, Calif., and a major distributor in Japan. The company has sold integrated virtual reality systems and services to a world-wide customer base of professional users that includes British Telecommunications plc, GTE, Nynex, Glaxo, DoD, DRA, Virtual World Entertainment, McDonnell Douglas, NASA, and Matsushita. Its shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. contacts: Doug Schiff, VP Marketing, Division Incorporated, Chapel Hill, NC +1 919 968-7797 schiffd@division.com Pierre duPont, Marketing Director, Division Limited, Bristol, UK +44 454 615554 dupontp@division.demon.co.uk ============================================================= email: dupontp@division.demon.co.uk Pierre duPont phone: +44 454 615554 Marketing Director fax: +44 454 615532 Division Limited 19 Apex Court, Woodlands, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4JT UK