Re: Frequency and Motion

Eric Kimminau ([email protected])
Tue, 25 Apr 1995 09:12:01 -0400 (EDT)

> Eric Kimminau sez:
> .
> . As a complete novice in this field, Im jumping in with both feet after a
> . limited amount of time spent working in WebSpace. I have already
> . experienced, to coin a phrase "Virtual Reality Confusion" or "VRC(see)".
> .
> . I define this as a state of being lost in VR, up is left, down is forward
> . and Im stuck in a corner. I think a browser/world needs some point of
> . reference, short reloading the +30MB file to re-orient you to a "standard
> . horizon". An easy one button selection to restore me to a referenced
> . starting point in case I get lost.
>
> We've experimented with this navigational problem in developing
> GopherVR. There's a distinct advantage of restricting the axis of
> movement in a scene including:
>
> 1) People are most comfortable navigating in ways that have real
> world counterparts, walking, driving a car, and jumping.
>
> 2) Most folks are pretty bad at zero-gravity navigation
> (i.e. unrestricted navigation in all axis.)
>
> 3) You might think flying is the way to go, but even folks that do
> know how to fly a plane rarely do aerial acrobatics.

I would think if you allow someone to "fly" through a room, there should
be an "allowed flight path" channel somehow designated through the room.
Kind of like the heads up display of a landing craft would show you where
as you approach the runway you have a smaller and smaller window in which
you can "safely" maneuver through.

> There are a number of things that can be done to improve the quality
> of scenes that are rendered in VRML.
>
> 1) All scenes should adhere to a standard reference model, in size
> and orientation. We already have the size (1 == 1 meter) The
> orientation can take the form of a default camera viewing
> position that you get when you open a VRML document.
>
> As Eric stated above, you should have a return to the initial
> viewpoint option in your 3d browser (we have one in GopherVR,
> very handy...)

But did you like my phrase, VR Confusion?? :)

> 2) Most displayable stuff should be kept on top of some kind of
> 'ground' plane. This gives us a place to plant our feet, so
> we're not adrift in space.
>
> It's very difficult to walk without ground beneath our feet, or a
> horizon in the distance.
>
> In fact, I think there should *always* be a ground plane of some
> sort.

There should always be a ground plane and a horizon, but I think that is
a given to simulate 3D space.

Eric Kimminau [email protected] Ford Motor Co.
(313)845-5361 "I am not an official Ford spokesperson"