From: ejp@world.std.com (Eric J Pierce) Subject: EVENT: BCS/VR-Group July Mtg: Ed Hill, VR & Archeological Research Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 15:06:39 GMT Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA -------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY -------------- THE BOSTON COMPUTER SOCIETY VIRTUAL REALITY GROUP PRESENTS Photorealistic Interactive 3D Graphics in Archeological Research by Ed Hill and Learning Sites International WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 7:00 PM EST ROOM 054 (BASEMENT) MEDIA LABORATORY (BLDG E-15) MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS ______________________________________________________________________ Join the Boston Computer Society Virtual Reality Group and Ed Hill as we explore ancient Egyptian temple exquisitely modeled and rendered in real-time. This highly detailed, texture intensive virtual environment is a reconstruction of an ongoing excavation at Gebal Barkal (site B700) in the Sudan. Developed for Sense 8 and the Egyptian government, this world is designed to be more than a walkthru. Ultimately, the system as a whole is intended to function as a visual index for all archeological data for the site and will be used as a tool for research. The goal of this effort is to acheive a means of instantating bodies of knowledge in ways that will be understandable to both researchers as well as laypeople (kids who wanna have a blast). VR can be a language that, if used to its potential, will remove the barriers of specialized lexicons and different languages. Contributors to this effort: Don Sanders of Learning Sites International, got the team together, and provided the spark to get the project moving. Tim Kendall of the Egyptology Department at Museum of Fine Arts in Boston provided archeological data, drawings and authenticity consultation. Richard Morse who turned Tim's archeology into architecture. Eben Gay of ERG Engineering using Sense8's World Toolkit did all of the code and much of the coordination. Ed's 3D modelling team including Gerard Fanning, and Mark Jones made all of the models and texture maps in the environment. **** Special thanks to Intergraph and Sense 8 for putting desktop photoreal vr within the reach of mortal budgets! As well as helping us with iron and code when there was no budget. ______________________________________________________________________ MEETING DETAILS: --------------- When: Wednesday, July 10, 7:00 PM EST Location: MIT Media Lab (Building E-15) Room 054 (in basement) 20 Ames Street Cambridge, Massachusetts By T: Get off at the Kendall Square Station on the Red Line. When you come to the surface you will be at the end of Main Street where it is more like a wide bricked pedestrian area in front of the Marriot Hotel. Walking to the end of the block toward Central square, will put the Marriot on the right. The corner of the Marriot complex where Legal Seafoods is will be the corner of Main and Ames. Take a left onto Ames Street. The Media Lab is the only silver tiled building on the street and will be on your left. By Car: Ames Street runs between Main street and Memorial Drive, near Kendall Square in Cambridge. It is one-way going from Main to Memorial. Your best bet is to either look for parking near Kendall Sq. and follow walking instructions (By T) above. *OR* you could look for parking along Memorial Drive and walk up Ames Street the other way. If you're interested in coming and don't know how to get to MIT or even Cambridge, MA, instructions from all highways are available upon request via e-mail to ejp@world.std.com. ======================================================================= BCS VR Group - A Gathering of Minds for Cyberspace Development: The Group meetings are a great way to meet others who are "actually" developing Virtual Environments. Whether you have an intrest in the dicussions, would like to write code or somewhere in the middle there lots to do and talk about!!! BCS VR Group Philosophy: The purpose of the Boston Computer Society Virtual Reality Group is to provide an ongoing venue for developing virtual environments as well as a forum for bringing scientists and developers together with VR enthusiasts/potential users. Through actively exploring both the technology and its cultural implications, exposing each to the other's thoughts and ideas, and "learning from" and "sharing with" industry leaders, we can help shape the future of this medium. ====================================================================== Attention Researchers, Vendors & Others: ---------------------------------------- We have a growing membership of VR enthusiasts who would like to hear from you. Things you can do: - Put us on your mailing list, - Make a presentation at one of our meetings, - Send a video. Information received is put into our BCS monthly newsletter. Presentations need a two-month lead time for publicity. Meeting events are described in the newsletter, which goes out to several thousand BCS members. Videos are shown at each meeting. If you would like the opportunity to make contact with VR enthusiasts, contact Brenden C. Maher. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: ------------------------------ Program Director: Brenden C.Maher Speaker Requests: brenden@media.mit.edu voice: (617) 621.3309 Join the Boston Computer Society - the oldest and largest computer user group! For info: The Boston Computer Society 101 First Avenue, Suite 2 Waltham, MA 02154 Voice: (617) 290-5700 Fax: 290-7544 Be Sure To Sign Up as a- "Virtual Reallity Group Member"