From: Mark Subject: Re: DESIGN: Is there really such a thing as text-based VR? Date: Fri, 15 Mar 96 19:19:34 GMT Message-ID: <9603151919.AA005po@sliver.demon.co.uk> From: Mark David, Cinema, Novel, Usenet...they are all VR. Some people believe the definition of VR must include 3D graphics, they choose a narrow viewpoint. As you point out, Barbara Cartland and George Lucas took us to a different world using a media that suited both them and their story. Blind people dream of shapes and sound and this in itself answers your question. To some people, the Mona Lisa is art, to others, the sound of Public Enemy is art. If I read you right, you're suggesting that fancy 3D graphics alone do not cut it? I believe you are correct except we arrive at the same conclussion from two different directions. Your life is fact and figures. I say "pi" and you think of a 3.141... Your wife, OTOH, probably thinks of baking a "pie". SYNAESTHESIA - THE KILLER APP: I believe one of the key components to success is synaesthesia. This is the transformation of one thought process into another thought process e.g. the claim that some people smell colours. Chocolate in VR means you can hear, see, smell, taste and touch it. A woman is VR means you can.... People regarded as "gifted" often exhibit pronounced levels of synaesthesia e.g. Einstein. FURTHER READING: Alice in Wonderland (or Barbara Cartland).