From: "Steven C. Weintz" <scwg0600@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: APPS: Archaeology and virtual worlds - Visions
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1993 08:28:35 -0500



Hi, Bob! Greetings from yet another enthusiast, and many, many thanks
for the work you're doing in keeping us all in touch. This newgroup
has been my primary souce of nourishment as I plunged headfirst into
new technology. In fact, I've been so engrossed in learning about
hypermedia, computer graphics and VR this past semester that I'm in
serious trouble with my graduate studies.

I offer encouragement for your bout of the blues (and my need for
discipline): I think VR can be the greatest thing that ever happened
to my fields, archaeology and anthropology. When I think about
developing applications that will allow me walk through the streets of
Cuzco, the Inca capital, as it may have been in 1520, and be able to
switch between one scholar's interpretation and another in *realtime,
immersively*; when I imagine flying through a 3D matrix of
chronological and spatial relationships, or "stand" on a virtual
hilltop and watch the first cities of Sumer arise before my eyes, full
of colorful symbolic representations of the interacting processes of
human societies; when I dream working with my colleagues and our hosts
in trying to convey the intricate richness of another culture's
worldview; these, to me, are the sorts of uses to which VR can be
called. We can uses the techniques of entertainment (role- playing,
alternate realities, adventure, exploration) and the framework of
simulation (for after all, simulators are educational devices) to
really move the insights of anthropology and archaeology into public
consumption.

There's a lot of issues to consider regarding representation, of
Others, of fact vs. conjecture, and of privileged voices. The
potential exists for extending Terence Turner's work with the Kayapo
of Brasil (he gave them camcorders and they are having a wonderful
time presneting *themselves* to the world) into a worldwide network of
inner visions. On the other hand, we could continue to allow other
peoples' presences on the worldwide net as only so many caricatures,
as happens all too often today on global (esp. Western) TV and movies.
Lawyers are leery, with reason, of VR and computer graphics and their
ability to manufature credibility. We need "grammars" for immersive
hypermedia such as movies developed in the first 40 years of their
existence (pan, dissolve, montage, close-ups, cutaways, etc.)

Ye gods I write a lot. Logorrea. Thank you for your patience. I hope
I've fted your spirits and not bored you to death. There are several
other archaeologists on the net with similar interests. Thanks again,
from all of us.

Best Regards, Steve Weintz