Fall.Winter 95 - HITL Home - University of Washington

Director’sBriefContentsGreetings,The HITLab continues to grow, prosper and gain a greater presence in the global media technologymarketplace. As a part of the Washington Technology Center, the Lab is a “bridge” organizationspanning the cultural gulf between academia and industry. Our measure of success is the degree towhich we accomplish both the research and the technology transfer aspects of our mission. Our endgoal is to empower people by creating better ways to interface with machines.In keeping with our mission and the expanding presence of the Lab within the University ofWashington, Dr. J. Ray Bowen, dean of the College of Engineering, has organized a HITLabAdvisory Committee composed of representatives from the College of Engineering, the College ofArchitecture and Urban Planning, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and the provost’s office. Thepurpose of this group is to advise and support the HITLab in its technology partnerships with industryand its multidisciplinary collaborations within the university community.As another vote of confidence, the College of Engineering is providing funds for the remodeling ofour facilities. The remodel will help us better utilize our Fluke Hall space and create a more efficientworking environment for our staff. We extend our sincere thanks to the College for their support.The Virtual Worlds Consortium is still going strong with 27 members and several new memberspending. Our 10th Consortium Meeting convenes this October. The main objective of this biannualforum is to plot a research course for the HITLab consistent with the emerging technology needs ofour members.We are receiving enthusiastic kudos for our World Wide Web site (http://www.hitl.washington.edu).It is a popular destination for those interested in gathering information on our projects and personnel.In fact, several company recruiters have visited our site to learn more about our graduating students.Consequently, HITLab grads are finding excellent positions with organizations such as PhilipsResearch Laboratories, Microsoft Corp., General Magic, Disney Imagineering and the University ofNew Mexico. We are extremely proud of our graduates and we wish all of them great success!We also want to extend our thanks to you, our readers, for your interest in our work. We are always lookingfor new research challenges and application opportunities in human interface technology. We welcomeyour feedback on the topics covered in this publication and we encourage you to “keep in touch.”Warmest regards,Thomas A. Furness III, Ph.D.Director

Architecturen the last 12 months the HITLab, in collaboration withthe UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning(CAUP), has supported two sessions of the new studioclass “Virtual Environments.” The agenda for the classeshas been to introduce the technology of virtual reality andvirtual simulations into the curriculum at CAUP, and tocreate demonstration worlds which will help generateinterest and support for the CEDeS program.The focus and subject content for the classes have been the Seattle Commonsurban park proposal and the addition to the Henry Art Gallery and adjacent partsof the University of Washington campus. This summer quarter, with thegenerous support of Telecom Italia, a new Virtual Worlds Consortium member,the principal architectural content for the Virtual Environments class was aspecific site in the city of Venice, Italy.This study involved the creation of a digital model of the Arsenale: a significanthistorical site in Venice. The Arsenale has been the center of ship building andship maintenance for eight centuries. At its peak, during the 16th century, theArsenale employed thousands of highly trained craftsman and technicians whowere paid well for their technological skills. During this period of Venetiandomination of the Mediterranean the Arsenale was producing one ship a day, anextraordinary feat.Telecom Italia has a great deal of interest in the prospects of remote multi-participantvirtual reality, and the role that telecommunication networks will play in providingthe necessary infrastructure to facilitate the use of remote VR for manyapplications. With its main research center Centro Studi San Salvador located in Veniceand with great pride in their historical and artistic heritage, Telecom Italiainitiated the idea of simulating an historical section of their home city in ademonstration of this technology.4 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

MedicineIllustration by Kathryn BestMed05 Looks Toward the FutureThe HIT Lab’s ARPA-sponsored project exploring“Advanced Human Interfaces in Telemedicine” continuesto generate novel ideas and fruitful interaction among Labstaff and students and our medical advisory group.Many of these ideas are embodied in an interactive Directordocument (see above) which paints a “big picture” of howinterface technology may be used in an integratedinformation system in future clinical practice. The document,being developed by team members Jon Mandeville,Suzanne Weghorst, Kathryn Best and Toni Emerson, willserve both as the project’s final report and as a functionalspecification for system development. Indexed by medicalspecialty, clinical task and technology, it follows ahypothetical medical case set in the year 2005 (hence thenickname “Med05”) and presents information aboutrelevant interface technology issues from a “user-driven”perspective.In developing these concepts the project team has drawnheavily from our SuperCockpit heritage, determining foreach medical specialty a set of ideal data displayconfigurations for various clinical tasks. The basic notion isto design integrated interface systems around the user’sneeds for information, relying on domain experts to tell uswhere, when and how information should be displayedfrom his/her particular perspective.6 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

