From: pat@jupiter.risc.rockwell.com (Pete Tinker)
Subject: Re: "More virtual than reality": Report on SIGGRAPH
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 91 15:12:44 GMT
Organization: Rockwell International Science Center, Thousand Oaks, Ca.



Some thoughts on SIGGRAPH:

I never made it to any paper/panel sessions -- a tribute to how much there
was elsewhere (I came out $4.50 ahead for the week).

Some high points for me:

* NPS's SimNet-derived battlefield simulation (multi-player).

* "Performance Cartoons" by Mr. Film.  *Very* nice animation, lots of
attention to detail, very realistic movements.

* Boeing's VSX (actually, I *would* have been impressed if I hadn't already
seen it elsewhere earlier).  Possibly the best "virtual prototype" to date.

* LogiTech's 6D sensor.  Although the price is still a bit high, now there
is some competition for the magnetic sensors (Polhemus and Ascension).

* Bruce Basset's new HMD.  Very lightweight, fits over glasses, easily put
on/taken off, very simple fitting adjustments, lower price than EyePhones
(same resolution as "regular" EyePhones).

* Crowds at the Sense8 exhibits in the Intel and Sun booths, instead of
just at VPL's.

* SGI's exhibit of a four-processor, two graphics-pipeline SkyWriter, doing
about 1500 texture-mapped polygons covering most of the display at 30 Hz.

* Loren Carpenter's super-multi-channel input device (the AUDIENCE at the
Electronic Theater).  I doubt many of us have ever had that much fun at a
conference.  For those who missed it, each audience member held a wand with
a red plastic sheet on one side and a green one on the other.  Using (at
least) several cameras, a TrueVision Vista board, and an SGI IrisVision
board, each person "voted" by turning his/her card to either color.
Consensus Pong and Flight Simulator!

* Several nice i860-based graphics products.

Some disappointments:

* IBM's VR exhibit.  The interactive component was very good, but the
graphics performance was poor (even though the scenes were very simple),
and a technical aide hovered nervously around it to keep it alive.

* Jaron Lanier's back-spasm-generated misstep, which played havoc with the
high-res EyePhones for a while.

	Pete Tinker (pat@risc.rockwell.com)

	Science Center,	Rockwell International Corporation
	(805) 373-4268