HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bobp@hal.com (Bob Pendleton)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: SCI: Vr and Psychology
Date: 13 Nov 92 15:30:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov14.012000.12527
Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Inc.
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


>From article <1992Nov13.024239.22415@u.washington.edu>, by BWOOD@TrentU.ca:
> 
>         re: Bob Pendleton's question of ethics and childhood VR experiments:
> 
>         Again 
>         I must ask whether it has become ethically acceptable to take small
> children to the movies, to let them watch cartoons all morning, to let them
> play Nintendo all day . . . . since most of our day to day worlds are 
> "virtual" anyway, what's ethical and what's not? It seems to me that if 
> we have ethical problems with VR and kids then we ought to be dealing with
> a host of other issues about virtual spaces and children. Instead, we're
> bringing TV's and computers in to the classroom: the classroom has thuz
> become a way to prepare children for the virtuality of their adult lives.
> In this case, why not VR?

Let's get the subject correct before we start arguing about different
problems. :-) 

The posting I was responding to used the word "infant" not "small
children." "Infant" has a precise technical definition.  "Small child"
does not. Secondly, there is a very large difference between vr and
saturday morning cartoons. The difference is full immersion.

As to the rest of what you said, I have 2 "small children" ages 8 and
6. I don't let them see movies I don't approve of, we don't own a
Nintendo. We did own a 2600 (it's still in a box somewhere) but it was
"lost" when I saw what effect just a few days of video games had on my
son when he was very young. And, until recently, I selected which
saturday morning cartoons they watched.

BTW, you ignored the oldest vr, books.

Because so much of todays world is "virtual" responsible parents must
decide WHICH virtual world their children grow up in. 

As a "small child" (age 3 or 4) I tied a towel around my neck,
declared myself to be Superman climbed up on the arm of the couch and
leaped, fully expecting to fly around the room. I saw my 4 year old
son do the same thing only he leaped down a flight of stairs. There
was quite a scandal in the '40s about kids being killed in falls after
seeing Superman cartoons...

I had only seen Superman cartoons in theaters. My son had seen
cartoons on TV. What happens to kids who spend hours in a full
immersion VR where they CAN fly and they CAN walk in front of moving
cars?

I'm sure we will find out when home vr systems become available and
irresponsible parents find that the "vr" is a better baby sitter than
nintendo or tv.

Again, I ask, can anyone out there come up with a justification for
placing and infant in a full immersion vr?

                                Bob P.

-- 
Bob Pendleton             | As an engineer I hate to hear:
bobp@hal.com              |   1) You've earned an "I told you so."
Speaking only for myself. |   2) Our customers don't do that.
                   <<< Odin, after the well of Mimir. >>>
From: wex@spdcc.com (Alan Wexelblat)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: APPS: VR and education
Date: 5 Nov 92 17:32:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov6.034229.4328
Organization: Electric Blue Lighting
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


[Shameless self-promotion mode ON]
The HITLab education project is reported on in a chapter in my forthcoming book
"Virtual Reality: Applications and Explorations" which should be out from
Academic Press early next year.

-- 
--Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker and Cyberspace Bard
Electric Blue Lighting                          wex@spdcc.com
Voice: 617-661-1159, Pager: 617-945-1842        wexelblat.chi@xerox.com
"'Bambi' is a state of mind"
From: george@northwest.Berkeley.EDU
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO: Virtual Reality Group (VRG)
Date: 7 Nov 92 03:09:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov7.071128.15640
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, CA
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


In article <1992Nov6.034148.4196@u.washington.edu>,
m14494@mwvm.mitre.org (Mike White) writes:
|> 
|> Chirag N. Shah writes:
|> > I have heard about a company called Virtual Reality Group (VRG) which
|> > presumedly manufactures HMDs with resolutions upto 1280x1024.  Could
|> > anybody who is aware of this get me their address/ph# ?
|> 
|> The Virtual Reality Group
|> 800 Follin Lane, Suite 270
|> Vienna, VA 22180
|> (703)242-0030 (voice)
|> (703)242-5220 (fax)
|> 
|> Contact: Christopher Lewis
|> 
|> HMD specs:
|> Image source: 1" monophosphor CRTs
|> Sync: NTSC High res, VGA, 1290x1024 (per eye) workstation
|> Refresh rate: 60 Hz
|> HMD weight: 3 lbs
|> Power: 100 watts
|> Pupil res: 2 arc seconds per pixel
|> Pupil brightness: 25 foot-lamberts
|> Pupil diameter: 12mm
|> IPD adjustment: 62-74mm
|> Eye relief: 26mm
|> Monocular FOV: 50 degrees diagonal
|> Overlap positions: 35%, 67.5%, 100%
|> 
|> The above info is from a spec sheet I picked up at a demo.  I have no 
|> connection with VRG.  
|> 
|> ************************
|> * These are my opinions only.*
|> ************************


