From: John Costella Subject: Re: DESIGN: 3D computing vs. virtual reality Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 10:35:55 +1100 (EETDT) > >Teleoperation is something I omitted. I would argue that, if the > >inputs to and outputs from the human are simply being relayed over > >some distance, then there is no virtual world per se. > > > There is no need to seperate tele-operation from computer-generated displays. > Both are virtual in the optical sense. A virtual optic array is one where > the rays appear to come from luminous surfaces that are not located at > their apparant depth (e.g. a planar mirror). [etc] > > A virtual (optical) object = when the rays presented to the eye appear to > converge to a depth where the object is not actually located. John, you are an expert on optics and vision, so it is natural that you use "virtual" in its optical sense. But I do not believe that this is generally relevant for "virtual world" or "virtual reality". This would tie the meaning of "virtual world" to the particular optics being used! What if you use a VET or CAVE in which there are no intermediary optics: then the image is real (not virtual), hence by your argument a VET or CAVE qualifies for neither "VR" nor "VW". > There is no essential difference between the optical presentation of a real > body in a tele-surgery and a high-resolution simulation of that body. > Similar problems arise for their display - so why seperate them? I agree that "virtual" has a specific meaning in optics, and that the science of displaying an image does not care what the source of the image is. And you are an authority on this subject. But if we were to use the optical definition, a virtual world (as I call it) would be no different from a TV broadcast, a movie, or the real world--- all of them can be brought to a different apparent source plane by means of suitable optics (e.g. HMD or binoculars!). ===================================================================== Dr John P. Costella School of Physics, The University of Melbourne mailto:jpc@physics.unimelb.edu.au http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~jpc Phone: +61 3 9344-5435 Home: +61 3 9768-9268 Fax: +61 3 9347-4783 =====================================================================