HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: "Andrew Longhorn (Vac Scholar)" <Andrew.Longhorn@cs.anu.edu.au>
Subject: TECH: high resolution 3D imaging
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 05:01:06 GMT



I thought I would ask this, Does anyone know if much progress/work/theorising
has been done on 3D depth mapping?

What I am trying to get a phrase for is some sort of system that you point
at something and it returns a 2d map of z-values corresponding to the distance
from the sensor of the first thing it hits. (sort of like a 2d version of
those fish sensor things they use in fishing), y'know, they point it downwards
beneath the boat and get something like:

.
 .              ,    ,
  .. .                      .
    . .......... .... ...... .
                              .

where: , - is possible fish schools.

Anyway, what I need is some system for determining the distance to objects
within about a 100 degree cone (or sq. base pyramid) eminating from the
sensor location:

                X     <- sensor
               / \
              /   \
             /     \
            /       \     <- sensor range and area
           / ....... \
          /..       ..\
          ..         ..
            .........

Hopefully returning a 2d grid with the distance information. so if you point
it down at a table with a block on it you may get something like:

 11 10 10 10  9 10 10 10 10 11
 11 10 10 10  9  6 10 10 10 11
 11 10 10  6  5  6  6 10 10 11
 11 10  6  6  5  6  6 10 10 11    <- the cube is closer to the sensor than
 11 10 10  6  5  6  6  6 10 11       the table, so it registers a lower value
 11 10 10  6  5  6  6 10 10 11
 11 10 10 10  5 10 10 10 10 11
 11 10 10 10  9 10 10 10 10 11
 11 10 10 10  9 10 10 10 10 11

  ^           ^              ^  -- these would probably be caused by the
                                   point-cone nature of the sensor.

Anyway, you all get what I mean. I'd imagine this sort of thing would be
really helpful in robot/computer vision systems, and other areas.

ANY leads on technology like this, ranging from heresay/legend to prices and
distributors, would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Andrew

andrewl@cs.anu.edu.au
From: joro@panix.com (Joe Rosen)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INDUSTRY: FLASH! "VPL is dead, long live VPL . . ."
Date: 12 Dec 92 19:41:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec13.030255.13787
Organization: Panix, NYC
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



"golly-gee-whiz"

     paul levinson of the new school for social research in NYC wrote a
paper that eloquently summarizes this phenomenon:

                              TOY MIRROR ART

"toy" phase bein' the gee-whiz time...

     using the development of motion pictures as a parallel -- early arcade
nickelodian viewers...

"mirror" begins to use the medium to model "real-world" entities (early
motion pictures often consisted of nothing but images of moving trains [images
which solicited cries of fear -- because of their "never before seen intense
realism" -- from the audience)...

     finally, a medium matures to its "art" phase -- where the unique-ness
of a new form of expression begins to become refined, defined, and developed
via complex content oriented works...

"virtual reality" seems to be following the same course (as outlined by
levinson and others) as so many new media have before it.
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
From: chadwell@utkvx2.utk.edu (Chadwell, Leonard)
Subject: Re: TECH: Neural Interfacing
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:05:00 GMT


In article <1992Dec11.053410.29965@u.washington.edu>, kahn@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Ke
n Kahn) writes...
> 
>I recall seeing a film in the 70s (this was before video tape) of an SRI demo
>which could distinguish about a dozen mental states (that people could be
>train to put themselves into).  Someone with a helmet was thinking to control
>a cursor in a maze (up, down, left, right).  It was a neat demo.  Low
>bandwidth though.  About 2 or 3 bits per second. Maybe 15 years later Fujitsu
>will go somewhere with this.  I've been surprised that I haven't heard any
>followups, at least for the severely handicapped.
> 
> -ken kahn
Stanford Research Institute (SRI) DID have this.  Lawrence Pinneo did the
research, and it was even reported in Time Magazine in 1974 (I think).  If
you consider the advances made not only in computers, but also electronics,
since 1974.......A new version of this should be able to do an awful lot more
than the 7 commands the old version did.  If anyone can get SRI to release 
the data on this experiment, get it to me pronto.....

