Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ogicse!milton!cyberoid
From: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: Can displays be "too real"?
Message-ID: <9684@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 22 Oct 90 06:36:39 GMT
References: <9638@milton.u.washington.edu> <9680@milton.u.washington.edu>
Organization: Human Interface Technology Lab, Univ. of Wash., Seattle
Lines: 21
Approved: hitl@hardy.u.washington.edu


I'm not sure that Alex's claims -- that there is no research to show
that the experience of "presence" leads to improved behavior -- will
stand.  First, there is an extensive corpus of literature produced by
Tom Furness at Wright-Patterson AFB, during the late 1970's and 1980's,
that demonstrated that pilots DO perform better where there is a 
feeling of presence.  Second, architects and planners are well-acquainted
with the "haptic" sense, by which places are perceived and appreciated
through synergetic sensory inputs -- the so-called "whole body" experience.

"Realism" might be construed as more than better resolution of visual
images.  It might also require correct approximation of spatial
relations in several fields (visual, aural, gravity, etc.).  If the
latter interpretation holds, than current "real world systems," which
do not provide for these orientations, might not be very real at all.

Thanks for allowing me to doff my critic's hat for a moment.  Now,
back to moderation.

Bob Jacobson
Moderator