I have not had a chance to call VRG, but no HMDs currently have 1280X1024
resolution especially in a 1" CRT.  Correct me if I am wrong.

-george
From: jlb31348@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jim Brain)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: TECH: Curtis Extendo Cables?
Date: 6 Nov 92 16:55:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov7.015718.7018
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


jheadley@dvorak.amd.com (James Headley) writes:


>In article <1992Nov5.025222.17094@u.washington.edu> fester@parnasus.dell.com (G
e
>orge Ludwig) writes:
>>
>>I've been looking all over for a Curtis Extendo cable so I don't have
>>to hack my PG to pieces, but alas I cannot locate this elusive piece
>>of cabling. Does anyone have a # for a mail order house where I can
>>get one? I've been putting off PG experiments too long (waiting for
>>the PGSI box to materialize) and I cannot wait any longer.
>>
>>George Ludwig
>>fester@parnasus.dell.com
>>"Reality is the only word in the language that should always be used
>>in quotes." - TKK

>ditto! (on all points)

>James H.

>/---------------------------------------------------------------------\
>|"Alright, so it's impossible. How long will it take?",  - Forbidden  |
>|                                                            Planet   |
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------<
>| There's a remote possibility that these words are mine but, they are| 
>>----------------------------------\   definitely not my employers.   |
>|    jheadley@dvorak.amd.com       |                                  |
>\__________________________________^----------------------------------/

iI know, I know.  And I am sorry, but I can help you out.  The cable is made 
by NUBY, Inc. and I will post another followup article with the number to call
the prices are very good.  I believe something like 5.68 for two cables.  
Anyway, I am not sure how they handle single purchases, so play it like
a company.  I did.

As for the availability, you should nag me more about these things.  Then I
can print out your mail and shove it at the SIGARCH members faces.  

Sort of a (light a candle under their butt type of thing) nice way of getting
them motivated.

Jim  Brain
 
-- 
Jim Brain                           "If you build it, they will come."
brain@cs.uiuc.edu
Senior, Computer Engineering                                    Field of Dreams
PowerGlove Serial Interface Designer and Co-Project Leader.
From: bobp@hal.com (Bob Pendleton)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: SCI: Vr and Psychology
Date: 11 Nov 92 15:01:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov12.021855.23075
Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Inc.
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


>From article <1992Nov11.035356.17050@u.washington.edu>, by copley-devon@CS.YALE
.EDU (Devon Copley):

> I wonder, then, how infants WOULD react to virtual reality, if
> exposed to it before they've formed many of their conceptions of
> the way the world REALLY works.  Many questions come to mind.
> Would hightened, simulated reality speed an infants understanding
> of actual reality, or interfere with it because it requires a level
> of abstraction out of the child's reach?  What if you present very
> young children with virtual reality that DOESN'T rely on paradigms
> from actual reality?  What shape could such an "illogical reality"
> take?  And do they make powergloves in extra-small?

This whole discussion raises serious questions about the ethics of
such an experiment. Can anyone come up with a situation in which it
would be ethically acceptable to expose an infant to a distorted
virtual reality?


                                Bob P.
-- 
Bob Pendleton             | As an engineer I hate to hear:
bobp@hal.com              |   1) You've earned an "I told you so."
Speaking only for myself. |   2) Our customers don't do that.
                   <<< Odin, after the well of Mimir. >>>
From: jim@baroque.Stanford.EDU (James Helman)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO: Virtual Reality Group (VRG)
Date: 10 Nov 92 08:55:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: baroque.JIM.92Nov10005552
Organization: Stanford University
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


In article <1992Nov7.070350.15211@u.washington.edu> george@northwest.Berkeley.ED
U writes:

   I have not had a chance to call VRG, but no HMDs currently
   have 1280X1024 resoltion especially in a 1" CRT.  Correct
   me if I am wrong.

