From root@nntp1.u.washington.edu Wed Feb 22 10:43:04 1995 Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA04842; Wed, 22 Feb 95 10:43:04 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA16069; Tue, 21 Feb 95 20:00:02 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA20852; Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:55:55 -0800 Received: from nntp1.u.washington.edu (root@nntp1.u.washington.edu [140.142.64.2]) by beaver.cs.washington.edu (8.6.9/7.1be+) with SMTP id TAA20577 for ; Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:59:30 -0800 Return-Path: Received: by nntp1.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA24744; Tue, 21 Feb 95 19:59:34 -0800 X-Sender: root@nntp1.u.washington.edu To: sci-virtual-worlds@june.cs.washington.edu Path: cyberoid From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: Re: ANNOUNCE: Looking for New Products Date: 22 Feb 1995 03:59:33 GMT Organization: WORLDESIGN, Seattle Lines: 147 Message-Id: <3iecr5$o56@nntp1.u.washington.edu> References: <3ie561$lu5@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Nntp-Posting-Host: stein3.u.washington.edu Status: OR Dear Ignacio, Worldesign Inc., my firm, crafted the first Virtual Environment Theater at about the same time that the University of Illinois-Chicago was rolling out its much more expensive CAVE. Our initial market was gambling casinos: the VET was financed by Foxwoods Casino, in Connecticut, the nation's most profitable casino. Foxwoods perceived in the VET, a cubic-formed chamber with three projectors and 3D sound system, an entertainment environment for non-gambling spouses and children. Our first virtual world previewed in the VET (the first VET was about 8 x 8 x 8, seating four to six comfortably) was a tour of the Giza Plateau based on old archaeological maps. The experience has gotten considerable coverage in the press, although it was only a prototype. The CEO who funded our project ironically came out to see it and simultaneously announced his resignation from Foxwoods, to pursue his own enterprise! We then adopted the VET, in a considerably enlarged scale (14 x 14 x 10) to the needs of the AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) industries, as the centerpiece of the "Virtual Design Pavilion" at the A/E/C SYSTEMS'94 tradeshow and conference in Washington, DC, last June. We could accommo- date up to 20 persons standing at one time. (I still favor a smaller chamber, for greater intimacy and excitement.) This VET was powered by a network of three DEC Alpha workstations with Kubota Denali graphics accelerators and, but for its size and the quality of the Hughes-JVC projectors (I'm not sure they ever went commercial with these), it was much cheaper in terms of hardware than the SGI Onyx we used to power the first VET, in our shop. Over 2,000 persons passed through the VET, enjoying a six-minute "tour" of the several possible variations of the Port of Seattle's planned shoreline development, in the 16 hours it was open. We learned in the pro- cess how to build and maintain lines, generate anticipation, move the crowd along, and so forth on the job. We were very tired campers at the end. Our VET received unanimous kudos also from the press, including in ARCHITECTURE magazine, GIS WORLD, A/E/C SYSTEMS (the magazine), CONSTRUCTION SPECIFIER (an AIA journal for the people who buy the actual materials that go into a new building -- it said we blew away the SGI VR exhibit), and CYBEREDGE JOURNAL. CEJ's editor Ben Delaneyq praised us for knowing what our customers wanted, which is the nicest thing he could say. This year, for the A/E/C SYSTEMS'95 in Atlanta, GA, we are partnering with Alternate Realities Corporation, in Research Triangle Park, NC, on the new centerpiece. (The organizers liked our last presentation so much, they gave us even _more_ space!) ARC is coming out with the first turnkey shared immersive environment at prices much cheaper than the CAVE (much cheaper!) and even less than we could build from scratch, as we had done in the past. Consequently, we are free to devote all our resources to designing the overall presentation and crafting the virtual worlds within. We will be showing our multidimensional transformations of 2D maps into 3D towns and villages, a process we are pioneering with Puget Power, a major force in the manufacture of utility management software. (ARC Contact: President David Bennett, formerly of the well-regarded Microcomputer Center of North Carolina [MCNC], davidb@mcnc.org or davidb@arc.com We are now in the process of dusting off our old VET and getting it ready for major commercial real estate modeling and display. We may use an SGI Onyx (Kubota went out of business, so DEC is temporarily out of the picture) or a newcomer to virtual reality, Hewlett-Packard, whose enthusiasm we find contagious. (HP Contact: David Buckley, VR/Visual Engineering, david_buckley@hp4000.desk.hp.com We believe we can make a fairly nice living helping developers to more quickly realize their desired ROI by assisting in winning early client involvement and approval of plans, and quick presale of future units. Our sales agent is James Locklear, a highly respected professional with Windemere Realty, the Northwest's largest real estate company. BUT...I still long for our original idea invented for Foxwoods, "virtual travel." It has incredible appeal to everyone we speak with and those who experienced Giza, or Niagara Falls, or (more recently) Seattle, has come away pleased and ready for more. Some of these worlds have been exceptional works of graphic art; others have been crude, designed mostly to emphasize interactivity over prettiness. The most novel approach to entertainment (and the closest we have come) was advanced by Foxwood's then-CEO: a continuous experience, a place one could explore with one's friends for as long as one liked, with lots of detailed places, hidden things, and wonderful events to experience. Billing was to be done by debit card, minute for minute. Six people at $1/minute (a benchmark rate) is $360/hour, or in a 12-hour day, $4,320. Times 360 days (assuming the tourists are there), that's $1,555,200, which means the system has paid for itself at least twice and maybe three or four times (depending on economies of construction and virtual worlds modeling) in a year. Of course, no system can operate so consistently, but you have a rough idea of how profitable such a non-ride ride can be! The nice thing is that you can change features of the world being shown, or swap out whole worlds, with relatively little cost compared, say, to an IMAX movie or (heaven forbid!) a physical attraction. The VET serves well as a kind of testbed for these new ideas, a type of armature one might use to specify the size and shape of other immersive theaters. Still, I have to confess, all of us, even those who profess to know more about what they're doing, are all learning all the time. If you can stand the exploratory nature of our work, you will definitely benefit by proximity to it. Knowing about these environments is going to be a definite competitive advantage to those who can use them in their clients' behalf. Why have I written at such length? Perhaps because it's to escape the chore tonight of completing a paper for a major conference now looming on the horizon. I offered to be plenary speaker and now I'm thinking, ah how much more fun to be cruising the Silk Road or chasing off pirates. We can create these adventures (with enough time and money) and then experience them ourselves, which makes us very lucky designers indeed! Or maybe I just feel that the time is right for Virtual Travel and similar shared immersive experiences as entertainment with an educational twist. There are great rewards, emotional as well as financial, from treating people to these "awe-inspiring" experiences (in the words of two Japanese visitors). I have copied this message, Ignacio, to our VP for Applications (our principal designer), Mr. Peter Wong (peter@worldesign.com). Peter manages an excellent team of inhouse and contract modelers and worldbuilders. Please be in touch with both of us as you wish, to at allow us to at least help you refine your needs and specifications. Should you choose to work with us in a theme park setting, we would appreciate the challenge. Thanks for your posting, Ignacio. If you can tell us something about your enterprise and how you came to consider virtual worlds as themed entertainments, it will be useful to better understanding your needs and challenges. Sincerely, Bob Jacobson President and CEO Worldesign Inc. Seattle 206-781-5253 voice 206-781-5254 fax General Email: info@worldesign.com PS If you'll supply us with a postal address, we can send you some of the articles mentioned and with them, slides and a videotape.