From: "Rick Schlichting" Subject: INDUSTRY: ICAT Conference 92, Tokyo: Kahaner Report Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 13:24:03 MST [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Rick Schlichting moderates the excellent comp.research.japan, in which this posting also appears. -- Bob Jacobson] [Dr. David Kahaner is a numerical analyst on sabbatical to the Office of Naval Research-Asia (ONR Asia) in Tokyo from NIST. The following is the professional opinion of David Kahaner and in no way has the blessing of the US Government or any agency of it. All information is dated and of limited life time. This disclaimer should be noted on ANY attribution.] [Copies of previous reports written by Kahaner can be obtained using anonymous FTP from host cs.arizona.edu, directory japan/kahaner.reports.] From: David K. Kahaner US Office of Naval Research Asia (From outside US): 23-17, 7-chome, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106 Japan (From within US): Unit 45002, APO AP 96337-0007 Tel: +81 3 3401-8924, Fax: +81 3 3403-9670 Email: kahaner@cs.titech.ac.jp Re: Int Conf Artificial Reality & Tele-existence, 1-3 July, Tokyo 5 August 1992 This file is named "icat.92" ABSTRACT. 2nd Int Conf Artificial Reality & Tele-existence, 1-3 July, Tokyo ICAT'92, the Second International Conference on Artificial Reality and Tele-existence, was held 1-3 July 1992, in Tokyo. More than 150 scientists including about about two dozen non-Japanese participated in this event, which is the largest international "virtual reality" (VR) conference held in Japan. Papers were presented in Japanese and English with simultaneous translation. The conference chair was Professor Susumu Tachi Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153 Japan Tel: +81 3-3481-4467; Fax: +81 3-3481-4469 Email: tachi@tansei.cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp Professor Tachi is one of the key researchers in Japanese activities related to VR, see my report [vr.991, 9 Oct 1991], and [vr.791, 5 Sept 1991]. I have discussed some of his work in these earlier reports and so will not repeat that. He gave a comprehensive paper detailing the current status of VR research, making the point that work is converging from various, initially independent, directions. Thus work on man-machine interfaces, teleoperation, real-time and computer simulation, art & holography, CAD, computer graphics, etc., have all evolved almost independently but now can be put to use to further the VR field. (ONR should note that important early work in teleoperation was done at the Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, formerly NOSC, in 1983, although since then the research leadership has moved to other places.) Tachi distinguishes VR from tele-existence although he admits they are essentially the same things with a different point of view. VR enables humans to experience events and acts in a virtual environment just as if they were in the real world. Tele-existence allows humans, who are assumed to be emancipated from the restrictions of time and space, to exist in a "location" defined by inconsistent time and space, or a virtual space. He provides a long list of potential applications of T-E and VR, but summarizes these by saying that they "will be the tools for 3Cs and 3Es, i.e., communication, control, creation, entertainment, education, and elucidation. He believes that todays motion sensors, including head, eyes, limbs, trunk, etc., are just the beginning of human measurement input that will occur. In future these will be supplemented by EEG, EMG, blood pressure, pulse, perspiration, respiration, etc., which will all be used to estimate human intent, and can then interface with either a real environment (such as a robot, aircraft, etc) or a virtual environment including even another virtual human. He also predicts that B-ISDN will be the vehicle that will make possible the connection between people and facilities, real and virtual, as well as makes possible the access to a VR database. I have attached to this report the abstracts of all the papers presented at ICAT'92. My discussion focuses on the Japanese contributions although in my opinion the two papers that generated the most interest were both by Western authors, Bryson's description of a virtual wind tunnel based on experiments at NASA, and Becker's presentation of a high resolution head mounted display, (1120x900 pixels). Lack of resolution in head mounted displays has been a constant complaint from researchers as well as users. Another interesting Western paper was by Marcus, who surveyed force feedback technology and in particular her own company's products specialized for the medical market. She made an intriguing point that it was her hope that VR was a good tool for representing phenomena that were normally imperceptible to humans. Most of the remaining Western papers related to amusements, art, products for entertainment, design issues, etc., emanating