1. Gemeinderatssitzung der Marktgemeinde Waldhausen im Strudengau vom 17. Jänner 20083. Puschacher Johann und Johanna - NutzungsvereinbarungWalter Gebetsberger berichtet, dass das betreffende Grundstücksteil Parz.Nr. 330/24 im Anschluss an dieGrünfläche der Familie Puschacher liegt und von Herrn Johann Puschacher gepflegt und instand gehalten wird.Herr Puschacher hat nun ersucht, diese Fläche an ihn zu verpachten oder zu vermieten. Seitens der Gemeindestehen keine Bedenken gegen diese Nutzungsvereinbarung, da für diese Fläche keine Pflegekosten anfallen unddie Nutzung für Schneelagerung, etc. vertraglich vereinbart ist. Im Bedarfsfalle ist eine Kündigung jederzeitmöglich.Anlässlich einer Besprechung mit den Nachbarn im Beisein von Herrn Puschacher hat dieser mitgeteilt gegeneine gelegentliche Nutzung durch die Nachbarn (PKW-Abstellplatz, Fläche für Siedlungsfeste, etc.) - wie bisher -keine Einwände zu haben.Die Familien Furtlehner und Buchinger haben mit 15. Jänner dJ schriftlich gegenüber der NutzungsvereinbarungBedenken geäußert, da die öffentliche Nutzung dadurch eingeschränkt wird. Der Brief wird dem Gemeinderatvollinhaltlich zur Kenntnis gebracht.Der Vorsitzende informiert über die Regelung der Benützung unter Punkt V. der Nutzungsvereinbarung und teiltmit, dass auch Herr Puschacher grundsätzlich nichts gegen die gelegentliche Nutzung durch die Nachbarn hat.Nur mit der Ablagerung von Steinen hat er ein Problem.Auf die Anfrage von GV Herbert Offenthaler wird mitgeteilt, dass Herrn Puschacher durch die Vereinbarungkein Recht auf Ersitzung des Grundstückes hat und auch niemanden verbieten kann, Sachen abzustellen, da diesRecht nur der Gemeinde als Grundeigentümer zusteht.GV Erwin Schachinger hat mit der Nutzungsvereinbarung ein Problem, da seiner Ansicht nach öffentliches Gutvon jedem benützt werden darf. Mit dieser Nutzungsvereinbarung erwirbt Herr Puschacher jedoch ein gewissesRecht, weil er bei der Benützung durch andere mitbestimmen kann. Er ist dafür, wenn öffentliches Gut bei derGemeinde bleibt und für die Pflege gezahlt wird.GR Josef Steindl stellt fest, dass der Kreuzungsbereich kein idealer Parkplatz ist und bei Bautätigkeiten jeder seinMaterial auf seinem Grundstück zu lagern hat, sowie auch PKW’s auf eigenen Grund abzustellen sind. HerrPuschacher pflegt das Grundstück und hält es sauber. Er hat mit der Nutzungsvereinbarung kein Problem, da inkeinster Weise die Gefahr besteht nichts mehr auf dem Grundstück abstellen zu dürfen.GV Heinz Steinkellner schließt sich der Meinung von GR Josef Steindl an. Werters sind die Kosten für einePflege durch die Lebenshilfe zu beachten. Bezüglich Parkplatznutzung stellt er fest, dass nur 2-3 Häuser vondieser Abstellfläche profitieren würden. Er schlägt deshalb die öffentliche Fläche gegenüber von JohannHaunschmid als Parkplatz vor.GR Johann Haunschmid teilt mit die Situation jahrelang beobachtet zu haben. Er unterstützt Herrn Puschacher,da die Vorgangsweise mit der Ablagerung der Steine nicht in Ordnung war. Öffentliches Gut bedeutet nämlichnoch lange nicht ohne die Zustimmung der Gemeinde etwas abzulagern. Er teilt mit jahrelang das öffentliche Gutgegenüber seinem Haus zu pflegen ohne das ihm jemand geholfen hat. Die Gemeinde kann froh sein, dass durchHerrn Puschacher und ihn daher Flächen für die Schneeablagerung zur Verfügung stehen.Der Vorsitzende stellt den Antrag die Nutzungsvereinbarung, welche bereits von den Ehegatten Puschacherunterfertigt vorliegt, zu beschließen. (ANLAGE 02)Der Gemeinderat stimmt dem Antrag in einer öffentlichen Abstimmung mittels Handzeichen einstimmig zu.Seite 7 von 13

