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| Author |
Message |
gunge
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"Virtual" reality
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Jul 16 22:37 UTC 1992 |
It seems that in our lifetimes, we will see the emergence of applied
"Virtual Reality". What applications do you forsee for this budding
technology? Video games are pretty obvious, as are space probes, body
probes, and construction equipment. But there are other uses for virtual
reality that are not so obvious. What are these obscure uses, and will
they be implemented? I haven't seen Lawnmower man, but I'm sure that
Stephen King has a whopper of a fantasy there. I'd like to be introduced
to a "virtual" ATE device that could "take me inside" my broken circuit
boards for a closer look at the problem. Or a "virtual" musical instrument
would be nice - somethig that would float freely in space all around me
and accept commands from my every move.
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| 76 responses total. |
robh
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response 1 of 76:
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Jul 16 22:45 UTC 1992 |
I think a lot of things that the Holodeck is used for in "Star Trek - The
Next Generation" will apply to VR - doctors can practice new surgical
techniques on virtual patients, people can sightsee anywhere that has
an image stored on the computer, they can play team sports (with people
from other sites, if they want, or against the computer), meet
historical figures, indulge in their most perverse sexual fantasies...
Anything they can imagine.
(As long as someone gets the software written. >8)
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keats
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response 2 of 76:
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Jul 16 23:53 UTC 1992 |
here's a question...what makes virtual reality preferable to, say,
movement-sensitive controls applied to normal reality? in other words,
suppose i'm operating a crane on a construction site...why do i need
the "virtual" if i can have the same remarkable set of controls and
interface them directly with reality?
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mythago
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response 3 of 76:
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Jul 17 00:14 UTC 1992 |
Virtual reality would make a hell of a GUI.
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gunge
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response 4 of 76:
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Jul 17 00:18 UTC 1992 |
I've been using the term "virtual reality" loosely to include that
sort of intimate interfacing with "real" machines.
What about a video game that required progressively higher levels
of physical exertion to succeed - fewer chubby children?
You could take your rowing machine down any exotic (or otherwise)
river or around any lake in the world (or otherworlds).
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robh
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response 5 of 76:
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Jul 17 02:02 UTC 1992 |
Re: #3 - Yes, that was one of my first thoughts. The Macintsoh
desktop? No, you could have a virtual desktop, which would (literally)
contain folder and files and accessories and so on. You could even
customize, so instead of throwing files into the trash can, you could
shred them or burn them or make them into paper airplanes and throw
them out the window.
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keats
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response 6 of 76:
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Jul 17 03:59 UTC 1992 |
sounds like a lot of work.
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tsty
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response 7 of 76:
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Jul 17 06:13 UTC 1992 |
Lawnmower man was a worthwhile flick - and SO IS the triple-axis
machine that is now at a lot of carny events, and the Disney
complex. I was told that there are a couplee floating around
Michigan somewhere. It's usually $5 for 2 minutes - but oh are
those two minutes *FUN*! I think I'd prefer that overgrown
gyroscope to a stationary bike in a really big way. No, I *know*
I'd prefer it to any other excercise equpt.
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gunge
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response 8 of 76:
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Jul 17 17:42 UTC 1992 |
re #5:
I don't think that a virtual office should be constrained to conventional
media and media supporting devices such as paper, folders, binders, staplers,
transparencies, etc. These are so old fashoned! Three dimentional media
of the future is the stuff virtual offices are made of.
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arthur
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response 9 of 76:
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Jul 17 19:29 UTC 1992 |
I expect that medicine will be a large application of
'virtual reality': remote-controlled operation of surgical
equipment to reach places that fingers will not go easily.
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keats
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response 10 of 76:
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Jul 19 16:21 UTC 1992 |
that _would_ be useful.