from a very strong entrepreneurial culture. The Japanese contributions tended to be more scholarly and academic. Some "almost" Japanese products were described (a tactile mouse was very interesting) but otherwise, the emphasis seemed to be on studies, testing, engineering, etc. ICAT ended with a panel on the status and future of this topic. All but one of the panelists were optimistic although some were more practical than others. (Robinett (U-North Carolina) felt that VR was still a solution looking for a problem.) Jacobson (recently moved from U-Wash to his small VR company) felt that a broad appeal to business was needed, and that could occur if the use of VR to provide information solutions to information problems was emphasized. He also remarked that SigGraph has not served the VR community well, and that a more specialized professional society was needed. Marcus, at the other end of the spectrum emphasized that there should be simple product focus, i.e., don't try to be all things to all people. Apparently her company EXOS, is successful, so her comments were taken very seriously by the audience. The Japanese research community is heavily dependent on products and prototypes developed in the West. Just about all the VR hardware that is being used (except for items specially designed at university labs) is built by Western firms. The technology to do this obviously exists in Japan, but as yet the large electronics companies have not entered the field yet. Perhaps they will wade in while marketing consumer games using VR technology. What seems missing here is the spin off from University or company labs that produces so many small low overhead shops (often staffed with ex-professors) striving to break into the market with a new idea. However, at least with respect to VR research things seem to be getting better in Japan. Applications to communication and transportation are pushing the research along. VR's fad status has actually helped, and Japanese university research funding is improving. There was even talk of a VR research consortium, perhaps centered at Keio University. Another key Japanese researcher is M.Hirose (U-Tokyo), who has been working on the development of a "virtual dome" (VD). Experiments have shown that while wearing a head mounted display (HMD), users need to have a visual field of view of 80-100 degrees to provide realistic sensation, and updating that much information in real time is difficult. Hirose has been concerned that there is an appreciable time delay in updating scenes when users move their head. This can give rise to discomfort and sometimes nausea. I have certainly experienced this while using some VR systems. The key principle of Hirose's VD is that the camera viewing the "real" scene and the human operator's head movements are basically asynchronous. Hirose uses a rotating camera unit, a communication unit, and a virtual space generator (VSG). In the latter a virtual spherical dome is constructed via a set of polygons that are built from images taken by the camera. Images in the user's field of view are copied from the virtual dome to the HMD. This is a very clever system, involving the integration of three distinct parts in a sophisticated way, but it has many opportunities for improvement including better image compression for transmission, inclusion of 3D (now only 2D) and other sensor integration, such as touch, auditory, walkthrough, etc. One of the nicest prototypes was the force-display mouse, developed by scientists Akamatsu and Sato at the Industrial Products Research Institute. (Akamatsu was supported by ONR during a research visit to Marseilles France.) This is a simple mouse with a small hole in its top through which a short cylindrical pin (1x2mm) can protrude from the inside. The up or down position of the pin can be controlled and hence can be programmed to coincide with position of a cursor on a screen. The pin is driven by a pull type solenoid via a lever mechanism. It is covered by a rubber film, which is fixed to the the backside of the press button of the mouse. This serves to return the pin to its rest position when the control signal is turned off. When the pin is in the up position it is easily felt by anyone holding the mouse in a normal manner. (The pin has a stroke of 1mm). The mouse is also enhanced by the use of a small electromagnet which can also be programmed to increase the friction of the mouse ball by about 12-15%. Together, the pin and magnet can provide both tactile and force feedback. The authors' experiments asked users to move a workstation cursor and click on one of several displayed icons. They timed the responses, and also tabulated the number of "misses". When the cursor is placed within the box the pin is raised and the magnet is activated, both of which can easily be felt by the user. The effect is to increase the assurance the user has about "landing" on the target, or equivalently reducing the time