[sci.virtual-worlds] isolation chambers

Bob Rogers (rogers@stpaul.ncr.com) (02/27/90)

In article <5147@brazos.Rice.edu> rwilliam@uncle-bens.rice.edu (William R. Russell) writes:
>While using an isolation chamber for cyberspace would eliminate
>the problem of bumping into objects and other such "real" world
>intrusions, it wouldn't help provide feedback or otherwise
>increase the "cyberspace" experience. It would serve to block out
>background "noise" (or sensation).

A zero-G simulator such as those used in astronaut training would be another
way to eliminate the problem of bumping into the real world while traveling
in cyberspace.  A recent Sunday New York Times showed such a device in use
at "Space Camp".  It's a man-size gimbel that allows several degrees of 
freedom (the subject "floats" like a gyro in its mounting).  I imagine that
friction and/or motorized motion could be fed into a similar device to provide
physical cues based on the events taking place in cyberspace.
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Bob Rogers                    rogers@stpaul.ncr.com  or  rogers@pnet51.cts.com
NCR Comten, St. Paul, MN      GEnie: R.C.ROGERS