From: plouff@kali.enet.dec.com (Wes Plouff)
Subject: Re: CULTURE: Battletech Center makes me gag
Date: 24 Feb 92 16:48:30 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation



Normally I read this conference and resist the temptation to reply to
the more provocative threads.  But this once....  Since the esteemed
moderator is so against Battletech as an acceptable use of VR
technology, and presumably has uneasy feelings about the W Industries
games also, answer this:  What alternatives do "civilians" like myself
have if they want to experience virtual reality environments for
themselves?  

It takes no great intellectual stretch to see that arcade games would be
one of the first commercial applications of virtual environments.  After
all, the point of a good computer game is to provide an exciting,
enveloping experience, and Battletech certainly uses simulator/virtual
reality technology to good effect.  However, active conflict is only one
way among many to pull a participant out of him/herself and into the
simulation.

Some months ago this group read about the fascinating artificial seaside
panorama in the Netherlands.  Where can one go to experience the
modern-day equivalent?  I would love to, for instance, stand atop
Denali, walk through a rain forest, fly a hundred feet above Manhattan,
explore a field from an ant's viewpoint, roam a mountain forest as an
antelope.  How do people active in the field propose making this kind of
engrossing, non-violent activity widely available and commercially
viable?


Wes Plouff, Digital Equipment Corp, Maynard, Mass.
plouff@kali.enet.dec.com

"Every great economist had a political axe to grind."  Lawrence Officer
lecturing to U. of Chicago introductory microeconomics class