From: Oren Levine Subject: TECH: SGI: 30 Hz?? Date: March 4, 1996 Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die Josh Larson-Mogal wrote > (...) > In fact, most developers of REAL applications tell us that even > RealityEngine2 is not fast enough. They don't say that it's not cheap > enough - that's implicit. Everyone, including us, would to offer a > high-performance VR machine for $10K, but it's not practical today for > those doing real work. For games, sure. Heck, the Nintendo Ultra64 > would make a great VR machine, guaranteeing 30Hz performance in > real-time simulated worlds. No, Bob, for most real applications, > people are looking past RealityEngine2 to our new InfiniteReality > visualization systems. > There's no doubt that SGI makes some of the bext hardware around for creating virtual worlds, but I think it's a mistake to imply that "REAL" applications can't be built on anything less. When did the minimum standard for immersive VR become 30Hz? The threshold of continuous motion is in the 10-15 Hz range, and regular motion pictures only run at 24Hz. We're creating what we think are "REAL" VR applications using an Intergraph TDZ-series workstation and WTK. Sure, we may not reach the graphic quality and 30Hz framerate you can get on a Reality Engine, but we are creating interesting worlds with exciting content and lots of interactivity (can't help the plug: see our Education Web page at http://world.std.com/~erg). I always thought that the interactivity was what makes VR special anyway, and not the quality of the pictures. -Oren Levine -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Oren Levine (oren@ergeng.com) -- Virtual Reality Consultant ERG Engineering, Inc. (http://world.std.com/~erg/) 2 Moore Road -- Southboro, MA 01772 USA -- +1 508 460-0529 -----------------------------------------------------------