From: caleb%cbmtoruucp@uunet.UU.NET (Caleb J. Howard)
Subject: Re: TECH/PHIL: World Descriptions
Date: 	Mon, 13 Jul 1992 14:53:54 -0400
Organization: Commodore Business Machines (CANADA)



With respect to the qusetions posed in this discussion concerning
coordinate systems, time systems, scale of objects, and most recently,
the idea of having a sun lightsource that reflects the real local
time, I (in my vastly uninformed state) think that it makes some sort
of sense to adopt as much of the 'real- world' scales and conventions
as possible.  That way, my virtual space would be mapped to a
universal coordinate system (network-wide) corresponding to the
lattitude and longitude of Toronto, with local coordinates in a
cartesian space reflecting the local mapping of Toronto streets.

This meshes with the idea of a virtual sun as a light source, and
allows human interaction to be very natural.  Scale should also adopt
the human scale, with people being about two meters, local sites
(Commodore in my case) being building sized, and God (if you believe
he should exist) being as implicit and unintrusive as possible;-).

Interaction will likely not be in realtime, (initially, anyway) as to
insist on this feature is to rarify the userdom to the extreme. (gurus
and God machines only;-).  The time scale should accomodate realtime,
with the VR equivilant of email providing the bulk of communications
until the general state of technology can accomodate realtime.  With
the differences in human schedules worldwide, most communication is
done offline anyway.  (isn't that one of the great things about usenet
- the ability to participate in a forum at the conv- enience of each
participant?)

I don't know.  I'm neither a programmer, nor a technical theorist.  I
do participate enthusiastically in the current manifestation of
global VR (this medium here), however, and think a lot about some of
the less concrete aspects and implications of the subject.

Well, what do you think?  Are these ideas ignorant?

-caleb

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The key to surviving as an egoless entity within the computer industry is to 
                                 be insidious.