From: THIBOUT <106213.1654@compuserve.com>
Subject: TECH: A new generation VR software
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 08:10:46 +0100
Message-ID: <32FD7875.6B44@compuserve.com>
Organization: Sprynet News Service


Hi

I have been working on VR with Sense8 Wold Tool Kit (WRT) for about 4
years now. Beeing an alpha and beta tester of their 6th release
(during my PhD on Robotics and VR) and now a daily user of the
library, I believe I know it quite well.

I recently felt the need of a richer product, which no longer only
helps me in connecting VR goggles and animating 3d objects but that
would offer a good frame work to easily attach object oriented
behaviours to the virtual objects of the scene.

Sense8 World UP seems to provide such a frame work: you can add
classes and subclasses with beheviours inheritance mechanisms. HOwever
its Visual Basic structure doesn't allow me to link it with other
libraries as I do with WTK.

VRT Superscape is much richer for the behaviours but cannot import CAD
models and its 3D design phase is a real non industiral apporach.  All
the speed of VRT comes from the way you model your objets in order to
avoid Zbuffer (as thay do in the video games industry). Besides there
is no object oriented approach.

I don't know CALRUS EON well enough to tell anything about it.

What about dVISE ? The DIVISION web pages don't bring any info about
the technical aspects.

And there are so many VRML authoring tools here and there it's very
hard to see what could be really better.

I would appreciate any comments about your experience with VR
softwares.  I am quite sure people are no longer satisfied with just
low level tools (such as WTK) except perhaps in the educational and
research teams.

Thanks

Cyril THIBOUT
ACTIONEL


----------------------------------------------------------
Cyril THIBOUT				ACTIONEL
Virtual Reality Applications 	106213.1654@compuserve.com