From: John Costella Subject: ANNOUNCE: VR at the University of Melbourne Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 16:09:21 +1100 (EETDT) From: John Costella Virtual Reality at the University of Melbourne, Australia ========================================================= The University of Melbourne is currently considering the establishment of a Virtual Reality Centre, which would both provide centralised facilities for virtual worlds technology for the various research and teaching departments throughout the University, as well as coordinate the evaluation and purchasing of dedicated equipment that may be required by individual departments and research groups. To assist in the planning of the Centre, we are seeking input and information both from commercial virtual worlds hardware and software suppliers, as well as from other institutions throughout the world currently implementing virtual reality in fields of research and teaching common to those at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is a large institution by Australian standards; of moderate size by international standards (30,700 students, 1,900 academic and 2,200 non- academic staff; 91 academic departments). 1. Commerical virtual worlds technology suppliers ================================================= We are using the many sources of information about virtual worlds software and hardware products already available on-line and in print, but would welcome further input from suppliers or distributors. We aim to start the centre with a small number of low-end, PC-based products, with a view to ramping up to higher-performance and higher-volume installations as the various departments assess their needs. Of particular importance are answers to the following questions: * Who is your Australian distributor, or who do we contact? * What are your products? Their current prices? (US$ or A$) * Do you have other customers in Melbourne or Australia? * How much will it cost to ship to Melbourne? * Is product support feasible from this distance? Contact information is listed at the end of this posting. 2. Existing Virtual Reality applications in research ==================================================== We are aware of the large number of high-quality installations of virtual worlds technology in diverse fields of research, and are keen to prevent individual departments or research groups from unnecessarily "reinventing the wheel". Again, we are making use of the numerous excellent lists of information about these projects, but we would also welcome direct contact from groups with current VR research applications who may be open to proposals for collaboration, or the sharing, licensing or selling of developed applications to the University of Melbourne. The key questions are: * What projects have you developed / are developing? * Would you be interested in collaborative projects? * Are you permitted to share your experiences with us? * Would we need to license/buy products from you? How much? As a guide to the research and teaching interests of the University, I include here an abbreviated list of the academic departments and research centres in the University that may be interested in virtual worlds technology: * Accounting & Finance * Geomatics * Advanced Minerals Products * Geology * Agriculture * Glaciology * Anatomy * Graphic Design * Anthropology * Graphics * Archaeology * Health Sciences * Architecture * Higher Education * Art Conservation * History * Art Gallery * Horticulture * Behavioural Science * Industrial Plant Polymers * Biochemistry * Information Technology * Biology * Interactive Multimedia * Botany * Landscape Architecture * Building & Planning * Library Services * Business School * Manufacturing Engineering * Catchment Hydrology * Mathematics * Cell Biology * Mathematics Education * Chemical Engineering * Mechanical Engineering * Chemistry * Medicine * Civil Engineering * Mercy Hospital for Women * Clinical Pharmacology * Metallurgy * Clinical Sciences * Meteorology * Computer Engineering * Microbiology * Computer Science * Molecular Biology * Conservatorium of Music * Music * Creative Arts * Museum of Art * Criminology * Ophthalmology * Data & Statistics * Optometry * Dental Science * Otolaryngology * Early Childhood Studies * Pathology * Earth Sciences * Pharmacology * Economics & Commerce * Photonics * Education Faculty * Physics * Electrical Engineering * Physiology * Electronic Engineering * Physiotherapy * Epidemiology * Psychiatry * Environmental Engineering * Psychology * Environmental Hydrology * Signal Processing * Experimental Physiology * Statistics * Extractive Metallurgy * Surgery * Farm Planning * Surveying * Fine Arts * Therapeutics * Food Science & Engineering * Transport Research * Forestry * Urban Planning * Genetics * Veterinary Science * Geographic Info. Systems * Visual and Performing Arts * Geography * Zoology Contact Information =================== Please send information to jpc@physics.unimelb.edu.au, preferably in the form of WWW URL's of information pages on your products / projects, or else in plain text. Printed material should be sent by airmail to Dr. John P. Costella, School of Physics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, AUSTRALIA. ==================================================================== Dr John P. Costella School of Physics, The University of Melbourne jpc@physics.unimelb.edu.au http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~jpc Tel: +61 3 9344-5435 AH: +61 3 9768-9268 Fax: +61 3 9347-4783 ==================================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQCVAgUBMKL6R2rlpFIGn9BdAQGA9gP+LvQBz2mONSfp9CsC/OtY8dHwn4MumJnz jQXcT9bMEoKPfgeR31FFwf0W1+RvSMr051DOr0MNuoNbHchTs2C0TtD+VDsDiHju dN2vtaZQ4krzR52SU2LxT1ECoA5oFDBAeFapeQZ1b+PnI7e431GB5lwjz9VW//3h dh8RiziXyeM= =MUJw -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----