From: Marjory Blumenthal Subject: IND: Report from US Natl. Academy of Sciences Meeting, 14 Jan 1992 Date: Mon, 03 Feb 92 11:42:00 EST VIRTUAL REALITY PLANNING MEETING JANUARY 14, 1991 On January 14, 1992 the Committee on Human Factors (COHF) and the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering held a planning meeting to discuss a project to develop a national agenda for virtual reality research and development. The meeting was unusually well-attended: 49 individuals from 13 government agencies, including 23 agency units, plus COHF and CSTB members from universities and companies participated. The meeting commenced with a general introduction to the National Academy complex, the kinds of projects it undertakes, and its committee procedures. A brief discussion of a working definition for virtual reality provided a baseline. Participants were divided into seven breakout groups to discuss the need for a national research and development agenda for virtual reality and to identify key issues for inclusion on such an agenda. Each breakout group was asked to focus its discussions in five general areas: scientific and technical issues, applications, priorities and scheduling, policy, and desirable committee expertise. The general consensus of participants was that a national agenda for virtual reality is a useful idea. Participants agreed that an agenda-setting project should build from a comprehensive examination of the state of virtual reality research and technology development; despite a high level of interest, understanding of what has been done and is going on is very uneven. The examination, which would provide a point of departure for the study's recommendations, would address science and technology issues, utilitarian/application, and economic issues. Meeting participants suggested that the agenda project recommend knowledge and technology goals, provide positive directions for research and technology development, identify generic cross-cutting research needs, and recommend policies to facilitate technology transfer and commercialization. The agenda project should take into consideration the wide variety of technologies and applications, perhaps providing a taxonomy of applications, addressing applications largely as illustrations of the state of the art and as motivation for different directions in research and development. [MODERATOR'S NOTES: Official policy pronouncements from government and scientific agencies in other countries would also be appreciated, in the spirit of global sharing and collegiality. Thank you, Marjory. -- Bob Jacobson]