From: mapleson@cee.hw.ac.uk (Ian CR Mapleson)
Subject: Re: HUMAN-FACTORS: A real, customer conceived VR app
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 12:51:09 GMT
Message-ID: <Dz291A.7LF@cee.hw.ac.uk>
Organization: Dept of Computing & Electrical Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland


In article <53dum4$krs@filth.well.com> bluefire@well.com (Bob Jacobson) writes:
>Ian C R Mapleson writes,
>
>>You guys (and I basically mean all the 'professionals' posting here)
>>have never really accepted that the *largest* commercial market for VR
>>systems, especially HMDs, is the entertainment market. 
>
>Could be, Ian, but gamers have never proven ardent buyers of
>peripherals, other than joysticks. ...

We're talking about a completely different system and
requirements/demand here. No one needs an expensive peripheral for a
SNES.

> ... All these little people dinking
>along with their Playmen, Playkids, and so forth are unlikely to don
>helmets while doing their thumbwork.

Quite frankly this is a ridiculous statement to make. No one has *any*
idea what the age appeal of the N64 is going to be; games like Turok,
Quake, Doom, Red Baron, Top Gear Rally & Wild Choppers are hardly kids
games.

Your post's tone is *exactly* the kind of innacurate professional
snobbery I'm talking about (that isn't a personal jibe; it's an
industry jibe). The games industry is a $15billion market. All I'm
saying is: make use of it *properly* by producing *quality* equipment
in the first instance that's mass produced to keep the cost low. I
don't think a low quality helmet is going to succeed; producing a low
quality helmet just because one is unsure of the market is a sure way
to create a self- destructive market rejection. I won't buy a
low-quality HMD for the N64 and *every* single person I've asked has
said the same.

Gamers are becoming less stupid. As the VB showed, they will no longer
settle for something that doesn't match their expectations.

Ian.


mapleson@cee.hw.ac.uk (Ian CR Mapleson)