From: jim@baroque.stanford.edu (James Helman)
Subject: Re: sci.vw.tech
Date: 2 Dec 91 10:55:29
Organization: Stanford University



Regarding:

        sci.virtual-worlds              general discussion
        sci.virtual-worlds.homebrew     "low-end" technical
        sci.virtual-worlds.professional "high-end" technical

The "high-end"/"low-end" distinction is one of the most artificial I
can imagine.  

In such a split, the middle, which will be the most important for the
development of VR, will fall between the cracks.  The "high-end" is
moving down.  Five years ago, if you wanted any reasonable 3D graphics
at 30Hz, you'd need a $1M flight simulator, even a year ago you'd need
a $50-$100K workstation.  Now you can get things like Division's $12K
PC boards and do 30Hz per eye at 1000 polys/frame.  Extrapolate.

In any case, does traffic on sci.virtual-worlds or the glove-list
really warrant fragmenting things into three groups?  Even two does
not appear urgent.

But if a new group must be formed, I agree with Dave Stampe's
suggestion of adding sci.virtual-worlds.tech as a forum for technical
discussions and leaving the societal, CHI, CyberSpatial and
application issues to the parent group.  Yes, there's still overlap
especially when it comes to software architectures, but I think it's a
much fairer split.

-jim

Jim Helman					Lab:  (415) 723-9127
Stanford University				FAX:  (415) 591-8165
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"The power of the computer is locked behind a door with no knob."
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