From: dunc@well.sf.ca.us  <Dan Duncan>
Subject: PUB: Virtual Reality and the Exploration of Cyberspace, F. Hamit
Date: 	Sun, 1 Aug 1993 18:50:42 -0700


Crossposted from the WELL (192.132.30.2) vr conference.  Dan
Duncan moderates the VR conference on BIX.


Topic 185:  Francis Hamit's Virtual Reality and the Exploration of
Cyberspace
By: Daniel R. Duncan (dunc) on Sun, Aug  1, '93
        0 responses so far
 
 Virtual Reality and the Exploration of Cyberspace, by Francis Hamit,
 published by Sams in paperback for $26.95.  Comes with a disk that
 includes a free month subscription to the Diaspar Virtual Reality
 Network.  It also includes some red/blue filter glasses for a 3D
 wire-frame flythrough of the Grand Canyon, as well as some other
 VR software demos for PCs.
 
 And it has a right-on preface by Jerry Pournelle.
 
 When I originally saw a draft copy of this book, I could see that
 it would become what it is today, a piece of first-rate journalism
 that makes this sometimes seemingly exotic technology accessible.
 No, not just accessible--enjoyable.
 
 Francis Hamit has a real gift for presenting technology in a way
 that turns it into food for vision, for invention, and occasionally
 for controversy.  His interviews with the major VR players are
 respectful and inventive.  My only regret is that Sams didn't opt
 to publish Francis' incredible photographic portraits of such ones
 as Brenda Laurel and Randy Walser.  In any event, Francis has caught
 their intellectual likenesses and in a way that makes them
 not only human and understandable, but in a way that makes me
 feel like I just might be one of them, and that my own crazy ideas
 could have consequences.
 
 I guess what I especially like about the book is a parallel track he
 constructs between the actual technology--where it has been, where
 it is (and where it isn't)-- and where it may be, in a scenario
 based on immersive VR technology.
 
 And just as the reportage delineates the technology, so does the
 scenario likewise evoke some of the possible emotional impacts of
 VR.  As well as some of the inanities: what virtual personality
 shall I wear to the cyberspace party tonight?
 
 Hamit's book really does the technology justice.  It is exhaustive
 without being exhausting. Good bibliography, too.  It is rare these
 days to have journalism on a topic like VR that is truly
 investigative and not just regurgitative.
 
 There is one more really interesting item associated with this book,
 and when I saw it, I knew that the production of this had been
 given some of the care that is often overlooked to get something
 to market.  It has to do with one of the software items in the
 package, the one called "Gaynor" by Doug Faxon.
 
 I first ran across this around the first of the year at a meeting
 of the San Francisco VRG (Virtual Reality Group).  Doug, who is one
 of the regulars on the CompuServe VR group, has constructed a
 3D model of the house he grew up in until he was 13 years old.
 
 Three things were significant in his remarks.  The first was that
 Doug had used a really cheapo (under $100) modeling package
 called Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 to build the model.
 
 The 2nd thing I found interesting was that in constructing the
 model, he found the activity uncovered many impressions of
 the house that he had forgotten, many of them associated not just
 with occupying the space, but with the emotions he had experienced
 in that space.
 
 And finally, when he decided to share the model with his dad, they
 could explore it together and use it a reference point for shared
 memories.
 
 And isn't that what civilization is about?
 
 In any case, this package is well worth the $26.95.  I mean if you've
 read Rheingold and Kreuger and Laurel and Pimentel & Teixeira,
 you have got to read this.  It sets a new mark for completeness
 and clarity in popular information
 
 And if you're like me and interested in VR and your mom wants to
 know what VR is all about, send her a copy of this book.
 After you read it yourself.
 
 Recommended