Ditch the shadow mask and high resolution is merely a matter
of focus and control of the electron beam, as both Kaiser and
Tektronix demonstrated last week at the I/ITSEC visual
simulation conference.

Kaiser Electro Optics' new 1024x1280 monochrome HMD is one of
the best I've seen.  Compared with VRG's, I found Kaiser's
lighter, easier to align, and having better overlap and
optical design.  In addition, it uses half-silvered optics
which image at infinity, so removing the cowling allows
see-through superposition of computer graphics on the real
world.  (Kaiser: Calsbad, CA, 619.438.9255).

Tektronix was at the show demonstrating their field sequential
color monitors in 1", 7" and 9" sizes (640x480).  These use a
monochrome montior to sequentially display red, green and
blue.  The 1" needs some work, but the color saturation of
these monitors leaves shadow mask tubes in a gray cloud of
dust.  The clarity and sharpness are also much higher than on
shadow mask tubes of comparable resolution.  No more dots of
RGB triads.  Simply beautiful.  Obviously, the 1" version will
find effective use in HMDs.

-jim

Jim Helman                                      SGI:  (415) 390-1151
jimh@surreal.asd.sgi.com                        FAX:  (415) 591-8165
jim@KAOS.stanford.edu

"The power of the computer is locked behind a door with no knob."
                                                        -B. Laurel
From: george@northwest.Berkeley.EDU
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO: Virtual Reality Group (VRG)
Date: 7 Nov 92 03:09:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov7.070417.15266
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, CA
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


In article <1992Nov6.034148.4196@u.washington.edu>,
m14494@mwvm.mitre.org (Mike White) writes:
|> 
|> Chirag N. Shah writes:
|> > I have heard about a company called Virtual Reality Group (VRG) which
|> > presumedly manufactures HMDs with resolutions upto 1280x1024.  Could
|> > anybody who is aware of this get me their address/ph# ?
|> 
|> The Virtual Reality Group
|> 800 Follin Lane, Suite 270
|> Vienna, VA 22180
|> (703)242-0030 (voice)
|> (703)242-5220 (fax)
|> 
|> Contact: Christopher Lewis
|> 
|> HMD specs:
|> Image source: 1" monophosphor CRTs
|> Sync: NTSC High res, VGA, 1290x1024 (per eye) workstation
|> Refresh rate: 60 Hz
|> HMD weight: 3 lbs
|> Power: 100 watts
|> Pupil res: 2 arc seconds per pixel
|> Pupil brightness: 25 foot-lamberts
|> Pupil diameter: 12mm
|> IPD adjustment: 62-74mm
|> Eye relief: 26mm
|> Monocular FOV: 50 degrees diagonal
|> Overlap positions: 35%, 67.5%, 100%
|> 
|> The above info is from a spec sheet I picked up at a demo.  I have no 
|> connection with VRG.  
|> 
|> ************************
|> * These are my opinions only.*
|> ************************


I have not had a chance to call VRG, but no HMDs currently have 1280X1024
resolution especially in a 1" CRT.  Correct me if I am wrong.

-george
From: pension!rserling@wicat.COM (Rod Serling)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: TECH: using the "Private Eye" as an HMD
Date: 11 Nov 92 12:00:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov12.085052.12583
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



copley-devon@CS.YALE.EDU (Devon Copley) writes:

> Forgive me if this is a subject that has been brought up before.
> Some of you may be familiar with a unit called the "Private Eye",
> for the PC, which consists of a tiny Hercules-compatible(?) monitor
> which floats about an inch in front of one eye.  Would it be possible
> to hook up two of these units to a PC, one for each eye, generating
> stereo vision?  I recognize that they are monochrome (not even gray
> scale) which hardly contributes to the reality factor, but has
> anyone tried it?  Are there inherent problems with the Hercules
> hardware that make it impossible (or at least ludicrously difficult)
> to hook up two seperate Hercules devices?  Furthermore, I remember
> reading somewhere that the company that designed the private eye
> was working on a VGA-compatible version.  (Whether it was gray-
> scale or color wasn't mentioned.)  Has anyone heard anything 
> further?