EducationVRRV NewsOriginally conceived by HITL researcherChris Byrne, this new version of “AtomWorld” has been artfully rendered byHITLab staffers Peter Oppenheimer, AriHollander and Paul Schwartz. This virtualenvironment was developed to teachchemistry to high school students. Newattributes of this world include aperiodic table, a training frame tofacilitate navigation, enhanced textures,and the (en)chanting sound of monkswhose voices increase as atomic shelllevels increase.The HITLab’s Learning Center has successfully completedthe first year of the U S WEST Foundation funded VRRV(Virtual Reality Roving Vehicle) project. Using Divisionequipment, we provided educational virtual reality presentationsand demonstrations to over 3,000 students in 67schools in 32 of Washington’s schools districts. Our VRRVgroup worked intensely on world design and building withanother 420 students and 28 teachers in fourteen schools.As a result of this activity, 17 virtual worlds were built bychildren which illustrate concepts and principles from theirclassroom curriculum. The topics included astronomy, biology,botany, chemistry, computer studies, environ-mentalscience, geography and social studies.The VRRV operations team also developed a curriculumfor teachers and students on how to build virtual worlds. Acompanion instruction manual was also completed: “TheTeacher’s Guide to Developing Virtual Environments.”Learning Center researchers Bill Winn, Kimberley Osberg,and Howard Rose, among others, have presented thesematerials and additional papers at seven conferences andthe overall project continues to attract media attention nationwide.Currently we are analyzing the data gathered from severalschools, (special thanks to Patti Char and Nancy Bevers fortheir hard work on data preparation, entry and analysis!)and already a number of trends are starting to appear. Firstwe found children enjoyed both their visits to virtual worldsand their world-building activities. Enjoyment seemed to beassociated with the extent to which the children contributedto their world and was considerably enhanced when theyencountered and interacted with objects they themselveshad created. Likewise, enjoyment was related to a sense ofpresence. The more “present” children felt, the moreengaged they were by the experience.A second cluster of findings involves navigation throughthe virtual world. The children who found it easiest to movearound were also those who enjoyed the experience most,felt less queasy and were most likely to experience presence.There was also a suggestion that sharing the 3D modelingexercises with other children made it easier for themto find their way around once they entered the world.

Thus far, the findings regarding what the childrenactually learned are less clear-cut. All of the childrenlearned something about the concepts and principlesembodied in their world. However, the effectiveness of VRlearning vs. non-VR learning varied considerably fromschool to school. We are trying to tease out more preciseinformation on VR and non-VR learning environments byexamining correlations among what the children learnedand what characteristics they might share such as spatialreasoning ability, general ability and gender.This fall, world-building activities will continue inWashington state but on a less ambitious scale. We willwork with fewer schools which will allow us to focus ourresearch on those aspects of world building and worldvisiting which are particularly fruitful when it comes tohelping children learn a variety of performance, perceptualand cognitive skills.Also this fall, thanks to renewed funding from the U S WESTFoundation, VRRV demonstrations will travel beyondWashington state. Soon a VRRV van and a Division systemwill be on the road to Nebraska!These are truly exciting times for the HITLab LearningCenter team as we begin to identify the critical researchquestions and analyze the corresponding classroom data.We are tremendously grateful to U S WEST for their ongoingsupport and their confidence in our researchcapabilities. It has been a very demanding year–but all of uswould say none more rewarding.For further information about the VRRV program contact:As part of their history curriculum, PostMiddle School students studied medievalarchitecture and then actually built theirown virtual castle. Depicted here is thegreat dining hall complete with trestletable, pewter mugs and swords. Over fifty13-14 year old students collaborated inthe world-building process.Bill Winn, Learning Center director (206) 616-1419 or (206) 543-1847billwinn@hitl.washington.eduKimberley Osberg, VRRV operations manager (206) 616-1497kmo@hitl.washington.eduRose Yu, director of funding development (206) 616-1420rose@hitl.washington.eduRESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 9

