From: "Linda Jacobson" Subject: Re: HUMAN-FACTORS: Immersion Studies Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 18:24:07 -0700 On Oct 2, 10:00am, Ed Lantz wrote: > Mainstream VR businesses have always been very sucessfull at, well, demos. > Linda J. listed a number of websites reporting sucessful VR > applications. I have not surfed all these sites, but would have to > ask - how many of these applications are demos? Not a one! That's why I listed them--that's what this debate is about. Anyway, the list of VR *demos* of which I know is indeed an overwhelming one. If anyone is interested in receiving a list of Web sites that describe VR system demos and prototypes, e-mail me. > How many are successful demos of a system which works fine, but are performing > a task which can be accomplished cheaper and easier by conventional (or non-VR) means? None. > How many of these applications are selling like > hotcakes? These are questions that a pragmatist must ask. They're not supposed to sell like hotcakes. Not everyone needs 'em, and few can cook 'em up right. We're nothing if not pragmatists here in the Silicon Graphics kitchen. By the way, Ed, you mentioned the first CyberArts conference. I co-produced that conference in 1990 (and its successors, in '91 and '92), and my first book, __CyberArts: Exploring Art & Technology__ (Miller-Freeman, 1992) chronicles the first two events, from the perspectives of the participants. Now *that's* selling like hotcakes. Check it out: http://www.mfi.com/mf-books/CyberArts.html. > Look at the visual requirements of VisSim systems. Ultra-wide FOV. > Medium to high resolution. What other applications require these > things? Large screen entertainment systems, perhaps. But what else? > Who is crying out for a wider monitor? Where is the demand for > immersive environments? We are stuck with a solution looking for a > problem! Certainly that was the lament of the VR development community five years ago, but in my view, that's not the case anymore. Example: Check out the Panoram Technologies site at www.panoramtech.com to see a large-screen, real-time projection VR system--the GVR-120-- for manufacturing design and engineering reviews, urban planning, real estate development, and the like. http://www.panoramtech.com. It's 120-degrees FOV, which is not acceptable for vis-sim apps. It's solving many problems (and increasing productivity) for CADCENTRE in Great Britain. I hope the work I do helps point out to people the problems they previously couldn't articulate, much less solve, until VR tech came along to solve those problems. > Yes, engineering CAD can use wide FOV displays for immersive > visualization (they just don't know it yet). Gosh, I think they do. Have you checked out where CATIA is going? Pro/ENGINEER? SDRC? PTC? All heading for immersion support. > Our fixation on HMD technology as "true VR" is in some ways > holding back the advance of VE technologies, in my opinion. Three cheers for Myron Krueger and his anti-encumbrance mission! Rah, rah, rah, Linda J. Silicon Graphics