There was a review of this in Mondo 2000 issue number 5.  It listed
the approx price as $495, and yes, they are working on a VGA version.
I suspect there would be a problem using two of these as that would
need two hercules graphics cards, and they would both want the save
video memory addresses...

> On an unrelated topic, I recall hearing about a Logitech 3-D
> mouse about a year ago. Is it available?  Will it sense rotation
> as well as position? How much is it?  How does it work?

I saw this mouse at Comdex, It looked like a normal mouse with some
kind of strange growth sticking outy the front, like a blue cylindar
about 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.  And there was a sort of
plastic square stuck to the front of the computer under the monitor.
 
The demo program they had running just let you draw a line in on the
monitor but in 3D, ie: you could draw in front of or behind what wat
allready there.  There were a LCD shutter glasses for passerby's to
watch with. the glasses were wireless and looked mass produced.  >From
watchig I don't think the mouse reads rotation since it read the same
on screen when a left handed person used it as right, thought I
suppose you could glue 3 of them together in a triangle and
triangulate the rotation that way, if your'e so inclined.


_|_  Internet: rserling@pension.UUCP_|_   This post was the result of _|_
_|_  At&TNet : 801 374 5788         _|_   markov chaining.            _|_
_|_  Please paste in a witty/clever/thought provoking bit here.       _|_
From: pension!rserling@wicat.COM (Rod Serling)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: TECH: PowerGlove/Sega Glasses
Date: 11 Nov 92 12:14:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov12.085141.12672
Organization: Eaters of Knowledge
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



I have had absouletly NO luck at all finding either a powerglove or
sega glasses locally, or from sega.  Can anyone suggest a mail order
house that stocks there items?


_|_  Internet: rserling@pension.UUCP_|_   This post was the result of _|_
_|_  At&TNet : 801 374 5788         _|_   markov chaining.            _|_
_|_  Please paste in a witty/clever/thought provoking bit here.       _|_
From: dstampe@psych.toronto.edu (Dave Stampe)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO?: Afordable VR
Date: 7 Nov 92 15:00:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov9.215747.10614
Organization: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


D14YC%CUNYVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu writes:
>
>On the TIME magazine article says that there is a company
>planing to put 2 486 machine to make a VIRTUAL REALITY more affordable.
>There is a possibility that individual could have their own VR machine.
>Does anybody has more information about such equipment?

Sounds like the SENSE8 system.  This (in the PC version) is two 486/50
PCs, each with a DVI card for graphics.  Cost: about $15000 (?).
Now, you can get one 486/50 and run REND386 on it.  This will give 
you fast graphics, Powerglove and stereo glasses support.  It can
also support HMDs, with a bit of programming on drivers.  Big point
in REND386's favor: it's free!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| My life is Hardware,                    |         Dave Stampe          | 
| my destiny is Software,                 | dstampe@psych.toronto.edu    |
| my CPU is Wetware...                    | dstampe@sunee.uwaterloo.ca   | 
| Am I a techno-psychologist, or just an engineer dabbling in psychology?|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: george@northwest.Berkeley.EDU
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO: Virtual Reality Group (VRG)
Date: 7 Nov 92 03:09:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov7.071101.15585
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, CA
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


In article <1992Nov6.034148.4196@u.washington.edu>,
m14494@mwvm.mitre.org (Mike White) writes:
|> 
|> Chirag N. Shah writes:
|> > I have heard about a company called Virtual Reality Group (VRG) which
|> > presumedly manufactures HMDs with resolutions upto 1280x1024.  Could
|> > anybody who is aware of this get me their address/ph# ?
|> 
|> The Virtual Reality Group
|> 800 Follin Lane, Suite 270
|> Vienna, VA 22180
|> (703)242-0030 (voice)
|> (703)242-5220 (fax)
|> 
|> Contact: Christopher Lewis
|> 
|> HMD specs:
|> Image source: 1" monophosphor CRTs
|> Sync: NTSC High res, VGA, 1290x1024 (per eye) workstation
|> Refresh rate: 60 Hz
|> HMD weight: 3 lbs
|> Power: 100 watts
|> Pupil res: 2 arc seconds per pixel
|> Pupil brightness: 25 foot-lamberts
|> Pupil diameter: 12mm
|> IPD adjustment: 62-74mm
|> Eye relief: 26mm
|> Monocular FOV: 50 degrees diagonal
|> Overlap positions: 35%, 67.5%, 100%
|> 
|> The above info is from a spec sheet I picked up at a demo.  I have no 
|> connection with VRG.  
|> 
|> ************************
|> * These are my opinions only.*
|> ************************


I have not had a chance to call VRG, but no HMDs currently have 1280X1024
resolution especially in a 1" CRT.  Correct me if I am wrong.