it takes to make such a hit, and these were confirmed by experimentation. Improvements were about 10%. There is nothing fancy about this device, and we were told that its incremental manufacture cost relative to a conventional mouse is low. (The prototype mouse weighs 148 grams; a normal mouse weighs about 100 grams.) Of course, application software needs to be built to utilize these feedback mechanisms, but this seems fairly simple to do. The mouse was available for experimentation, attached to a mouse port on an NEC laptop. There was a big crowd around it and everyone was impressed that the concept really works. A definite winner. We were told that plans were already underway to develop a marketable version. Moving through virtual worlds is mostly done by "flying", but Iwata and Matusda, from Tsukuba-U, are experimenting with a walking system. The user has his/her feet strapped to special rollers to simulate walking. The scientists feel that more realistic sensation of movement can occur in this way, but at the same time the equipment needed is much larger, and users are required to stand. Nevertheless they have performed some experiments suggesting that using such a system allows users to more accurately judge distance than by "flying". Buss and Hashimoto (U-Tokyo) are hoping to develop a virtual skill data base. The emphasis here is on a compliance model of motion through a sensor glove and a grip transformation matrix. Their sensor glove allows ten degrees of freedom, 3 for the wrist, 3 for the index finger, 2 for the thumb, and 2 for the rest of the fingers. This was a very interesting paper because the authors are thinking about automating skill acquisition, skill transfer, and assisted manipulation. As an example, they study a pen that is grasped by four fingers, in which the tast is to move the fingers down the pen's length without breaking contact. It is definitely worth following the progress of this research. A related research direction, but with less sophisticated hardware was presented by Ang [see the report "ia.92", 15 June 1992]. Toshiba scientists described what is in principle, a very simple approach to displaying a 3D image in space. Of course, one way to do this is using holography, and Benton's (MIT) work seems to be out in front in this regard. The method proposed here uses a 2D LED panel that vibrates perpendicular to its plane 30 times each second over an extent of several centimeters. During its vibration, pixels on the panel are illuminated to represent cross sections of a volume. By careful choice of vibration time, number of section planes, type of LED's etc., it is possible to give the impression of a 3D object represented by its sections. By using an optical relay system the image can be visualized in an open space into which the user can place a pointing device and hence interact. At the moment only simple shapes can be represented, such as boxes and spheres. Although resolution is still quite low, the authors illustrated an application to displaying air flow in a room containing a small air conditioner and a table. NTT scientists Suzuki and Kouno described their view of a virtual collaborative workspace. They object to the use of a head mounted display (HMD) because, covering both eyes, facial expressions cannot be shown, and for a similar reason the immediate physical environment is not visible. On the other hand HMD permits stereoscopic sensations. The approach they have decided to study uses a simple one-eye display that the user holds, something like half a pair of glasses, containing a color camera, and a speaker, and mike. They call this an intelligent handset (ScopeHand). The idea is that the picture seen by the covered eye tracks the movements of the user's face, making him/her feel as if he/she is using a large display of even multiple displays. For collaborative tasks, a wide workspace such as a conference table is needed to lay out materials. A camera is included in the handset, so pictures taken from it are from the user's point of view, and show everything seen by the user. In order to realize a shared workspace, pictures of the table top and gestures of the user's hands as taken by his/her face camera are superimposed. In order to see faces, an external camera is placed where the "other party" would be. The picture of the partner's face is shown whenever the viewer looks directly at the external camera, in just the same way one would look at a person across the table. Of course, when you look at your "partner" you will see a partially obscured face, so Suzuki and Kouno performed some experiments to determine to what extent this detracted from the sense of understanding the other's expression. (ScopeHand is small but not trivial, 300x110x40 mm, and 450grams.) The scientists claim that the images from the handset are naturally fused with the real image from the uncovered eye and that masking a single eye is comparable to masking the mouth in terms of