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moriel
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response 11 of 76:
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Dec 10 07:31 UTC 1992 |
At any rate...i believe that once virtual reality is perfected, computer
tech. will skyrocket and turn those millions of computer illiterates into
frequent and fluent users. Let's face it, it will be much easier to
act inside a computer than on a computer. That is it would be much easier
to erase a file by simply snatching it up and tossing it in a can rather
than having to learn the commands of an operating system first.
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danr
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response 12 of 76:
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Dec 10 12:32 UTC 1992 |
Someone's gonna don VR garb to manipulate some files?
I don't believe it.
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i
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response 13 of 76:
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Dec 11 01:13 UTC 1992 |
How long do you spend looking amid the thousands of files on a VR system
before you find the one to delete? Or do you use find / -name ... -mtime ...
-print before you grab?
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daes
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response 14 of 76:
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Dec 11 04:14 UTC 1992 |
Well, if you know where the file is, you just have to climb the
tree to get to it. ;-)
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cwb
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response 15 of 76:
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Dec 17 20:01 UTC 1992 |
No No. That's what the daemons and emacs are for.
People interested in this should read Rick Cook's trilogy
about a Silicon Valley programmer who gets yanked in
to a fantasy world where he discovers that "magic" can
be accessed like a computer. So he writes a magical
operating system. His "system routines" are
objectified, he has little guys to edit his
files, or find things etc. In a way
it's a virtual reality that he creates.
As for the question about why virtual reality would
be superior to standard reality with the same control
mechanisms, for one thing, VR would allow
you to change your viewpoint more easily. For example,
if you were lifting a beam to join it to a structure, you
could zoom in on the potential join from any angle, rather
than being restricted to the viewpoint of the control cab.
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tsty
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response 16 of 76:
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Jan 4 10:52 UTC 1993 |
An out-of-body/cab experience, said without sarcasm...
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orinoco
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response 17 of 76:
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Mar 16 01:28 UTC 1994 |
but, if there was virtual reality, then why give it the limitations of reality.
?
Also, wouldn't it be neat to have a vr grex? instead of fingering someone, ju
just come face to face with them to see what they're like! talk face to face,
not via !talk or !party. How about a real bulletin board for the bbs'.
Note to grex programmers--this is a fantasy, not a suggestion. don't get too
scared.
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carson
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response 18 of 76:
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Mar 17 07:22 UTC 1994 |
vr grex: it's called REAL LIFE. Get one. :)
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vishnu
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response 19 of 76:
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Mar 17 22:34 UTC 1994 |
Good point.
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grey
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response 20 of 76:
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Mar 18 07:31 UTC 1994 |
I'm still a bit touchy about VR, once it becomes a practical system
instead of the expensive exercise it is now. I've often found my own
dreams and "it-could-be-better"-isms to be shortsighted and not really what
I would've wanted, in hindsight. But they can be very tempting distractions.
VR offers to give those distractions and involutions a new and more realistic
face, and I find that troubling.
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jason242
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response 21 of 76:
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Apr 8 16:42 UTC 1994 |
re#2--Pick up a copy of Cybergeneration by R. Talsorian. Its just a game but
they present the idea of "virtuality", its much like what you describe.
I have some general concerns over VR. If it is limitless, then all of our
desires could be achieved, even hot passionate Grex. If this were to happen,
what would we dream about? How could we have any real goals to achieve?
You want a family and 2.3 kids, *poof* its there???
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carson
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response 22 of 76:
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Aug 8 01:20 UTC 1994 |
(what makes virtual reality any different from reality? is it only because
it's not what YOU think it's supposed to be? does that really [couldn't
resist!] make it less real than anything else?)
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dang
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response 23 of 76:
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Aug 9 00:43 UTC 1994 |
no, it's less real because we create it. actively. conciously.
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carson
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response 24 of 76:
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Aug 10 07:57 UTC 1994 |
(so it would be more real if we created it subconsciously?)
(besides that, by using a phrase like "more real", you're suggesting that
reality is quantifiable. I wonder if you really believe this.)
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