ManufacturingMOVER ProjectAfter several months of development, the UWIndustrial Engineering Manufacturing Integration Labis ready to begin testing the capabilities provided bythe MOVER system. MOVER (ManufacturingOriented Virtual Environment Research) applies thepowerful 3D visualization resources of VR to problemsin the manufacturing domain.One of the first goals of the MOVER project is todetermine under what circumstances an immersiveenvironment may benefit the designers of manufacturingsystems. The initial investigation addressesthe layout of production facilities: the “where and howto?” of positioning equipment, machinery and workareas to optimize the production process.Initial experiments considered both traditional 2D and3D/MOVER layout techniques. The 2D approach wasmore limiting in that designers can not “move andwork” within their space before it’s built. The 3DMOVER technique allows the designer to test differentvirtual configurations of walls, equipment andmaterials to eliminate congestion and improveproduct flow. Information reflecting the quantitativeconsequences of these tests is provided by externalprograms executing the mathematical algorithms.MOVER is also intended to bring economic decisionmakers closer to the data. Managers often rely ontechnical staff to translate complex data into a formatthey can understand. If, for example, managementdecided to expand production facilities or introduce anew product, they would have to wait for technicalstaff to re-render the shop floor space. With the 3DMOVER system however, managers could bypassthis loop and visit the simulated shop floor themselves.They would be able to “grab and move” pieces ofcomputer-generated equipment as desired and see therepercussions in real time.MOVER facility design tests are now underway andcontinued system enhancements are anticipated in thecoming year.For more information contact: Joe Heim, UW associateprofessor, industrial engineering, net: jheim@u.washington.eduVirtual Retinal Display ProgressThe Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) development hasprogressed steadily over the last six months. The VRD, basedon the concept of scanning an image directly on the retina ofthe viewer’s eye, is being developed under a four yearprogram funded by Micro Vision, Inc., Seattle. The programcommenced in November 1993 with the goal of producing afull color, wide field-of-view, high resolution, low cost, highbrightness, stereo display in a package the size ofconventional eyeglasses. Our current prototype will displaya full color, VGA (640 by 480) resolution image that isupdated at 60 Hertz. It will operate in either an inclusive orsee-through mode.Recent work has centered around testing and stabilizing theprototype and research into future system concepts. Specificallywe have concentrated in the following areas:10 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

HardwareSchematic renderingof the head mountedvirtual retinal display.Drawing by StratosProduct DevelopmentGroup, Seattle, forMicro Vision, Inc.,Seattle.• Developing methods of compensating for the temperatureinduced phase drift in the mechanical resonant scanner.This work has involved testing the VRD in anenvironmental chamber. The methods developed havereduced the requirement to adjust phase by a factor of overone hundred. The method will be used in the nextprototype design.• Designing the electronics that allow for the phasecompensation and that correct for the sinusoidal distortionthat results from the mechanical resonant scanner. Inaddition, electronics are being added to directly drive thelaser diodes, thus reducing the cost of the systems.• Developing and testing methods of expanding the exitpupil of the system. Several methods have shown promisebut require additional work to perfect the techniques.• Working on developing LEDs that meet the light sourcerequirements of the VRD. The first custom red LEDdeveloped achieved the bandwidth goals of the system.• Development of optical systems for the VRD includingthe design of a smaller direct view eyepiece andcontinued work on holographic optical elements(HOEs). Demonstration HOEs have been produced thatreplace the lenses and mirrors in the optical path andyield clear images.• Analysis of the laser safety issues surrounding the use ofcoherent light sources in the VRD. Results show theVRD’s typical output power is 100,000 times less thanthe recommended safety levels.For more information, contact Rich Johnston, director of engineering,(206) 616-1485, net: richj@hitl.washington.eduRESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 11

