From: mercuri@gradient.cis.upenn.edu (Rebecca Mercuri)
Subject: EVENT: Joanna Alexander on VR, Princeton, April 28, 1992
Date: 7 Mar 92 15:49:58 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania



[This posting got a bit munged in transmission, but the lecture
sounds good for those who can make it.  Particulars at the end
of the posting. -- B.J.]

       Since VPL introduced commercial applications of Virtual
       Reality to the U.S.  market in the mid-eighties,	speculation
       on the merits and applications of this technology has run
       rampant.	 The most common complaint of researchers working
       on aspects of virtual reality is	that the press and other
       ``visionaries'' have built the public's expectations to
       unreasonable levels.  For example, when Virtual Reality is
       showcased on television programs, high resolution, ray
       traced images that took hours to	render are shown in
       animations as though they are being produced in real-time,
       on-the-fly.

       Another drawback, and strength, of the field is that it
       provides	an entirely new	way of interacting with	abstract
       and real	spaces.	 Individuals who try to	pinpoint useful
       applications of Virtual Reality often find themselves unable
       to think	in these new terms.  Most commonly, their
       suggestions involve implementations of existing applications
       into a virtual environment.  This thinking represents a lack
       of experience on	our part in thinking about how to use the
       new abilities that Virtual Reality can provide.	An analogy
       to our position is seen in the early days of television.
       When the	technology first became	available, film	makers,	who
       were used to viewing dramas on the stage, set their camera
       in a fixed location at the equivalent of	approximately the
       third row center	and filmed the action from there.  It was
       only after the technology had been used for a while that
       they began to experiment	with cinematographic devices such
       as close-ups, panning and filming from different	view
       points.	In the same way, researchers who want to apply
       Virtual Reality may find	that this period of experimentation
       will be necessary before	they can begin to think	in these
       new terms.

       This talk will begin with a description of the basic
       enabling	component technologies in Virtual Reality, a brief
       overview	of the most prominent commercial and research
       activities currently underway, and continue with	some
       discussion on useful applications of Virtual Reality beyond
       re-implementing existing	applications.

       Joanna Alexander	received the BS	in mathematics from Yale
       and the MSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering from
       Princeton in 1982 and 1988 respectively.	 From 1983-85 she
       was a visiting scientist	at the Max-Planck Institute for
       Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany.	Joanna began
       working at the David Sarnoff Research Center in 1987 and	is
       currently involved in establishing their	Simulated
       Environments program.


	 ________________________________________________________
	| Date:		 TUESDAY April 28, 1992, 8:00 pm	|
	| Place:	 David Sarnoff Research	Center		|
	|		   Routes 1 and	571, Princeton,	NJ	|
	| Information:	 call information number (609) 737-3829,|
	|		   Josh	Koslov (609) 520-0071		|
	|		   Bob Miller (908) 949-4927		|
	|________________________________________________________|

       IEEE Princeton Section and ACM /	IEEE-CS	meetings are open
       to the public.  Students	and their parents are welcome.
       There is	no admission charge, and refreshments are served
       after the meeting.