From: Ian Mapleson Subject: HUMAN-FACTORS: Re: Children, VR, and home entertainment Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 11:29:28 -0500 Message-ID: <199611291629.LAA03207@gamers.org> Marc Bernatchez writes: > We don't "patronize the public" here. They are clever enough to make their > own decisions about the comments we bring up. The public is clever? Heh, a man who has faith... ;D > ... The > influence an HMD could have on kids in their 8 to 15 years old. ... I'm interested in this too. See sig ref. Btw, research or no, millions of people will be exposing themselves to high-quality CG images (ie. far better than the producable the any typical home PC) by the end of next year via the use of the Nintendo64 and 3DOM2. With or without a HMD, such viewing has side effects (my focus is on long-period exposure. There are people out there who will play for *hours* at a time). Remember: a HMD is not necessary to get side effects from CG images. > Unfortunately no, I don't know of any studies that could support this > idea. What brings me to think that it could happen is based on some reading > I have made in the first months of my master research way back. ... The physical process you describe sounds perfectly plausible to me. A comment about something else though... > ... This would sort off proof > that such factors could disrupt the normal growth of the visual system of > young people still in their growth. ... Bare in mind that what is 'normal' in a culture can change. If intellectual short-visual-range activities are on the increase then that's just the way things are - the typical visual abilities of this new cultural config will become the new norm. I'm not convinced labelling peoples' development as non-normal is very useful when human health is affected so much by what one is expected to do every day (and by what one *chooses* to do). It suggests something is wrong with a person; but if society activities result in such changes then that's just tough cookies on the old norms. It might be a shame that people loose good long-range vision, but in terms of modern-day survival abilities such changes may be necessary as one is expected to use one's eyes for close-range tasks more and more (office, TV, books, etc.) Roll on bionic peepers... :) (this was a comment made earlier by someone else perhaps): >> have certain rules to respect. One of these is to protect the >> public. That should be the number one priority of any one in the VR >> field reading this. At the end of the day, the person who must take ultimate responsibility for the use of an HMD is the HMD user her/himself. No matter how good the industry makes VR systems, people will *always* get side effects, physical and/or mental. One day, those who've posted here will probably be satisfied with the resolution, frame rate, etc. of VR systems as they move towards better designs (laser helmets, optic nerve taps, etc.) But even with a *perfect* vision system, there are other effects that have nothing to do with the physical aspects of the helmet: flashbacks, dreams, behavioural changes, fear/fright/panic, etc. VR manufacturers obviously must strive to make their designs better and safer, but the only person who is finally responsible for side effects is the HMD user. In the long term (20 years), I think this will become more important as the focus of HMD discussions moves away from physically related topics caused by sub-human-vision-quality HMD systems. > Then again you amplify the context way out of its boundaries. I never > implied or accused people of not respecting these factors. I said it > "should" be the no.1 priority...if it already is the case, well... fine! To be honest, if quality of vision was no. 1, I'd ban many existing PC-level HMDs. :D When I see 'public'-level VR on display on TV (often a news item or some techy documentary), it mostly looks like utter tosh: usually flat shaded, low frame rate, low resolution, low-quality head tracked, low field of view imagery. It's a shame that the public are exposed to this when 'real' VR can be so stunning: http://doomgate.gamers.org/dhs/tmp/s/gis.jpg (movies available at a later date) > One last note, I really want to reassure people, I'm a HMD lover and I will > do all I can to promote their use. ... Don't worry, some of us knew this was the case. People can confuse safety concerns with suppresionist paranoia. Here's the summary from my 1994 dissertation (BSc) on playing Doom: ************************ The author wishes to state that, despite all the "side effects" which one can experience from playing 'Doom', this in no way diminishes the enjoyment gained from playing the game; ie. the author does not wish this dissertation to be taken as an argument that advanced computer games should be restricted or even banned; indeed, the author wishes to help in the development of more advanced computer graphics, if possible. The author has merely argued that, due to the possibility of adverse reactions to "side effects" in certain individuals, it is desirable that the public be aware of these effects when playing such games and that further research be carried out into the nature of such effects. Though the author is quoted in the 'USA Today' article, given in Appendix I, as saying, 'Doom is visually, emotionally, perceptually and mentally the most gripping computer game made to date,", games such as 'Doom' are just the beginning; further research needs to be done. ************************ Anyone who's seen 'Turok the Dinosaur Hunter' on the N64 will probably appreciate the above (compare it to Doom). > ... This use must be moderated by some > criteria like it's the case of any tools we use in our everyday life. If > HMDs are well designed and used, they are one of the most effective way to > provide high Immersion VR worlds. Definitely. I think, in the long term, self-moderation is going to become more important though. A theoretically perfect human-vision-quality HMD (eg. effective resolution of 115000x115000 at 300fps optic nerve tap via skin-surface-mounted socket) is still going to fry peoples' brains if they abuse it (play VR Aliens VII for 12 hours non stop and die from a heart attack [weak heart] from fear/fright/panic). Don't think I'm joking either - when I asked Gibson what he thought advanced VR would be used for, his immediate response was 'Military torture.' He might always lean towards the gloomy outlook, but he's probably right... > Nevertheless, my best regards to you and all the other member of this community Likewise! :) One minor point: whatever researchers do, the public will get their hands on HMDs if they want them. If not from one country, then from another. My hope is that the industry strives for quality and that those in the know try to exploit the very latest and best of techniques to make the best possible helmets (UK MoD recently claimed factor of 100 drop in cost of producing HMD LCD screens. Has this info even been communicated to people in the industry?). If, with currently available commercial technology, it isn't possible to make a HMD that the industry feels is 'safe' enough, then the HMD shouldn't be made IMO - wait until technology improves. Unfortunately, it's amazing how low-quality a visual experience the public is willing to put up with... Ian. The Doom Help Service (DHS): http://doomgate.gamers.org/dhs/ FutureTech Reference List: http://doomgate.gamers.org/dhs/tmp/s/futrtech.txt SGI Network Admin, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England, PR1 2HE. mapleson@gamers.org | Tel: (+44 -0) 1772 893297, Fax: (+44 -0) 1772 892913 "There is no magic, only stuff." - Nakor, "The King's Buccaneer" (R.E. Feist)