From: "Linda Jacobson" Subject: Re: HUMAN-FACTORS: Immersion Studies Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 14:50:19 -0700 On Thu, 19 Sep, bluefire@well.com (Bob Jacobson) wrote: > I have to agree with Ed. It's just too soon to know what to do with > immersion. How many people, after all, have been in an immersion > space? About 5,000, or maybe 10,000, if we are generous? And how > many in a _shared_ immersion space, where one could actually get work > done with others? Half that many? And for how long, and how many > times? Mere fractions of the above already-small numbers. > .......... > When someone is brave enough to answer the latter series of questions > and challenge all the hype about computers, graphics, voice recogni- > tion, and all the other hype about "heightened productivity" using > computers -- maybe for writers and insurance-policy form-fillers -- > then and only then can they raise intelligent questions about immersion, > which is what we were born to, with five senses and stereo sight. Bob! You're kidding, right? Many tens of thousands of people have experienced solo-immersion and shared immersive experiences in the six or so years since VR tech went commercial. Maybe what you mean is that we still don't have quantified information to understand what is the "ultimate" immersive interface--but I feel compelled to respectfully note that you greatly underestimate how many people have been in an immersive space. Regarding brief "tire-kicking" exposure: The new Fakespace Immersive Workbench for 3 days at SIGGRAPH'96 was experienced directly by about 1,000 people. Add to that thousands who tried immersive technologies and apps presented at SIGGRAPH'96 by EVL/Pyramid, Division, Sense8, MultiGen, Virtual Research, Fakespace, Hitachi, Fraunhofer, Univ. of Texas, Naval PostGrad School, and so many others. That's just a single 3-day conference; VR first appeared at siggraph in 1990, so add to that each year's attendees who experienced immersive exhibits. I think Carolina Cruz-Neira moved at least 1,000 people through the CAVEs at a single exhibit at siggraph'94. At VeRGe events over the past four years, we've probably immersed 500 people. Add the approx. 5,000 people who've moved through the stereo VR theater and CAVE at the Detroit EDS VR Center since it opened 18 months ago. Add the several thousand who've been through exhibits at varied Meckler VR shows on the West and East Coasts since 1991. And several hundred people alone at CyberArts 1, 2 and 3 in Pasadena in the early '90s. And probably a couple thou more at Sid Goldstein's short-lived VR shows in NYC in 93/94. According to SoftImage's Char Davies, several thousand people have been immersed in her ground-breaking OSMOSE immersive artwork since it first debuted at an art gallery last year. Then consider those who've spent more time immersed, not just for a "sample." Thousands of people have been through immersive rides at EPCOT, Disneyland, DisneyWorld, Magic Edge, CyberMind, Virtual Worlds/BattleTech, and dozens of Virtuality game systems. Then add all the kids who've played in headmounts sold by Virtual I/O, Forte and VictorMaxx. A few thousand there, minimum. Add all the people in the military since the '80s who've experienced various immersive technologies in training simulations; I'd add another few thou there. Then add every auto company in the U.S. whose R&D people implement immersive VR. Okay, maybe that's only about 200 people. Doing groupwork. Being productive. Improving designs. Testing ergonomics and human factors. Shortening time to mkt. Then add Boeing and McDonnell Douglas and Airbus and General Dynamics/Electric Boat and Caterpillar and CADCENTRE and Raytheon, to name a few Silicon Graphics customers, all of whose personnel regularly implement immersive VR in their work. For similar reasons. Companies that wouldn't be doing this if it weren't resulting in significant return on investment. And the above figures relate to the United States alone. Immersion's a fact of life for R&D, sci-viz, ergonomics, vis-sim, etc., in Europe, Japan, Australia, Korea, and other countries... And to answer your question: "what are people giving up by working in non-immersion spaces, like on computer monitors with keyboards?" They're giving up a barrier to communication. They're giving up the frustration of QWERTY. They're giving up relying on the high priesthood of technology. You know the answers to these questions, Bob...you taught the answers to many of us when you co-founded the HIT Lab lo these many years ago! Linda J.