-george
From: gradecki@rodeo.uwyo.edu (Joseph D. Gradecki)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: PUBL: PCVR Error
Date: 8 Nov 92 21:10:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov9.220102.11221
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



For those who requested VOL 1 ISSUE 1 of PCVR during the months of October
or November 1992, please check your issue and verify that all pages are
present.  Due to a printing error, some copies are missing pages.  

Please phone or email us and we will mail you a replacement copy.  We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Joseph D. Gradecki
Publisher, PCVR

1706 Sherman Hill Rd #A
Laramie, Wyoming  82070

(307) 742 - 7675
gradecki@rodeo.uwyo.edu
From: klein@nadia.stgt.sub.org (Alexander Klein)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: PUBL: 3D-MAGAZIN
Date: 10 Nov 92 20:28:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov11.035940.18095
Organization: Stuttgart Net Systems, FRG
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



In early 1992, a new 3D-magazine was born in Germany. Our magazine (48 pages,
published quarterly, format 21 x 28cm, partly in four colors) is the first
club-independent magazine in the world dealing uniquely with all aspects of
the three-dimensional image. We publish articles about the history of stereo-
scopy, physiology and psychology of vision, scientific applications, articles
about holography, book reviews tests of stereo equipment and other news.
Our readers are amateurs as well as professionals - generally in Germany,
Switzerland and Austria.

The next issue, being published later this year, will feature an extensive
report about Virtual Reality - and of course a deatiled Photokina report.

Annual subscriptions are currently DM 52 withing Germany and DM 62 inter-
national (Sea Mail). Air Mail subscription rates are available on request,
US-$ checks are being accepted. For more information about rates and sub-
scriptions, please address yourself directly to the publisher:

     Bode Verlag GmbH
     Duernberg 2
     W-4358 Haltern 4
     Germany
     Phone +49(2364)16107
     Fax +49(2364)169273

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Alexander Klein | Editor, 3D-MAGAZIN     E-Mail: klein@nadia.stgt.sub.org |
|   ___   ____    | Tannenbergstrasse 36   CompuServe/CIS-Mail: 100041,212  |
|  /   \   |  \   | D-7000 Stuttgart 50    GEnie: A.KLEIN9                  |
From: Robert_Grant.LAX1B@xerox.com
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: TECH: Mars VR
Date: 10 Nov 92 20:59:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov11.035900.17955
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


Hi Everyone,

I've been getting quite a lot of mail in regard to my response to someone's
post about the Mars terrain data and the possibility of viewing it. This was
the first I'd heard of it, so I decided to download it and have a look. I've
been working on a basic networked flight-simulation/shoot-em-up and thought it
might be fun to use the Mars data as a surface to fly over. (It turns out that
it is too slow for a real-time application, but I was able to 'see' other craft
flying around the surface - going behind peaks, and into valleys etc).

Now in regard to what I am using to do this - NOTHING SPECIAL. A network of
RS6000 AIX workstations and X-Windows. I wrote a small program that read in the
NASA terrain data and applied the necessary scaling factors, whilst also
shading it 'realistically' :-), the output of this program is the simple format
that I currently use for my system, so I was able to read it in and display it
without much trouble. This allowed me to 'fly' over the surface.

Please note that this is not professional software or usable for research into
the surface features of Mars. It is also not the main thrust of my endeavours!
I just thought it might be entertaining :-)

Also a lot of people have asked whether I could make this software available,
and I would like to do so, however it is currently written in such a way that
it will only work on the network I have here. If people could bear with me
while I attempt to make it network transparent, I will gladly submit it to the
network.

In fact I would love to make it into a 'stone soup' kind of project here on the
internet.

Robert.

P.S. I know absolutely nothing about NASA, their projects with relation to Mars
or anything else - I just did this for a laugh!

P.P.S Bob J., is there somewhere I can put a GIF/JPEG pic of what I've got?