From: Linda Jacobson Subject: PUB: "Garage Virtual Reality" by L.Jacobson Thought you folks might like to know that Sams/Prentice Hall Publishing has released my new book, *Garage Virtual Reality.* It's the first book that explores the grassroots movement of low-end, hack-your-own VR. It tells everything you need to know to launch yourself into virtual worlds using your PC, Macintosh, or Amiga, and it even includes a DOS-flavor floppy of rudimentary VR software. Interspersed throughout the book are "tour guide" profiles about pioneering hackers who have helped put garage VR on the map--some (if not all) of their names should be familiar to net denizens! Specifics about the book: Title: GARAGE VIRTUAL REALITY: The Affordable Way to Explore Virtual Worlds Author: Linda Jacobson Publisher: Sams/Prentice Hall Computer Books ISBN #0-672-30270-5 Price: US$29.95 (Canada$37.95) 420 pages, 7-3/8" x 9-1/8", 16-page color insert, 3.5" HD floppy Slightly abbreviated Table of Contents: CHAPTER 1: THE SEARCH FOR "TECH-KNOWLEDGY" --The garage as time-honored workshop/lab CHAPTER 2: WAY BACK WHEN --Definitions; brief history; where to learn more about history, high-end applications, and industry leaders of VR CHAPTER 3: VR COMES IN SEVERAL STYLES --Immersive VR; Simulator VR; Projection VR; Desktop VR, Garage VR **PUTTING VR ON THE MAP: "TOUR GUIDE" Randy Pausch, "Virtual Reality on $5 A Day" CHAPTER 4: THE ENGINE: COMPUTER PLATFORMS --Microcomputers' suitability to VR applications --IBM PC and clones; Apple Macintosh; Commodore Amiga --Potential engines: Commodore Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, 3DO Multiplayer CHAPTER 5: THE WINDSHIELD: VISUAL DISPLAYS --The Computer Monitor as "Windshield"; stereo viewing methods; Simsalabim Cyberscope --LCD Shutter Glasses; stereo image pairs --Head-mounted Displays --Where to Buy Shutter Glasses and Interfaces --Immersion & Stereoscopy: Hazardous to Your Health? **"TOUR GUIDE" Joe Gradecki, publisher, PCVR CHAPTER 6: THE COCKPIT: INPUT DEVICES --Discussion of Sensors & Effectors --Old Faithfuls: Keyboards, Mice, Joysticks and Trackballs --6DOF Mouse Devices, Forceballs, Other Pointing Devices -VPL DataGlove; Mattel Power Glove: history, operation, hacking, interfaces, glove control software, vendor sources --Tracking Technologies for Garage VR --3D Sound & Garage VR **"TOUR GUIDE" Doug Faxon CHAPTER 7: THE FUEL: SOFTWARE PROGRAMS --3D Modeling & Rendering on PC, Macintosh and Amiga --Garage VR Software Packages: VRLI VistaPro; Virtus WalkThrough; Domark Virtual Reality Studio; Power Glove Controllers (Object Glove; Dr. StrangeGlove); REND386; Macintosh Gossamer; Macintosh WorldBuilder; VREAM; Sense8 WorldToolKit for Windows --World-Building Nuts & Bolts --Software for Stereoscopy --Amiga-Based VR **"TOUR GUIDE" Bernie Roehl, REND386 co-author GLOSSY COLOR SECTION: scenes from garage VR software apps. CHAPTER 8: HACKING FOR THE TRIP --How to Build Power Glove Interface for PC by Joe Gradecki --How to Build Dual-Glove Interface for PC by Mark Pflaging --How to Create a Virtual Hand by Joe Gradecki --A Better Virtual Hand by Joe Gradecki --A Virtual Handshake by Joe Gradecki --How to Build Head-Tracker from a Power Glove by Doug Faxon --Power Glove Trouble-Shooting --How to Build the "Virtual Reality Window" by Mark Reaney --How to Interface Shutter Glasses to PC by Joe Gradecki --How to Build Low-Cost Head-Mounted Display by Mark Reaney --How to Build PCVR Head-Mounted Display with Boom- Tracking System by Joe Gradecki --Joe Gradecki's Virtual Hand & Virtual Handshake **"TOUR GUIDE" Jerry Isdale CHAPTER 9: CAR-POOLING: TRAVELING WITH FRIENDS ON THE DATA HIGHWAYS --Computer-mediated communications; Networked VR; The Internet; sources for programs and files from Internet, usenet, BBS's and commercial online services; MUDs **"TOUR GUIDE" J. Eric Townsend CHAPTER 10: PLACES TO GO --Commercial Applications; Garage VR Things to Do **"TOUR GUIDE" Mark Pflaging (plus a section on VRASP) CHAPTER 11: THE ROAD AHEAD: THE FUTURE OF GARAGE VR --What's coming SOONER... --... and LATER **"TOUR GUIDES" Paco Xander Nathan & Jon Lebkowsky APPENDICES: LEARNING MORE --"Teenager Builds VR System" (from CyberEdge Journal) --How to "FTP" (Internet file transfers) --Vendors of Low-Cost VR Products --Information Resources --Glossary --"Garage VR" Fuel-Kit: What's on floppy disk --VistaPro demo program and sample files --Virtual Reality Studio Version 1.0 and sample files --Mark Reaney's self-extracting Virtus WalkThrough --Doug Faxon's VR Studio worlds --PCVR glove control and various software programs So there you go. I look forward to hearing your feedback on my summer project! I must add that this book wouldn't have happened at all if it weren't for sci.virtual-worlds and the "garage VR" topic on the WELL. Thanks to these net sections, I first learned about the action in low-end VR. By the way, I'm a writer and consultant who specializes in emerging communications and entertainment technologies. I serve as Virtual Worlds Editor of *Wired* magazine. I'm also editor and co-author of *Cyberarts: Exploring Art & Technology* (Miller Freeman, 1992), and a speaker/moderator at many VR conferences. I also work closely with the neo-classical, post-industrial, world funk techno- ensemble, D'Cuckoo. Happy new year! --Linda J.