From: bergen@seas.gwu.edu (Daria Bergen)
Subject: TECH:  WorldToolKit by Sense8
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1992 16:13:46 GMT
Organization: George Washington University



In a recent posting, I was pleased to see that Sense8 will
soon be releasing their WorldToolKit for the SGI platform.
As I am awaiting information from Sense8, would any existing
Sense8 customers like to share their experience of using this
product?  I am interested in the learning curve required.
How quickly were you able to implement a "Virtual World" and
what existing package(s) did you have available for modeling
objects.  

I am also interested in its extendibility from a software 
perspective.  Must the objects within your world
conform to a specific data structure?  Can this structure be
modified?  Are you able to incorporate multiple motion
control methodologies within the same world?  Can
alternative input/output devices be easily configured and
controlled?  Can we experiment with our own rendering
techniques?

On the research project I am working on, myself and another
graduate student are designing a VR extension to an existing
simulation system.  We are now deciding whether we should
use a commerically available product and if so which product
will give us the most flexibility.  The immediate advantage
using a toolkit is having a prototype (proof of concept) up
quickly.  However, we do not want to limit our ability to
modify and agument the system as time progresses.  From the
product information I have read thus far, the WorldToolKit
appears to meet our needs.

Any reports from the field?

Daria Bergen                              |
Graduate Research Assistant               |email: bergen@seas.gwu.edu
School of Engineering and Applied Science |       bergen@enews.nrl.navy.mil
The George Washington University          |voice: 202-404-7617