recognition of expression. Their approach is unconventional and interesting, but needs a great deal of work to become practical. I was surprised that the ScopeHand needed to be held, tying up one hand, and wondered why it did not have a head mount of some kind. NEC is also working on cooperative multi-person tasks, in particular using a collection of workstations on a network. Each user wears a VPL DataGlove and a liquid crystal shutter eye-glass system enabling stereo display. Each user's workstation has its own 3D virtual world, with objects having shape, color, location, direction of movement, etc. (Shapes are represented by splines.) Only one user at a time can grasp an object. This and other shared services are provided by an object management server, which also initializes objects and manages all changes. The prototype applications here are CAD activities, so certain relevant functions such as object cutting and bending, color changing, etc., are implemented. The current system is running on a pair of Silicon Graphics IRIS-4D workstations plus one NEC workstation that acts as an object server. The authors comment that at present the workstations are connected by a Ethernet, but plan to re-implement their system using a broad band network to permit much faster interaction. This is yet another example of the trend in Japan to develop prototype products depending on the existence of high speed networks, such as B-ISDN. For further details, copies of papers or the conference Proceedings, contact the authors, Prof Tachi, me, or the ICAT Secretariat. Japan Technology Transfer Association Plaza Mikado Bldg, 6F 14-5 Akasaka 2-chome Minato-ku Tokyo 107 Japan Tel: +81 3-3584-0207; Fax: +81 3-3585-9369 Email: ICAT@ATR-SW.ATR.CO.JP -------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS PRESENTED AT ICAT'92. ARTIFICIAL REALITY AND TELE-EXISTENCE -Present Status and Future Prospect- Susumu Tachi RCAST, The University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153 Japan Tel :81-3-3481-4467, Fax: 81-3-3481-4469 Email: tachi@tansei.cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp ABSTRACT Artificial reality or virtual reality is a technology which presents a human being a sensation of being involved in a realistic virtual environment other than the environment where he or she really exists, and can interact with the virtual environment. Tele-existence is a concept named for the technology which enables a human being to have a real time sensation of being at the place other than the place where he or she actually exists, and is able to interact with the remote and/or virtual environment. He or she can tele-exist in a real world where the robot exists or in a virtual world which a computer has generated. It is possible to tele -exist in a combined environment of real and virtual Thus tele-existence and artificial reality are essentially the same technology expressed in different manners. In this paper, present status and future prospect of this key technology for the 21st century, i.e., virtual reality and tele-existence, is considered as a tool for communication, control, creation, entertainment, experience, and elucidation. -------------------------------------------------------- VIRTUAL WORLDS RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA Warren Robinett Computer Science Department University of North Carolina at Chapel flill ABSTRACT Computer-generated imagery presented with a head-Mounted Display puts the user inside a three-dimensional simulated world called Virtual Reality. The simulated world may be a fantasy world, or it may be a scientist's model created to explore properties of the real world. But the computer graphics of Virtual Reality need not be isolated from the real world. The two worlds can be optically superimposed, so that computer-generated objects, images and labels appear to the user spatially superimposed with the ordinary world. By connecting sensors to a head-mounted display, the user can perceive phenomena that are not normally perceptible at all -- the user can see the invisible. For example, using an ultrasound sensor connected to a head-mounted display, a doctor could see inside his patient's body. We call this a "sensory transducer." Another example is that by linking a Scanning Tunneling Microscope to a Head-mounted Display, the human user may experience simulated presence on a microscopic surface. -------------------------------------------------------- HIGH RESOLUTION VIRTUAL DISPLAYS Allen Becker Reflection Technology, Inc. 230 Second Ave., Waltham MA 02154 ABSTRACT A virtual display with 1120x900 pixel resolution has been constructed using a high density LED array and scanning optics. The display has a field of view of 25x20 degrees. The display is small, light weight, and suitable for hand-held or head-mounted use. Pixels appear red on a jet black background. Individual pixel size is 1.3 arc minutes, which is near the resolution limit of the human eye. Pixels appear crisp and sharply defined. Contrast ratio is over 500:1. The paper describes operation of the display in detail and discusses design trade-offs encountered in the development of high resolution virtual displays. Extension of this design to other resolutions and field of views is also explored. Planned production models of the display are described. -------------------------------------------------------- SKILL ACQUISITION FOR THE INTELLIGENT ASSISTING SYSTEM USING VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATOR Hideki HASHIMOTO and Martin BUSS Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106, Japan Tel: +81-2 3402-6231 Ext 2359/2360; Fax: +81-3-3423-1484 E-mail: martin@ics.