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From: mcinnis@lll-crg.llnl.gov ( James McInnis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: AmigaVision on CNN today!!  Watch it!
Message-ID: <87813@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
Date: 13 Dec 90 18:21:45 GMT
References: <1990Dec9.203048.7679@unlv.edu> <1990Dec09.210816.20342@hoss.unl.e <16392@cbmvax.commodore.com>
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In article <16392@cbmvax.commodore.com> bj@cbmvax.commodore.com (Brian Jackson) writes:
>du>
>Reply-To: bj@cbmvax.commodore.com (Brian Jackson)
>Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
>Lines: 37
>
>In article <1990Dec09.210816.20342@hoss.unl.edu> 252u3130@fergvax.unl.edu (Phil Dietz) writes:
>>ans talked about it being driven by two multitasking computers.  But any
>>amigan could see, that the two computers that were driving it were
>>A2000's without keyboards.....  :-)
>> 
>I take this to mean that there is one Amiga (an A2x00) coordinating
>things and that the "accessory" computers are not Amigas. I only saw
>the one unit (and I just reran the tape here about 5 times :))

Here's some info on the Amiga's role in Atlanta's 1996 Summer Olympics
presentation...

Excerpt from Computer Graphics World Dec. 1990
(Reprinted without permission.)

     While the Georgia Tech team combined the capabilities of several
different pieces of hardware to create the multimedia presentation,
only one machine stands out as the star of the delivery system: the Amiga
2500.
     The Amiga was chosen for the delivery system because it can
control the multiple inputs and outputs needed in a multimedia
presentation such as this without slowing down. "This machine was
*designed* to put on a high-impact, video presentation like this," says
[Frank] Vitz. "It has a great, real-time operating system that's
capable of doing at lot of things at once that most PCs are not. The
Amiga actually controls the entire presentation."
     Amiga notable and principal of Blue Ribbon Soundworks (Atlanta)
Todor Fay wrote the software that controls the Olympics presentation.
At the heart of the presentation is the cube-shaped interaction system,
which includes the computer-generated, touch-sensitive,
three-dimensional map of the proposed Olympic village. The translucent
map is lit from below by a projection system, controlled by the Amiga,
that uses graphics generated by a Mac IIcx. Because of the raised
buildings molded into the map, conventional conductive areas or
infrared beams couldn't be used in the touch-activated display.
Instead, an Amiga-controlled, single-board computer in the cube,
programmed by Georgia Tech's Andy Quay and Mike Sinclair, recognizes
the four corners of the surface and registering the exact location of
the input. From this information, the single-board computer calculates
the center of force to determine what information the user would like
to see and sends the information to the Amiga. The Amiga sits behind
the three projection screens and receives these signals through its
RS-232 port.
     The entire presentaion is accompanied by classical music composed
and generated on the Amiga by Melissa Grey, another prinicpal of Blue
Ribbon Soundworks. "It's not digital music, in the sense that it
dosen't sound like digital music," says Edwin Huang, a consultant with
the company. "It is music composed on the Amiga using [Blue Ribbons]
Bars&Pipes program and generated by a Proteus synthesizer."...
     In addition to the music, all of the narration in this
presentation is digitally stored and played on the Amiga. Although
users can currently choose between English and French versions of the
presentation, Vitz says that the system can be programmed for other
languages as well.

Jim