From: Pierre duPont Subject: ANNOUNCE: Immersive VR across the Ocean Date: December 1, 1995 PRESS RELEASE Division Demonstrates First Off-the-shelf Commercial Software To Run Multi-User, Immersive Virtual Reality Over Standard Networks Demonstration shows potential of "collaborative virtual engineering" using ISDN or Internet connections. BOSTON, Mass., November 30, 1995 -- Division Inc. presented today the world's first multi-user, immersive virtual reality (VR) demonstration using standard Internet links and off-the-shelf commercial technology. The demonstration shows the continued progress of VR as a serious business tool. The two participants in the demonstration, one at the Computer Graphics Expo in London and the other at the VRWorld '95 event in Boston, worked together in a real-world design and engineering environment, handing objects back and forth between one another. Each participant was equipped with a fully immersive head-mounted display and a 3D "flying mouse" used as an input device. "The demonstration proves that serious applications of VR can be carried out by multiple users over a standard Internet connection," says Doug Schiff, vice president of marketing for Division Inc. The products used in the demonstration are the same as those used by Division's customers worldwide, including Ford, McDonnell Douglas, Bechtel, EDS, Glaxo-Wellcome and British Aerospace. "Many of these companies are now considering the multi-user capabilities of Division's software for collaborative virtual engineering from sites throughout the world," says Schiff. Participants in the demonstration used a standard version of Division's dVISE virtual world authoring software and dVS run-time software. The software ran on a standard Hewlett- Packard UNIX workstation. Each workstation included a single ISDN link and the two links were connected through the worldwide ISDN telephone carrier network. The capability to run multi-user, immersive VR is a key feature of Division's recently released dVISE 3.0 software. "The biggest market for VR is in non-entertainment applications such as design and engineering," says Carl Machover, president of Machover Associates, a computer graphics consultant company based in White Plains, N.Y. "Division has taken a major step forward with an off-the-shelf product that allows fully immersive VR for multiple users over the Internet. There is tremendous potential for virtual collaborative design and engineering within and between companies with different sites around the world." This viewpoint is echoed by Elly Marsh of EDS: "EDS has customers all over the world -- in more than 80 countries. We see tremendous opportunity in creating VR environments where our customers can work collaboratively." Professor Bob Stone of Europe's leading VR application specialists Intelligent Systems Solutions added: "By producing an easy-to-set-up, off-the-shelf product for multi-user immersive VR across the Internet, Division has done something truly unique. In the engineering industry, we've seen a broad need for such a product." Division Inc. develops and markets virtual reality systems for professional applications. The company has U.S. headquarters in Chapel Hill, N.C. Division also has U.S. offices in San Diego, Calif., Redwood City, Calif., and Detroit, Mich., as well as offices and distributors worldwide. Division customers include Bechtel, Ford, McDonnell Douglas, EDS, NASA, Nynex, DoD, Glaxo-Wellcome, Matsushita, GEC, British Telecom, GTE and Sandia National Labs. ### For more information, contact: 1. Doug Schiff, Division Inc, Chapel Hill, NC: +1 919-968-7797, dbs@division.com 2. Pierre duPont, Division Limited, Bristol, UK: +44 1454 615554, realvr@division.co.uk 3. Bob Cramblitt, Bramblitt & Company, Chapel Hill, NC: +1 919-481-4599, cramco@interpath.com Technical note: The software command used to start the system at the Boston end was simply: dvise -N miranda@division.co.uk:8000 which told dVISE to run a networked session with another system called miranda. A similar but reverse command was issued at the UK end. Any Internet or dedicated connection would suffice for establishing the link; for a useful immersive session, a single 56kbaud channel is a sensible minimum. Division has tested sessions of up to 10 simultaneous users using Ethernet-class interconnections. Demonstration offer for existing customers: Division facilities in the US and the UK are available as the 'remote' side for any dVS/dVISE sites which would like to test these multi-user capabilities. Please contact Division to arrange this.