From: uselton@nas.nasa.gov (Samuel P. Uselton)
Subject: Re: Virtual Mars
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 18:04:22 GMT
Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


Some of the people in Mike McGreavy's group here at NASA Ames ARE working
on a virtual reality explorer using sattelite photo data of Mars.  Lou
Hitchner is the person who has shown me demos.  They are using a Stardent
platform and various View Lab developed displays.  

Yes it is true that un-manned exploration generates MUCH more science per
dollar spent.  I don't think you can expect it to generate the excitement
that manned flight does.  Even expanding the base of "explorers" as widely
as described in the previous post doesn't provide the same attention.
The danger and risk are part of what grabs our attention.  (How long do
you spend watching someone *else* play video games?  This would be very
similar.)  There is very little *scientific* justification for some of the
more subtle body cues described in the post.  I think that the virtual
explorers are going to be highly trained scientists (at least some graduate
work in most cases), they just won't need the physical attributes of the
astronauts.  ...but that doesn't make them good for our romanticized "hero"
images.  The equipment will be configured to give the explorer the information
needed to make judgements of "interesting to explore with the robots" (or not).
Extra stuff may find its way into one or two prototypes, for the sake of 
exploring the technology, but the sensations of landing a rocket or the sound 
of hypothesized wind over the cockpit don't really add to getting the job done.


VR lends itself to very vivid fantasies.  And they are a lot of fun.
But we are trying to find places to apply the technology to get work done
in a more efficient way than without VR technology.  When real workstations
are getting real work done, the marketing folks will get interested and 
economies of scale can help the price come down.  The work context defines
the kinds of interactions appropriate for multiple occupants, so we can
avoid (for now) the difficult philosophical and sociological issues.

Well, back to work.

Sam Uselton             uselton@nas.nasa.gov            
lurker at               NASA Ames Research Ctr.
employed by CSC         working for NASA                speaking for myself



PS Creon Levit and Steve Bryson will be giving demonstrations of the 
prototype Virtual Wind Tunnel using a head tracked, boom mounted, stereo
viewer from Fake Space Labs, at various Conferences this year.  Stop by
and say "hi".  Mention this posting and get a free....what?  Oh.  Sorry..