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a new forthcoming research topic of an Intelligent Assisting System - IAS. Using this system we want to approach the identification and analysis of human manipulation skills. Once manipulation skill can be identified and modeled it is fair to say that it can be learned by currently available technologies leading to a Skill Data Base. Using this data base the IAS will be able to perform rather complex manipulations on the motion control level. Through repeated interaction with the operator for unknown environment states, the manipulation skills in the data base can be increased on-line. We propose a model for manipulation skill based on the grip transformation matrix, which describes the dynamic transformation between the object goal trajectory and contact conditions. The dynamic behavior of the grip transform is regarded as the essence of the performed manipulation skill. We describe be the experimental system setup of the IAS and some results confirming the calibration method of the sensor glove. Some simple manipulation examples and simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed manipulation skill model. -------------------------------------------------------- A VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM USING A VOLUME SCANNING 3D DISPLAY Ken-ichi Kameyama, Koichi Ohtomi Research and Development Center Toshiba Corporation Ukisima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 210 Japan Tel: +81 44-288-8028, Fax: +81 44-288-8214 Email : {kameyama, Ohtmi}@mel.uki.rdc.toshiba.co.jp Yukio Fukui Human Engineering Department Industrial Products Research Institute, M.I.T.I 1-1-4, Higashi, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki, 305 Japan Tel: +81 298-54-6760; Fax: +81 298-54-6608 E-mail: fukui@ipri.go.jp ABSTRACT This paper describes a newly developed virtual reality (VR) system or a data visualization system in which a user can actually put his/her hands into the image and can interact with the image in the virtual world without a helmet or glasses. Therefore, this system can realize a kind of unencumbered VR which is very difficult to realize with conventional systems. The system is composed of a volume scanning 3-dimensional (3D) display for creating an autostereoscopic image, an optical relay system for translating the image into another free space, and a multi- dimensional input device for a user to interact with the image. The system has been applied to shape modeling, physical simulation data visualization, and medical data imaging. -------------------------------------------------------- TO LIVE AND LEARN IN 3D Exploring The Use of Immersion Environments For Education David C. Traub COMPEC Centerpoint Communications Group 434 South First Street, San Jose, CA 95113 Tel: 408 993-9388; Fax: 408 993-1056 ABSTRACT This paper explores the use of computer-generated "immersion' environments (aka virtual reality, artificial reality, telepresence) as an optimal component to a learning mix combining the best assets of entertainment and educational design. Couched within the description of a leaning model that progresses from information retrieval through collaborative learning (teacher-led social interaction) to individualized reflection, I review the five principal components to the evolution of believable, plausible immersion environments for education: 3D CGI projection systems, narrative-based expert systems, DSP-based projection system, 3D audio systems and interface clothing. I conclude with the outline of an exemplary model of an imagined virtual reality learning experience, and close with caveats as to the likelihood of virtual reality actually finding its way into institutional learning environments, and with a brief sketch of the potential psychodynamic dangers of photorealistically compelling virtual reality. While these technologies are not quite evolved to the point of enabling complex, real time and dynamic interactions with realistic, simulated characters, the converging computer and AI technologies supporting virtual reality are pointing in this direction. -------------------------------------------------------- REAL FUN, VIRTUALLY: Virtual Experience Amusements & Products