From: Jerry Isdale <72330.770@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: TECH: World Description
Date: 15 Jul 92 22:45:37 EDT



Regarding the concept of a virtual sun that matches the real world sun
for the user's location:

 This only makes sense in a limited set of virtual worlds, and
possibly not even there: Shared VW that attempt to replicate reality.
If your VW is a financial analysis or model of galaxtic distribution
the sun has no bearing on the situation. Further, in a shared
replicate reality, if user 1 is in london (daytime) and user 2 is in
tokyo (night) and both are standing outside in a field, what does each
see? not quite a shared reality if one is in the dark and the other
blinded.

 IMHO, such effects are part of the description of the particular
virtual world, not of VW in general. If the rendering system allows
for directional lightsources (as opposed to simply ambient light),
those lights should be objects controlled like all other objects in
the VW.

Jerry Isdale
Project Leader, Group 3

(Working for a Synthetic Reality)