From diderot@hitl.washington.edu Thu Mar 30 09:27:06 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx4.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW95.02/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA11189; Thu, 30 Mar 95 09:27:06 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx4.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW95.02/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA27568; Thu, 30 Mar 95 09:27:04 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA14530; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:22:42 -0800 Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:22:42 -0800 X-Sender: diderot@hitl.washington.edu Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: scivw@hitl.washington.edu From: Kathryn Best (by way of diderot@hitl.washington.edu (Toni Emerson)) Subject: hitl site Status: OR hi toni, I've put some things together re. the idiots guide; what is the most useful form for me to give it to you in? Word document, simple/teachtext etc etc? I'll be in the lab tomorrow afternoon, but just in case we miss each other... here's the bulk of the text. Let me know if I can make it any easier for you to get it out there! Kathryn Content for Sci.virtual-worlds: ----------------------------- "THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO VIRTUAL WORLD DESIGN" by Kathryn Best --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- "........a must for the VR bookshelf...." VR NEWS "......one of the finest introductory texts on world building to date...." Cyberedge Journal "......the first readable, intelligent discussion of design in virtual space...." Bob Jacobson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Excerpts from foreword and introduction: Virtual worlds need to be designed. The world and the experience one can have in it must be consciously shaped. So far those using virtual worlds have never been caught up and taken away by the experience. The event usually involves a bad copy of the real world, verging on the tedious, tiresome and downright boring. We need to create worlds that are worth entering - that are INVITING - and worth spending time in - that are CAPTIVATING. They should be powerful, interesting, pleasurable, a medium of expression and experience as well as a way for people to interact with each other. It is time we stopped tinkering with the equipment and started playing with the worlds. Traditional design approaches are not entirely suitable. A new model of the design process appropriate for the design medium needs to be developed. Just as the invention of film was initially seen as a way of documenting events, it took the artistic skills of the great directors to turn it into the powerful communicatuion medium it has become. This is a guide to Virtual World Design, to exploring alternatives. It is only by exploring alternatives that we can gain conviction in any paticular solution. "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And to know the place for the very first time." T S Eliot -------- REVIEWS Kathryn Best is an architect by training and a virtual worlds aficionado.....She has put together one of the finest introductory texts on world building to date.Virtual worlds don't just spring into being. People have to put some effort into planning, designing, and programming them. Choices have to be made about what hardware to use, how to structure the program, what software tools to employ. Unfortunately, too many world builders start work after they have made only those decisions. There are other decisions, the ones that Best discusses, that are really much more important. As Best says in her foreword, "We are witnessing the birth of a new medium, and a full exploration of its inherent qualities is vital". She then hits on a point that others are also starting to make, regarding the verisimilitude of virtual worlds: There is no reason for a virtual world to replicate the real world; what's the point? It is far better to use virtual worlds to explore areas and concepts that exist only in our minds, or are on scales too disparate from our own to be comprehensible. "Besides", she adds in an illustrated aside, "simulating reality creates too high a polygon count". Where the book is strong is in identifying different ways to organize information, and pointing out that our attitude, knowledge and background affect our perception. Best shows different ways to represent information, and touches on when they are appropriate and effective. One section of the book deals with objects in virtual worlds, asking what their purpose is, a question too seldom asked by world designers, in our experience. She discusses the characteristics objects may have, such as intelligence, personality, data, color, or sound. That leads to the problems and opportunities for communication in virtual worlds. Obviously sound adds greatly to an experience, but communication does not rely only on words. The locations of objects, the non-verbal noises they make, the way they relate to other objects, in short, the stories they tell, all have the potential to provide deep, rich communications. We recommend it highly, not just for novices, but for the more experienced, especially the more technical among us, who sometimes need to be shown new ways to see old ideas. Cyberedge Journal Issue #23, Sept/Oct 1994 This unpretentious little volume is a 'must' for the VR bookshelf. Its message is that attempting to copy the real world barely scratches the surface of this new medium called Virtual Reality. No-one yet knows how to begin to use it to its full potential, but here are some ways of looking at things which might not have occurred to you. Mike Bevan, VRNEWS, London Vol 3, Issue 8, Oct. 1994 Elements in a virtual world most users take for granted (and parts that designers may miss) are addressed in this fun little book. For example, why shouldn't we just simulate reality in a virtual world? How do spatial design problems apply to virtual space? And how do users communicate with each other? VR is an emerging technology with an emerging design process. This is an 'idea book' to help explore potentials of this new medium and boost new/alternative design approaches for virtual world design. Entertaining reading for the serious and the curious. Computer Literacy Bookshops New Book Bulletin, Fall 1994 Following her internship at the HIT Lab, architect Kathryn Best wrote what may be the first virtual-world primer for artists and designers. "The Idiot's Guide to Virtual World Design" is a treatise for non-techies on the aesthetic and intellectual implications and creative potential involved in composing and working in virtual spaces. Seattle Weekly, July 13, 1994 "The Idiot's Guide" is probably the first readable, intelligent discussion of design in virtual space.....Not only does it raise the questions of design that all world builders will have to confront at one time or another, but the guide does it with insight and humour that invite the general reader to participate in the adventure. The illustrations aptly enable the reader to appreciate the complexities.....The witty interpretations of common problems in spatial design as they apply to virtual worlds demonstrate that everyone, all of the time, is a virtual world builder in one's head. The future of the technology lies not with the specialist magicians but rather with the enthusiastic artist and craftperson living in each of us. "The Idiot's Guide" is destined to be an impulse-buy classic that has as much appeal for the trend seeking general reader as it has for the computer adept. Bob Jacobson, Worldesign "Virtual Worlds need to be designed". Although appartently obvious, that phrase is "lei motiv" for this interesting and enjoyble book. To date, Virtual World design has been almost alway driven by technical limitations faced by engineers and computer scientists, where in truth, it should be the kingdom of the interdisciplinary. Kathryn Best is an architect....and in the few, easily readable pages, she deals with the roles of metaphor and abstraction, mental map building and a sense of place, and how objects function within the environment. Of course, 44 pages are barely enough to define the problems, never mind actually give any answers; but very interesting design hints are not in any way lacking. ...... the book is very "readable" and full of pleasing drawings that exemplify the concepts. Heavily endorsed. Diego Montefusco, Virtual Magazine (Italy) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORDER INFORMATION: * Individual orders direct from publisher: Send check or money order for the following amount: - domestic: $12.00 inc. shipping & handling (WA orders add $1.00 sales tax) - international: $14.00 inc. shipping & handling * PUBLISHER: Little Star Press 323 Broadway E, #306, Seattle, WA 98102 USA Tel: 206-281-1205 * Premiered:1994 Meckler VR Conference and Exhibition, San Jose, CA * ISBN: 0-9641504-0-9. Soft cover, 44 pages, retail price $10.95 * CIP Data: QA76.9.H85B47 1994 006--dc20 1. Human-Computer Interaction 2. Virual Reality 3. Title ------------ BACKGROUND INFORMATION The author is an architect by training and holds a Masters degree in Computer Aided Design from Strathclyde University, Glasgow. The book is based on her experiences in developing an awareness of design-related issues as applied to virtual space, while at The Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) in Seattle. The book is 44 pages, is heavily illustrated, and explores the aesthetics of this new medium. It has proved to be successful as a basic introduction to the field, both for computer types who are unaware of the importance of design issues, and for designers who want to know how their skills can help to develop better virtual worlds. The book has also been used as an educational primer for school-aged children just starting to work with the creative aspects of computers. --------