CHADWELL@UTKVX.UTK.EDU
From: tipjrb@cupid.cc.bellcore.com (berard,john)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: INFO?: SURVEY on Virtual Reality
Date: 13 Dec 92 08:02:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec14.014602.6749
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



This questionaire comes form a graduate student doing research on the
social implications of VR technology.  If you'd like, you can post a 
response here, to me, or you can fax to:

    ATTN: Dinky Newman
          (201)647-3518

1.  Which industry do you think will first integrate VR into regular
    day to day public use?

         Medical
         Entertainment
         Education
         General Business
         other (please name)

2.  To you personally, which industry has the most exciting potential
    application for VR?

    (same choices as question 1)

3.  Do you as a copmuter software developer/user have concerns regarding
    the social impact that VR will have on the public? (yes/no)

4.  Do you fell that VR will create an "information gap" between
    the various social and economic classes? (yes/no)

5. Do corporations and developers have a social responsiblility
    in bringing Vr to the public domain?  (yes/no)

6.  Who should be responsible for monitoring the accuracy of information
    presented in a VR application?

         Government
         audience or user
         creator/author
         industry
         other (please name)

7.  Do you feel that experiencing VR will enhance or detract from the 
    learning process of small children?  (enhance/detract)

8.  Of the above questions, please choose one and elaborate.

Thanks for your time and input!

John Berard
tipjrb@cc.bellcore.com

for Dinky Newman Grad Student Multi-Media Studies
From: kai@nada.kth.se (Kai-Mikael Jdd-Aro)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: EVENT FLASH! Stockholm Multi-G live Internet feed, Dec 18th!
Date: 10 Dec 92 09:43:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec16.201923.925
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



FLASH! LIVE MULTI-G NEWSFEED! FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18th!
----------------------------------------------------

The 5th MultiG workshop will be broadcast over the Internet.  Those
who wish to listen and watch should use software known as sd (Session
Directory) and vat (visual audio tool - I'm not sure if this runs on
other platforms than Sparcs, but you could try).  Both these are
available for anonymous ftp at 

        ee.lbl.gov [128.3.112.20] 

as 

        /sd.tar.Z and /vat.tar.Z

For video reception you should use nv, which is available at 

        parcftp.xerox.com [13.1.64.94] 
in

        /pub/net-research/nv.tar.Z

No particular hardware is needed for video reception.

The workshop will take place between 9:00 and 18:00 MET (GMT+1), the
session will be titled MultiG5.
From: rnm@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Marsanyi)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INDUSTRY: FLASH! "VPL is dead, long live VPL . . ."
Date: 13 Dec 92 00:20:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec13.030354.14182
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



>do you seriously expect a scheme that
requires people to dress up like bug-eyed beings from outer space in
order to even get started on their real and important work to be a
long-term success?  And if so, why?<

Not a rebuttal, a mild-mannered comment: musical instrument manufacturers
have been making such assumptions for years.  Do you seriously expect a
scheme that requires (aspiring musicians) to (spend twenty years of their
lives learning how to rub horsehair over catgut while holding a
strangely-shaped wooden box under their noses) in order to even get started
on their real and important work to be a long-term success?  Yes, as
experience bears out.  Not everyone wants to be a violinist, but if you do
the work, you get the results.

--rbt
From: jpc@tauon.ph.unimelb.edu.au (John Costella)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: INFO: FASA / Battletech info sought
Date: 12 Dec 92 22:39:34 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec13.030219.13510
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


> > I am seeking contact info for the crowd that creates the Battletech
> 
> They do not have an internet, or other, electronic address; however, they do
> have other things.
> 
> Phone; USA (312) 243-6515
> 
> Virtual World Entertainment
> 1100 W. Cermak
> Suite B404
> Chicago, IL  60608

Thanks Tom.

I gather, from another post, that this company was just eaten by
a Disney-related company. Does anyone know where the techos that
actually design / build the things are in the new structure (if
they are still on the payroll :)?

Thanks again in advance, and to those who have kindly supplied
pieces of information already. (Will try and consolidate it for
further edification.)

