keith@pecan.cray.com (Keith A. Fredericks) (04/26/91)
Bob Jacobson writes: > John Waldern was unmoved by the criticisms that his machine called forth > the worst in human behavior and made a mockery of the technological > promise inherent in virtual worlds systems. He responded to these > attacks by asserting that appealing to the market (in this case, to > teenage boys) is necessary to produce the revenues for more serious work. > My own inclination is to call these systems devices of the Devil, but > merely bashing technology doesn't get to the ideas and persuasions that > leads to such aberrations. How do you feel about the virtual wargames? In the sense above, it should also be argued that a mockery has already been made of the technological promise inherent in television, computers, atomic fission, and all kinds of stuff like that. Wouldn't it be nice if advances in technology were not driven quite so much by the market and human war instincts? On one hand I don't like the idea of Nintendo rotting the brains of the youth of the world. But on the other hand, I, like many of my distinguished collegues, became interested in computers partly because of fun with computers shooting aliens for hours on end. Demonic posession? Maybe. Will anyone argue that entertainment does not hold the highest profit potential for Virtual Worlds systems? -keith -- Keith Fredericks, Cray Research Inc., 655F Lone Oak Dr., Eagan, MN 55121 keith@cray.com (612)MUD-KITY Fax: (612)MUD-KLYX
dtj@sumac.cray.com (Dean Johnson) (04/27/91)
> On one hand I don't like the idea of Nintendo rotting the brains of > the youth of the world. I totally disagree with the "Nintendo rotting the brains..." statement. Watch a 6 year old play nintendo and see the amount of information that he/she can assimilate, maintain, and infer from, not to mention the dexterity and concentration aspects. You look at many of those same 6 year olds graduating from high school and they can't read and can barely tie their own shoes. This is from a meat-grinder educational system that teaches kids to conform and not think. As one of my professors said, you learn to "Puke in the right post holes". Kids that think and explore are ridiculed and called "geeks". Teachers are "mental janitors" that remove "bad things" and do little to instill "good things". Of course, I don't mean to say that every teacher is bad or that teachers are even to blame, it is a problem with the system. > But on the other hand, I, like many of my distinguished collegues, > became interested in computers partly because of fun with computers > shooting aliens for hours on end. This isn't specifically a computer trait. I have yet to have a chemistry teacher that didn't get into chemistry through blowing toilet off the wall by flushing sodium, or starting railroad bridges on fire by throwing sodium in the river. "Blowing Shit Up" (virtually or in reality) is intrinsicly interesting. > Demonic posession? Maybe. Probably, just ask any parent or SO trying to get someone away from a computer. > Will anyone argue that entertainment does not hold the highest > profit potential for Virtual Worlds systems? Perhaps we can make *real work* entertaining and thus increase productivity. -- -Dean Johnson Software Berserker/Rabid-Protyping Specialist Tools, Libraries, and Commands Group Cray Research Inc. Eagan,MN (612) 683-5880
lance@motcsd.csd.mot.com (lance.norskog) (04/28/91)
In an article which I've managed to lose, a columnist in one of the local free alternative newspapers wrote an article on her exposure to a demo of 3D sound. She immediately assumed that the military interest in VR was not for training, but for torture. She found the experience of having voices placed around her with no physical referent very disturbing. The emphasis on experiencing designed worlds has a few driving forces behind it. 1) There are few tools for designing worlds yet, so they tend to be typed in coordinate by coordinate. A slight exaggeration. So, whatever the vendor has managed to get (and keep) running, that's all you get at a conference. 2) We have in this culture become passive consumers of information, instead of active processors. Our process of creating experiences for the masses, on television and in Disneyland, has created a very pernicious atmosphere where the control of information media allows you to spread outrageous gibberish and have millions of people behind you. American politics has become Disney-fied, and we've just fought a Nintendo war. One of the motivations for my work has to avoid having VR be Tele-Disney. Lance Norskog
torg@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Grant R. Davis) (04/29/91)
In article <1991Apr28.215918.7140@milton.u.washington.edu> lance@motcsd.csd. mot.com (lance.norskog) writes: > > >and have millions of people behind you. American politics has >become Disney-fied, and we've just fought a Nintendo war. One of >the motivations for my work has to avoid having VR be Tele-Disney. > >Lance Norskog Please elaborate on this last part. Grant Davis ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Too politically correct to need a disclaimer and too mediocre not to have a dumb .sig :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-| :-|