From: bluefire@well.sf.ca.us (Bob Jacobson) Subject: (1) EVENT: UCLA Short Course (2) INDUSTRY: Do VR events cost too much? Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 07:03:34 GMT Crossposted from the WELL (192.132.30.2) vr conference, with permission Topic 111: VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA # 10: DAVID BLACKBURN (breeder) Sun, Oct 4, '92 (18:55) 34 lines I just received the UCLA Short Course Catalog for the Spring and for the 3rd time they will be offering a 3 day course on Virtual Interface Technology. The course will take place from March 15-17, 1993, and will be co-taught by Tom Furness & William Bricken of the U of Washington HIT LAB. The course is broken up as follows: Monday Morning- Intro to Virtual Interfaces Historical Perspectives Monday Afternoon- Human Interface Considerations Human Factors Issues Tuesday Morning- Virtual Interface Hardware considerations Tuesday Afternoon- Virtual Interface Software Considerations Wednesday Morning- Applications considerations Wednesday Afternoon- Social & Ethical Considerations Future Developments Wrap-up & Conclusions The Fee is $1295.00 per person. For more info call the short course program office @ (310) 825-3344 or Fax @ (310) 206-2815. Has anyone reading this attended one of the first 2 offerings of this Short Course. It would be helpful for people who are contemplating attending this version in March. Topic 111: VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA # 11: Joseph B. Schwartz (mcnut) Mon, Oct 5, '92 (07:01) 20 lines $1295 ?!??! I thought you said it was Communications Access For Everybody, not "Communications Access is Far too Expensive." Is it just me, or are most VR-related events priced for Pentagon-sized budgets? I got more out of a VR panel discussion I went to at the San Francisco Art Institute last year (for $5 admission) than I got out of a day of conferences at last year's Cyber Arts show (priced at $165). The $5 event featured Scott Fisher and Brenda Laurel for much less than I paid to see them at Cyber Arts, in a better overall atmosphere. Sorry, LA, but Northerners are more interesting to discuss VR with, in my own experience (try bringing up the subject of VR in a bar down here). Back to the point: Why is everything related to VR so expensive? I know the technology and hardware are not cheap, but that doesn't explain the inflated prices of VR journals, courses, and trade shows. It's not like you get to take home a Silicon Graphics Iris if you sign up for this course. $1295 should cover a semester, not 3 days. If VR education continues to be so expensive, VR will remain in the hands of the government and the academic elite, which would be a tragic waste of technology which would otherwise bring about an unprecedented paradigm shift in human communications. Topic 111: VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA # 12: Peter Rothman (avatarp) Mon, Oct 5, '92 (07:24) 4 lines Actually, $1295 is fairly typical for the UCLA short courses. These courses are primarily targeted for aerospace engineers in SOCAL who's companies pay for them to take the courses. I know because I took several.) Anyway what should be taught in a VR course? Sounds like an idea for a new topic to me. Topic 111: VR ACTIVIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA # 13: DAVID BLACKBURN (breeder) Mon, Oct 5, '92 (21:16) 14 lines Mcnut, I agree that $1295 is an extremely expensive price to pay for hearing 2 VR gurus speak about state of the art aspects of VR. However, Peter is right that the cost of the VR short course at UCLA is basically the same as all of the other short courses offered by the Engineering and Computer Science Dept. Also, PLEASE don't misunderstand that the acronym "Communications Access For Everyone" is from The Electronic Cafe in Santa Monica, where admission to our VR Special Interest Group meetings have been $5.00. The Electronic Cafe has no link or connection to UCLA short courses. Can anyone on-line speak from first hand experience about the cost/benefit aspect of the previous 2 VR short courses at UCLA. Are Furness & Bricken presenting these short courses at any other institutions?