Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!bellcore!spectral!sjs
From: sjs@spectral.ctt.bellcore.com (Stan Switzer)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Virtual Reality
Message-ID: <18231@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 16 Nov 89 16:58:38 GMT
References: <5989@hacgate.UUCP> <589@milton.acs.washington.edu> <3600003@hpindda.HP.COM> <2058@bacchus.dec.com>
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: sjs@bellcore.com (Stan Switzer)
Organization: Bellcore
Lines: 25

In article <2058@bacchus.dec.com> klee@decwrl.dec.com writes:
> The idea is to extend the "direct manipulation" style of user interface
> to use simulated physical objects and simulated operations on those
> objects.   Using a data glove to touch/move/throw a ball drawn on your
> screen is one example.  Another is using a treadmill device to walk
> around a virtual room.  You can probably think of others.

About 8 years ago at the University of Kansas, the Biology Dept had an
apparatus to study the influence of pheromones on our favorite urban
insect pest.  The device was a large sphere mounted on bearings and
turned by perpendicularly mounted drive wheels.  The subject was
placed on top of the device and monitored with photodetectors so that
as it moved off-center, the sphere was moved to bring him back to the
top.  The "progress" of the nasty beast was collected in a file for
statistical analysis to see whether he was moving toward the bogus
seductress or was oblivious to the ersatz odor.

It'd be rather difficult to reproduce at the human scale, but it is
interesting to note that cockroaches may be the first beings to
"enjoy" the fruits of Artificial Reality.

Reach out and (artificaly) touch (a surrogate representation of)
somebody...

Stan Switzer  sjs@bellcore.com