John

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John P. Costella              School of Physics, The University of Melbourne
jpc@tauon.ph.unimelb.edu.au         Tel: +61 3 543-7795, Fax: +61 3 347-4783
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: altman@cryton.demon.co.uk (Hugo Fiennes)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: TECH: Amiga VR?
Date: 10 Dec 92 17:08:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: cryton.724007331snx
Organization: The Serial Port
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



In article <10DEC199201131290@trentu.ca> tsullivan@trentu.ca writes:

>   For $5000 you can get a 486-33 with an i860 math coprocessor which will 
>give you as much computing power as your average Cray. That would be more 
>than enough for any home-VR app you could think of. You culd probably rig 
>it up with a 24-bit graphics card and you'd be set, making the Amiga with a 
>video-toaster look like a toy (no flames, please! This isn't in the realm 
>of PC/Amiga war, rather co-processor power!)
>
>   Tim Sullivan
>   tsullivan@trentu.ca
>   cstes@blaze.trentu.ca
>
Erm, a single i860 is *no way* a cray-on-a-chip. Still orders of magnitude
away. 

Hugo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     "Did I say that? My lips didn't move..."
Hugo Fiennes - The Serial Port                      altman@cryton.demon.co.uk
                                                or altman@cix.compulink.co.uk
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
From: diego@minerva.st.dsi.unimi.it (Diego Montefusco)
Subject: Sci-VW: Re: APPS: Gesture recognition using simple statistics (DataGlov
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 23:17:22 GMT


In <9212130312.AA01235@ghost.dsi.unimi.it>, on Dec 12, I wrote:

> There has recently been a doctoral dissertation here at my University
> about a dinamic gesture recognition, using backprop. neural nets.
> It was showed recognizing 15 dinamic gestures from Italian Sign Language
> and making the words be pronunced by a voice synth.
> It was able to recognize gestures from various people, not just the one
> who trained the system.
> 
> Diego

Since more than one asked me for details and references, I can tell that
the thesis is in italian, and that there is an article, again in italian,
he wrote for a computer magazine, describing his work.
If anyone reads italian... let me know.
In the meantime, I'll try to track him down to ask if he has anything about
it in english, and if he's available for further discussion on the topic (maybe
for sci.virtual-worlds.apps!)

Diego


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Diego Montefusco                        B E W A R E ! !
  Via Pirano, 4                        PLEASE REPLY ME TO:
  20127 Milano                    montefus@ghost.dsi.unimi.it
    ITALIA                           (not to the account
phone:  +2  27001467                 I'm e-mailing from!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jpc@tauon.ph.unimelb.edu.au (John Costella)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: PHIL: MUDs and Reality (Long Theory)
Date: 19 Dec 92 22:29:42 GMT
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


> From: portal!cup.portal.com!Tagi@uunet.UU.NET
> Subject: PHIL: MUDs and Reality (Long Theory)
> 
> It has come to my attention that some people hold rather
> tightly to the notion of a 'real world' or 'real life' (RL),
> and that this is often distinguished from places known as MUDs
> or things known as 'virtual worlds'.
> 
> through socratic dialogue with a few MUD philosophers, came to develop
> a theory which uses the model of the MUD for modern psychology/mysticism.
> Below is the present form of this theory, and I'd appreciate any feedback
> that might be offered.  Review, comments and disputation are
> enthusiastically requested.
> 
> ------------------------------------
> The MUD as a Basis for Western Mysticism
> by Thyagi NagaSiva

Great. A manifesto. We're well on the way to a new pseudo-science.

A new prophet ... L. Ron NagaSiva. You saw it first here, folks.

> Books proving inspirational to this essay included:
> 
> Modern Scientific Views of Mysticism
> _The Tao of Physics_, by Fritjof Capra, Bantam, 1980
> 
> _The Dancing Wu Li Masters_, by Gary Zukav, Bantam, 1980.

Ah, so here's the source of this pseudo-scientific clap-trap.
Hey, L. Ron, I thought you said you'd given up reading this
sort of gee-whiz-golly-gosh crap. You couldn't be pulling 
our cranks here, could you? Noo ... 

