“Virtual Society” by Foster and Kambe
Conference:
- SIGGRAPH 1996
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More from SIGGRAPH 1996:
Entry Number: 33
Title:
- Virtual Society
Program Title:
- Digital Bayou
Presenter(s):
Project Affiliation:
- Sony Pictures Imageworks
Description:
Existing electronic media such as the telephone, radio, and TV, were developed with little or no integration, each independently establishing its presence via its consumer base, transmission capacity, and interactive capability. With the progress of digital technology in recent years, we are witnessing great changes in computing and communications. What used to be simple information-processing devices are now plugged into massive networks. As a result, our familiar computer and home electronics hardware is becoming a gateway to powerful new interactive experiences.
Virtual Society illustrates a new medium that exists across networked computers and enables simulation of real space in more intuitive forms. By incorporating a 3D presentation, this medium brings to life functions that would be impossible or cost-prohibitive in a real space/time axis. With CyberPassage Conductor, users create and edit the 3D informational world of their dreams.
As a step toward creating this Virtual Society within cyberspace, Sony presents a beta – version extension for VRML. The VRML browser enables users to wander in 3D space and manipulate moving images, movies, and sound. The society server, Cyber- Passage Bureau, provides a further multi-user dimension to the 3D space, allowing concur- rent users to see representations of and chat directly with each other.
