From: bluefire@well.sf.ca.us (Bob Jacobson)
Subject: (1) EVENT: UCLA Short Course (2) INDUSTRY: Do VR events cost too much?
Originator: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 07:03:34 GMT


Crossposted from the WELL (192.132.30.2)   vr   conference, with permission


Topic 111:  VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
# 10: DAVID BLACKBURN (breeder)      Sun, Oct  4, '92  (18:55)      34 lines
 
 I just received the UCLA Short Course Catalog for the Spring and for the 3rd
 time they will be offering a 3 day course on Virtual Interface Technology.
 The course will take place from March 15-17, 1993, and will be co-taught
 by Tom Furness & William Bricken of the U of Washington HIT LAB.
 The course is broken up as follows:

       Monday Morning-
                       Intro to Virtual Interfaces
                       Historical Perspectives
 
       Monday Afternoon-
                       Human Interface Considerations
                       Human Factors Issues
 
       Tuesday Morning-
                       Virtual Interface Hardware considerations
 
       Tuesday Afternoon-
                       Virtual Interface Software Considerations
 
       Wednesday Morning-
                       Applications considerations
 
       Wednesday Afternoon-
                       Social & Ethical Considerations
                       Future Developments
                       Wrap-up & Conclusions
 
 The Fee is $1295.00 per person.
 For more info call the short course program office @ (310) 825-3344 or Fax @
 (310) 206-2815.
 
 Has anyone reading this attended one of the first 2 offerings of this Short
 Course. It would be helpful for people who are contemplating attending this
 version in March.
 
Topic 111:  VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
# 11: Joseph B. Schwartz (mcnut)      Mon, Oct  5, '92  (07:01)      20 lines
 
 $1295 ?!??! I thought you said it was Communications Access For Everybody,
 not "Communications Access is Far too Expensive."
 
 Is it just me, or are most VR-related events priced for Pentagon-sized
 budgets? I got more out of a VR panel discussion I went to at the San
 Francisco Art Institute last year (for $5 admission) than I got out of a day
 of conferences at last year's Cyber Arts show (priced at $165). The $5 event
 featured Scott Fisher and Brenda Laurel for much less than I paid to see
 them at Cyber Arts, in a better overall atmosphere. Sorry, LA, but
 Northerners are more interesting to discuss VR with, in my own experience
 (try bringing up the subject of VR in a bar down here).
 
 Back to the point: Why is everything related to VR so expensive? I know the
 technology and hardware are not cheap, but that doesn't explain the inflated
 prices of VR journals, courses, and trade shows. It's not like you get to
 take home a Silicon Graphics Iris if you sign up for this course. $1295
 should cover a semester, not 3 days. If VR education continues to be so
 expensive, VR will remain in the hands of the government and the academic
 elite, which would be a tragic waste of technology which would otherwise
 bring about an unprecedented paradigm shift in human communications.
 
Topic 111:  VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
# 12: Peter Rothman (avatarp)      Mon, Oct  5, '92  (07:24)       4 lines
 
 Actually, $1295 is fairly typical for the UCLA short courses.  These courses
 are primarily targeted for aerospace engineers in SOCAL who's companies pay
 for them to take the courses.  I know because I took several.)  Anyway what
 should be taught in a VR course?  Sounds like an idea for a new topic to me.
 
Topic 111:  VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
# 13: DAVID BLACKBURN (breeder)      Mon, Oct  5, '92  (21:16)      14 lines
 
 Mcnut,
 I agree that $1295 is an extremely expensive price to pay for hearing 2 VR
 gurus speak about state of the art aspects of VR. However, Peter is right
 that the cost of the VR short course at UCLA is basically the same as all of
 the other short courses offered by the Engineering and Computer Science Dept.
 
 Also, PLEASE don't misunderstand that the acronym "Communications Access For
 Everyone" is from The Electronic Cafe in Santa Monica, where admission to our
 VR Special Interest Group meetings have been $5.00. The Electronic Cafe has
 no link or connection to UCLA short courses.
 
 Can anyone on-line speak from first hand experience about the cost/benefit
 aspect of the previous 2  VR short courses at UCLA. Are Furness & Bricken
 presenting these short courses at any other institutions?