in Public Space Entertainment Steve Glenn Vice President, New Business Development SimGraphics Engineering Corporation 1137 Huntington Drive, South Pasadena, CA 91030 Tel: 213-255-0900; Fax: 213-255-0987 ABSTRACT Ask most amusement industry analysts what technology seems to define next generation amusement systems and they will probably tell you "virtual reality." Ask them what it means and you may get a different answer from each person you ask. This paper begins with an examination of what is virtual reality, and explores how and why virtual reality technologies are being increasingly incorporated in public space amusement products and attractions. Included are specific discussions of relevant consumer trends, virtual experience attractions in malls and theme parks, and near and long term emerging product trends. -------------------------------------------------------- FEEDBACK TECHNOLOGY AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS Beth Marcus, Ph.D. President EXOS Inc ABSTRACT: The evolution of input devices has been caused by an evolution in computer software and hard- ware capabilities. Mainframes moved aside for the ubiquitous PC which has evolved into the desktop workstation. Concurrently, tables of numbers evolved into graphics and ultimately 3-D images which are animated and can be modified in realtime. Along with this increased capability was an increase in the, number of parameters to be manipulated. Initially an array of devices were added until the power users desk resembled a child's busy box with as many knobs, dials, touch pads and other positioning devices as there was room. The computer and software manufacturers were faced with two choices: build bigger desks and clone more arms for power users, or develop more capable and adaptable input devices and take advantage of humans natural dexterity and coordination. Luckily for the users, economics and common sense pointed towards developing advanced input devices. The link between the human sensory motor system and the computer is either a barrier to productivity or a natural conduit through which information and experiences flow. Feedback technology is ready to become the link which will begin the evolutionary process of closely coupling the human system with the computer. In the near term these evolving technologies can be used to solve real world problems in many application areas including business, medicine, design, and entertainment. -------------------------------------------------------- VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS IN SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION Steve Bryson Applied Research Office, Numerical Aerodynamics Simulation Division NASA Ames Research Center, MS T045-1, Moffett Field, Ca. 94035 Tel: (415) 604-4524; Fax: (415) 604-3957 Email: BRYSON@NAS.NASA.GOV ABSTRACT The use of virtual environments in scientific visualization is surveyed. Successful examples are discussed in depth. Lessons about the usefulness and applicability of virtual environments to scientific visualization are drawn. Lessons learned from these applications for the development of virtual environments are also drawn. Difficulties in the application of virtual environments to scientific visualization are discussed. Possible futures are briefly examined. -------------------------------------------------------- VIRTUAL COLLABORATIVE WORKSPACE Gen SUZUKI and Takashi KOUNO NTT Human Interface Laboratories Visual Media Laboratory 1-2356 Take, Yokosuka-shi, Kanagawa-ken, 238-03 Japan Email: gen@ntthcs.ntt.jp, kouno@ntthcs.ntt.jp ABSTRACT This paper proposes the concept of a "Virtual Collaborative Workspace" as a widely acceptable Telecommunication service. A model of the collaborative workspace and the basic functions needed for this service are described. Based on these descriptions, the concept of an intelligent handset that integrates the basic functions needed for visual telecommunication is proposed. System configuration of the handset is discussed with the view of realizing a "Virtual Collaborative Workspace." In order to confirm this concept, a psychological evaluation is conducted on face masking to confirm the usefulness of facial expressions. The prototype of the intelligent handset (Scopehand) is implemented. Use of the prototype system confirms the effectiveness of the concept. -------------------------------------------------------- A VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM FOR NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS - Multi Party Cooperative Work in Real-time - Katsuya Shinohara, Ryuichi Hiraike, Manioru Hashimoto, Nobutatsu Nakamura C&C Systems Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation 1-1, Miyazake 4-chome, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 216, JAPAN, Tel: +81-44-856-2175, Fax: +81-44-856-2232 Email: shino@tsl.cl.nec.co.jp INTRODUCTION Tele-virtuality is an important current research topic of virtual reality