John

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John P. Costella              School of Physics, The University of Melbourne
jpc@tauon.ph.unimelb.edu.au         Tel: +61 3 543-7795, Fax: +61 3 347-4783
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
From: Andy Kossowsky           <AKOSSOWSKY@TURBO.kean.edu>
Subject: Re: PHIL: VR and RL: Beginning a Philosophical Consortium
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 23:42:28 GMT


Wasn't it Richard Bach who said:
"A wise man believes only half of what he sees.
A Master knows WHICH half."
From: diego@minerva.st.dsi.unimi.it (Diego Montefusco)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: TECH: Amiga VR?
Date: 12 Dec 92 23:17:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec13.030335.14070
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


In <9212100953.AA29805@ghost.dsi.unimi.it>, on Dec 9, you wrote:

In article <1992Dec9.203314.29551@u.washington.edu>, spittman@nyx.cs.du.edu
 (Steve Pittman) writes...
>In article <1992Dec2.200114.4156@wvnvms.wvnet.edu> un040367@wvnvms.wvnet.
>du writes:
>>
>>        I was just wondering, does anyone know if any software is
>>available via FTP or otherwise for Amiga VR applications, such as a
>>PowerGlove controller and or software that makes use of it?  How about
>>the Sega glasses?  Anything else I may have no idea about?
>
>If you're getting a PC for VR applications, my advice is not to do it.
>There may be more software, etc. for the PC, but, hardware-wise, from what
>I've seen, the Amiga is much better equipped for VR.  I was recently
>looking around in an Amiga store, and they had an A2000 (I think) set up
>w/a Video Toaster, etc, and the WHOLE setup was like, $5000...the VT is
>expensive as hell, from what I hear, but the stuff they added was like,
>the controller equipment for the VT, and a processor upgrade (to
>68030)....so I'm sure you could get a damn good (graphics-wise) Amiga for
>about the same price as a PC that couldn't do as much graphics-wise...
>

SURE! You'll do a lot of real-time wipes, transitions and video effects:
the VT is a VIDEO EFFECTS device, born for post-production TV studios!!!
Not actually the right VR device... sorry!

Diego


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Diego Montefusco                        B E W A R E ! !
  Via Pirano, 4                        PLEASE REPLY ME TO:
  20127 Milano                    montefus@ghost.dsi.unimi.it
    ITALIA                           (not to the account
phone:  +2  27001467                 I'm e-mailing from!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: D_NIBBY@UNHH.UNH.EDU (Dana   Nibby)
Subject: PUBL: buddha...book...mindmachines
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 21:50:47 GMT


********************************
********************************
For sale: "Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman?" book by Judith
Hopper and Dick Teresi. This book is a good intro to mind
machines, brain toys, and other methods of consciousness 
alteration. 8 1/2 X 11, 255 pages. I want to sell the rest
of my copies (all brand new). Cover price is $16.95.
I'm selling them for $10 postpaid in the U.S. only. To reserve
a copy, send e-mail to: d_nibby@unhh.unh.edu
I'll send you a table of contents and ordering info.

* No overseas orders, U.S. only.
* To the person from INDIA who ordered the book: I NEED YOUR
  MAILING ADDRESS

[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Commercial postings are offered on sci.virtual-worlds
as a public service.  Their appearance here does not necessarily indicate
endorsement by the moderators or by the USENET or its administrators. --
Mark A. DeLoura]
From: 100113.2636@CompuServe.COM (Jeremy Thompson)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: VR Research Directory
Date: 19 Dec 92 10:30:00 GMT
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


Meckler are publishing the above book in early 1993 with the aim of providing 
accurate information on R&D underway worldwide in the VR field. The book is 
supported by many leading researchers from the US, Europe and Japan. I 
understand that there is some VR research underway at Yale, and I would like 
to include information on this in the Directory. Could you let me know details
by December 21st at latest, please.
Jeremy Thompson, Editor
100113.2636@compuserve.com
Fax: +44 252 517625

Entries include: Full postal address, phone/fax/email nos, key researchers' 
names, research start/completion dates, areas of interest, current research, 
collaborative partners, budget, sponsors, literature prepared by researchers, 
facilities available, researchers' skills, etc etc.

