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From: dtj@sumac.cray.com (Dean Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: VR hardware questions
Message-ID: <1991Jun24.153351.13571@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 24 Jun 91 02:17:59 GMT
Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu (Human Int. Technology Lab)
Organization: University of Washington
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Since pounding on the moderator (sorry Bob!) about the lack of "reality" in
this Virtual Reality group, I realized that I have done little help the 
situation. It is now time for me to stop bitching and start working!

1. Does anybody have any idea what the cost of a plain Polhemus emitter (the
   thing on the top of the eyephones) costs all by itself, not including the
   boards, etc. that go with it? I am trying to get a handle on what it would
   cost to prototype other devices, presuming that you have bought atleast
   one "full boat" system.

2. Does anybody have any experience with drivers and interfaces to the 
   dataglove, other than through the Macintosh and "Body Electric". Someone 
   *has* to have tried to hook it up to a Sun or something like that. Even
   instances where you hit a "show-stopper" is of great help. Perhaps we
   can get a collaborative effort going for the DG like is going on with
   the PowerGlove.

3. How 'bout starting a list of scientific problems for which VR may
   serve as a "silver bullet". This group of problems does not include
   things like "flying around the Puget Sound" (sorry Bob) or entertainment 
   type problems. An example of a "silver bullet" solution would be something 
   like a flight simulator, with which a company (or government) can 
   economically and safely train and test pilots. I would also like to try 
   and keep to a minimum, the problems where VR is just an incremental 
   improvement over more traditional 3D graphics. I am talking about big 
   wins with problem solving enhancements in the realm of magnitudes.

-- 
        -Dean Johnson
         Software Berserker/Rabid-Prototyping Specialist
         Tools, Libraries, and Commands Group
         Cray Research Inc.       Eagan,MN      (612) 683-5880