technology. In order to realize it, the system reported here links virtual reality technology with network communications. Each work station in this system has an identical virtual world. Each user interacts with virtual objects in the virtual world at his workstation, and his actions and their results are reflected in real time in the other virtual worlds. The system enables several users, working from different locations, to participate in a common virtual world and to carry out cooperative work in real time. We also describe object handling methods and data communication among workstations. -------------------------------------------------------- DESIGN AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS Mark T. Bolas, Fake Space Labs ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between the design process and Virtual Environment systems. This relationship is explored in three separate categories: Design With Virtual environments, Design For Virtual Environments, and Design Of Virtual Environments. Each category is discussed in general. Specific examples and discussion are drawn from the author's first hand professional experiences. -------------------------------------------------------- VR APPLICATION FOR TRANSMISSION OF SYNTHETIC SENSATION Michitaka Hirose Kensuke Yokoyama Department of Mechano-Informatics Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan Tel: +81 3 3812-2111 ext.6369 Fax: +81 3 3818-0835 E-mail: hirose@ihl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp yokoyama@adogora.ihl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp ABSTRACT Telecommunication with realistic sensation is becoming a topic of growing concern. For such types of telecommunication systems, it is crucial to provide wide fields of view. However, when Head Mounted Displays are used to provide a wide field of view, the time delay which occurs between head movements and displayed images presents a serious problem. To address this problem, a new telecommunication system called the "Virtual Dome" was developed. The system consists of a rotating camera head unit, communication unit and graphics workstation. The rotating camera head unit gathers the complete image of the surrounding area from a remote location while the graphics workstation generates the virtual spherical screen inside of which the user can experience the visual sensation of being in the remote location. Since the two subsystems work asynchronously, the time delay between head movements and the displayed image while looking around is minimized. The Virtual Dome makes it possible for us to experience better realistic sensations associated with being a a remote place. -------------------------------------------------------- VIRTUAL BASEBALL John N. Latta David Oberg 4th Wave, Inc. Global Outpost, Inc. PO. Box 6547 335 Paint Branch Drive Alexandria, VA College Park, MD 22306 USA 20742 USA Tel: (703) 360-4800; FAX (703) 360-2311 Email: D3580@AppleLink.Apple.COM ABSTRACT Virtual Baseball is the conceptual design of a Virtual Reality game driven by a systems engineering approach and market considerations. The emphasis is placed on quality of participation to emulate actual baseball and not by current limitations of the technology. The design process is described first from a set of objectives then to requirements and on to a set of specifications. A range of implementations are considered including both conjugate and immersive. The market considerations for Virtual Baseball are examined to provide a practical framework for the positioning of the game, its derivative products and cost. -------------------------------------------------------- THE NETWORKED VIRTUAL ART MUSEUM Carl Loeffler, Project Director Carnegie Mellon University The Networked Virtual Art Museum project supports the design, development, and operation of long-distance, multiple-user, networked virtual reality environments. The project team is designing and constructing a multi-cultural art museum articulated through networked virtual reality and established by a grid of geographically distributed participants. The nodes are interconnected using modem-to-modem or high bandwidth telecommunications. Each participating node will have the option to interact with the virtual environment and contribute to its shape and content. Participants are being invited to create new galleries, install works, or commission researchers and artists to originate new works for the museum. Further, guest curators will have the opportunity to organize special exhibitions, explore advanced concepts, and formulate the basis for critical theory pertaining to virtual reality and cultural expression. The museum will function as a stand-alone installation and will be easily transportable for presentation in cultural or industrial venues. -------------------------------------------------------- MOUSE TYPE INTERFACE DEVICE WITH TACTILE AND FORCE DISPLAY - Multi-Modal Integrative Mouse - Motoyuki