[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Commercial postings are offered on sci.virtual-worlds
as a public service.  Their appearance here does not necessarily indicate
endorsement by the moderators or by the USENET or its administrators. --
Mark A. DeLoura]
From: jet@nas.nasa.gov (J. Eric Townsend)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: TECH: Amiga VR?
Date: 11 Dec 92 20:55:43 GMT
Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation, NASA Ames
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


"langston" == Mark C. Langston <langston@memstvx1.memst.edu> writes:

langston> information.  NASA uses Toasters to produce their rendered
langston> videos, the Toaster has been used to produce special effects

Where?  Not at this site.  I'm sure one or two places might use them
for the occasional title or such, but when you've got VGX's et al
lying around, one doesn't bother with the Toaster.  (Don't get me
wrong, I'm a big toaster fan, but I doubt that that many NASA sites
bother with a Toaster.)

langston> a VR game show on Nickelodeon

This is a cool show, all readers of sci.v-r should watch this one or
two times.  Contestants can run around this big "video-game" and hit
hot-spots to gain points/awards.  I thought, however, that the show
used Mandala on an Amiga.  Anybody know the facts?
--
             J. Eric Townsend --  jet@nas.nasa.gov -- 415.604.4311
              '92 R100R, DoD# 0378, BMWMOA, AMA, ACLU, EFF, CPSR
                                "HotHead Rules!"
From: DAVIDB%CITADEL.BITNET@uwavm.u.washington.edu (Bob David)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: CFP: Association for Applied Interactive Media, 2nd annual conf
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:54:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec18.165952.8455
Organization: University of Washington
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu


        AAIM - Association for Applied Interactive Multimedia
                         will host its

                   SECOND  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE

                               on

              MULTIMEDIA  IN  EDUCATION  & INDUSTRY

                  "PROMISES AND CHALLENGES"

                      July 29-31, 1993

                             in

                Historic Savannah, Georgia

Instructions:

        The following information must be included in a 1-3 page brief:
- Name, Affiliation and Address of each presenter (limit 2 for registration
        fee waiver)
- Phone Number and Email address and FAX of person submitting proposal
- Presentation Title
- Short Abstract (50 words or less) for promotional use
- Presentation type: Research, Panel, Demonstration, Lecture, Skill training
- Duration - 45 min, 1.5 hrs, 3 hrs, full day (accepting 3 day preconference
         workshop proposals)
- Technology area - Hardware, Software, Networking, VR, Allied health etc.
- Anticipated Audience level - Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, All.
- Equipment needs.  (NO PROMISES)

PLEASE SEND PAPERS & PRESENTATION PROPOSALS TO:
   Dr. Carl Helms, Director
   Educational Information Technology Laboratory (EITL)
   Clemson University
   Box 34190
   Clemson, South Carolina
   cwhelms@clemson.clemson.edu

   Ph:  (803) 656-0623
  FAX:  (803) 656-1202

IMPORTANT DATES:

        Proposal submission deadline:  March 15, 1993
        Acceptance Notification:  April 15, 1993
        ASCII Submission for Proceedings (on diskette):  May 15, 1993
        Pre-Conference Workshops:  July 26 - 28
        Conference:  July 29 - 31, 1993

I will be glad to respond to any questions you may have about our association
and about our 1993 event.

  -  Bob David   davidb@citadel.edu    (803) 737-9429
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
From: bradw@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Brad Wyble)
Subject: TECH/INFO?: Mac interface for PG (HiRes mode)
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 01:59:25 GMT


Hmmmm, well I don't suppose anyone knows where I can get a HI-RES Mac
powerglove interface.  The one generally available is NOT Hi Res (i.e.
doesn't utilize the glove as a glove) so any info would be
appreciated.
From: rich@scs.leeds.ac.uk (R Drew)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: INFO?: Prescence Journal query.
Date: 11 Dec 92 16:40:34 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec12.041751.17104
Organization: School of Computer Studies, University of Leeds
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



Hi,
        I would like to obtain some information about the Presence journal.
I have written to them (snail mail) but I have had no reply. Does anyone know
if there is an email address which I can use to contact them?

Thanks in advance,

Richard Drew (rich@uk.ac.leeds.scs)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
From: vonnegut@athena.mit.edu (Kate Bergeron)
Subject: TECH/INFO?: 6D spatial sensors
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 20:13:04 GMT




        I am looking for 6D spatial sensors (small) and would like any
        information that you might have.  This should not include either
        The Bird or Polyhemus sensors.  What do you like about them, what 
        don't you like and what have your experiences been?

        Please respond to the following address:  bam@media-lab.media.mit.edu

        Kate Bergeron
        vonnegut@athena.mit.edu