From: Chris Chesher Subject: DESIGN: What's in a world and why Date: 10 May 1993 02:42:38 GMT Organization: Uni of Technology, Sydney Although ideally _everything_ would be possible in a virtual reality, there are always constraints in the limits of the hardware and software. >From these limitations it is necessary to choose what to include and what to allow people to do. On what basis are these decisions made? Of the systems I know of here are some of the choices I have seen: virtual molecules - force feedback, gphx flight simulation - aircraft controls, gphx, driving simulations - steering wheel, gphx cyberspace - modelled on William Gibson's cyberspace pterydactyls - games machine with HMD & trigger guns buildings - architectural simulations in design (eg Sittersen Hall) (incl. HMDs, bikes, gloves etc.) Cities - eg Aspen Colorado bike system dungeons - adventure games systems (text commands, mouse input, etc What are the reasons for these applications being chosen over others? What else has been included in computer generated virtual worlds, and how are the users able to control them? Why are these decisions made? Any ideas? ---------------------------------- Chris Chesher Multimedia Coordinator School of Humanities University of Technology, Sydney ----------------------------------