From: lance@motcsd.csd.mot.com (lance.norskog)
Subject: Re: Virtuous Worlds (Was Re: Wargames and Virtual Worlds)
Date: 28 Apr 91 02:06:43 GMT
Organization: Motorola CSD, Cupertino CA



In an article which I've managed to lose, a columnist in one of the
local free alternative newspapers wrote an article on her exposure
to a demo of 3D sound.  She immediately assumed that the military
interest in VR was not for training, but for torture.  She found
the experience of having voices placed around her with no physical 
referent very disturbing.  

The emphasis on experiencing designed worlds has a few driving forces
behind it. 1) There are few tools for designing worlds yet, so they
tend to be typed in coordinate by coordinate.  A slight exaggeration.
So, whatever the vendor has managed to get (and keep) running, that's
all you get at a conference.  2) We have in this culture become 
passive consumers of information, instead of active processors.
Our process of creating experiences for the masses, on television and
in Disneyland, has created a very pernicious atmosphere where the 
control of information media allows you to spread outrageous gibberish
and have millions of people behind you.  American politics has
become Disney-fied, and we've just fought a Nintendo war.  One of
the motivations for my work has to avoid having VR be Tele-Disney.

Lance Norskog