AKAMATSU, Sigeru SATO Industrial Products Research Institute, 1-1-4 Higashi, Tsukuba, 305 Japan Tel: +81 298-54-6772; Fax: +81 298-54-6608 E-mail: akamatsu@ipri.go.jp ABSTRACT A mouse type interface device which allows to give tactile and force information to the computer operator has been developed. Tactile information is displayed by pushing the ventral face of the index finger by a small pin from a hole of the button of mouse. Force information is given by increasing the resistance for movement of the mouse by a small electrical magnet. The tactile and force information are controlled by software which are linked to the visual information of targets of the VDT display. The operator of the mouse can get visual, tactile and force information which indicate when the cursor is in the right position of the target. The evaluation experiments showed that additional tactile and force information made the response time short and made the effective target size large. -------------------------------------------------------- HAPTIC WALKTHROUGH SIMULATOR: Its Design and Application to Studies on Cognitive Map Hiroo IWATA and Keigo MATSUDA Institute of Engineering Mechanics, University of Tsukuba Tsukuba, 305 JAPAN ABSTRACT Walkthrough simulation is effective for design and presentation of building or urban space. This paper presents method of implementing walkthrough simulator which provides haptic feedback for walking motion. The walker wears omni-directional sliding devices on the feet, which generate feel of walking while position of the walker is fixed in the physical world. Scene of virtual space is displayed by a head-mounted display corresponding with the motion of the feet and head. The system is applied to studies on human spatial recognition process, which is called "cognitive map". Distance estimation is selected as a fundamental problem in cognitive map. From the results, the exponent of the power function for estimated distance decreases as the memory load increases. Comparing two conditions, walking and flying by hand gesture, it is observed that haptic feedback for the walking motion improves the performance of distance estimation. -------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION DESIGN FOR VIRTUAL AND ARTIFICIAL REALITY Hal Thwaites, Assistant Professor, Concordia University Director, 3Dmt Center, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6 Tel: (514) 848-2539; Fax: (514) 843-3492 Email: Hal@Vax2.Concordia.CA Dr. M. Malik, Professor Adjunct, Concordia University Research Associate, 3Dmt Center, Montreal ABSTRACT The paper describes a biocybernetic approach to information analysis, and information design for emerging high-density 3D communication media such as Virtual and Artificial Realities. The methodology of information design incorporates the latest advances in neuro-cybernetics, artificial intelligence, expert systems and the first guidelines under which the "software" for such systems should be developed. The inherent dangers of information overload, information cascade break-ups and interruptions are pointed to, if the information design is simply transferred from the traditional communication media production routines. In conclusion, 3D audio-visual information design practices over the next decade are discussed. -------------------------------------------------------- ADAPTING TRADITIONAL MEDIA FOR VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS David M. Geshwind, President LATENT IMAGE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Two Lincoln Square, New York, NY 10023 Tel: 212 873-5487 INTRODUCTION There is a great deal of hype surrounding the field of Virtual Reality. It has been heralded as a paradigm shifter that will revolutionize everything from education to entertainment, medicine to sex. At that same time, we have heard that Virtual Reality is also (second only to nuclear energy, perhaps) the technology most likely open to misuse of dystopic proportions. The hype aside, there is much to be excited about, and I am as enthused as anyone. As a baby boomer and a card carrying member of the first TV generation, I have grown accustomed to the ten-mega-bit-per-second rush of information that is television -- it takes a lot to get my attention. The experience of immersion and interactivity afforded by Virtual Reality is new enough and dense enough to be truly interesting, independent of program content. Eventually, however, this newness will wear off; content and usability will become the important aspects of VR applications. With all the excitement, something basic is overlooked. The first 'alternate' reality that we have any record of are cave paintings in France and Spain, about 40,000 years old. The concept, that reality could be represented -- or even influenced -- by image, probably had a more profound impact on the culture at that time than VR will have today. ---------------------------------END OF REPORT--------------------------