From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu  (Bob Jacobson)
Subject: Re: NET: RFD (Request for Discussion): comp.virtual-worlds.multiverse
Date: 13 Jun 1993 19:18:58 GMT
Organization: Sci.Virtual-Worlds Moderators, University of Washington



>From: robert@acsc.com (Robert Grant)
>Newsgroups:
>news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,sci.virtual-worlds,comp.graphics,
>comp.graphics.visualization
>Subject: RFD: comp.virtual-worlds.multiverse
>Organization: Advanced Computing Systems Company
>Followup-To: news.groups
>
>Request for discussion (1)
>
>Proposed name: comp.vr.multiverse
>
>Charter: A forum for the discussion of issues related to
>  the Multiverse system, including, but not limited, to:
>  enhancing the system, debugging and porting, using the
>  system etc.
>
>Background and Rationale: The Multiverse system has garnered
>  a lot of interest from a number of people and a mailing list
>  has been established. However due to the large amount of
>  traffic caused by this mailing list, it has been proposed that a
>  newsgroup would be more satisfactory. Having a Virtual Reality
>  section in the 'comp' group will also facilitate a validation of
>  VR as a recognised field within Computer Science. This group will
>  provide a forum for discussing the actualization of computer
>  generated Virtual Worlds and will focus on making VR a 'reality',
>  specifically through Multiverse platform.

There have been newsgroups established for product lines before.
Perhaps this has also happened for popular general software products,
like Mathematica.  I do not know if Multiverse merits this type of
treatment yet.

As to the assertion that "having a Virtual Reality [sic] section in
the "comp" group wil also facilitate a validation of VR as a
recognised field within Computer Science" -- who cares?  Virtual
worlds theory is a lot bigger than computer science, and the implica-
tions of virtual worlds are vastly more extensive than the usual
concerns of computer science, especially as expressed through the
USENET newsgroups.  sci.virtual-worlds was expressly established in
the sci. hierarchy, after much discussion, in order to facilitate a
broad dialogue among many disciplines, including computer science,
that bear on virtual worlds.

The corollary contention, that "this group will provide a forum for
discussing the actualization of computer generated Virtual Worlds and
will focus on making VR a 'reality', specifically through [the]
Multiverse platform," is just a bit too laden with hubris.  There are
at least a half dozen other commendable software environments,
including WTK from Sense8, CDK from Autodesk, MR from the U of
Alberta, SICS's DIVE, the HIT Lab's VEOS, and the various proprietary
systems running many games today, that can lay claim to "making VR a
'reality.'"  Let's keep some perspective.  Honestly, while the list
makes sense, you may find that the newsgroup actually isolates you 
from the trends happening here.  It's up to the collective mind.

Bob Jacobson
CoModerator