SoftwareThe last six months have been very productive for the HITLab software group.The highlights include defining our mission and supporting the projects listed below.The software group welcomes new system administrator Konrad Schroder. Konradrecently graduated from the UW and previously worked in the UW Academic ComputerCenter. Welcome aboard Konrad!Mission and StrategyAt the May 1995 Virtual Worlds Consortium meeting weannounced our plan to publish a whitepaper—our“manifesto” and blueprint for the future. Since that time,the HITLab has decided to develop a Lab-wide strategicplan. The software team looks forward to contributing tothis plan and to defining objectives that insure short termsupport for specific development needs, and long termsupport for a software infrastructure that facilitates thedevelopment of advanced tools, frameworks and contentfor strategic applications and projects.SoftwareProjectsGreenSpace (Paul Danset, Jens Dauner, Jon Howell,Aaron Pulkka)The GreenSpace II project got underway in 2Q95 and, asplanned, this new GreenSpace phase will be completed inMarch 1996. The goal of GreenSpace II is to develop asoftware infrastructure to support future GreenSpacedemonstrations. Recent work has focused on developing anetwork infrastructure to support scalable, distributed,multi-participant virtual environments. In addition,GreenSpace II research will be adapted by the CEDeSteam to explore and demonstrate the application ofdistributed virtual environments to the process ofarchitectural design and review.Paul and Jon have been developing prototype network anddatabase access code for the GreenSpace networkinfrastructure. The design incorporates multicast networkcommunication, a loosely-synchronized low latencydatabase, and a fully-distributed, serverless, scalablenetwork architecture.The current prototype uses coarse-grain graphics todemonstrate the operation of the network and databasemanipulation layers. We can move among multicast groupsusing the GreenSpace equivalent of hyperlinks, as well asspatial links, which are more restrictive and allowconstruction of large, high occupancy, contiguous partitionedspaces.As part of his master’s thesis, Aaron developed a prototypeworld which demonstrates the use of multicast groupsassociated with geometric zones. Interaction among multiparticipantsdepends on their location within these zones.We bid Aaron a fond good-bye, as he is headed forCalifornia and a position with Disney Imagineering.Congratulations Aaron!Jens, a visiting scholar from the University of AppliedScience in Esslingen, Germany, worked with the Lab thissummer. The goal of his master’s thesis is to develop anddemonstrate a shared, distributed virtual environment thatlinks Seattle and Stuttgart, Germany.For the past two years, Jens has been working as a studentassistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering(IAO). He developed a shared, distributed virtual environment(using peer-based multicasting) that links fourFraunhofer Institute VR labs. Jens’ research at the HIT Labinvolved integrating the IAO distributed virtual environmentwith the GreenSpace virtual environment.AFOSR (Paul Schwartz)Paul developed the “HITLdVISE” package, an extensionto the Division software package that features:• greater range of responses to events within dVISE, suchas triggering one event after all functions within anotherevent are finished, responding to keyboard events, andtesting and responding to internal states.• enhanced object behavior so that objects may fly,change color, rotate and scale over time.• texturing objects in response to events.12 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

HumanFactors/InterfaceAFOSRThe last six months have been very productive for the Air Force Office of ScientificResearch contract team. We are especially proud of Gina Crvarich’s graduation andGlenna Satalich’s thesis. Ryoko Williamson, Mark Draper, Don Parker, Homer Pryorand Bob Futamura continue their AFOSR research experiments; and special updatesfrom two other AFOSR researchers Jerry Prothero and Hunter Hoffman follow.Tactile AugmentationVR systems create a compellingillusion that one is inside a computersimulatedenvironment. Presence, thesensation of being “in a place” whenimmersed in a virtual world, has beendescribed as the “essence” of VR. Byincreasing presence, one increases theamount of information participants canprocess and recall from a virtualexperience, and thus improving presenceis an important human factorsresearch goal.This goal is made easier in that VRallows multimodal representations ofobjects. Presenting converging evidenceto the brain from both visual andauditory input has been found toincrease presence. In the real world,tactile cues are largely processedwithout our awareness, yet they make acritical contribution to our sense of selfand to our construction of reality.Touching a virtual object would likelyevoke an even more compellingexperience of presence in VR.HITLab researcher Hunter Hoffman istesting this idea with assistance fromcolleagues Joris Groen, Bill Winn,Tom Furness, Scott Rousseau, MaxWells, Ari Hollander, and cyberartistBoris Kogon. Hoffman’s test involvesa hand position sensor which controlsthe movements of a disembodiedcyberhand in a virtual environment. Inone test, a user sees and attempts totouch a 3D virtual image of a ball withtheir cyberhand. In another test, theuser sees a virtual ball image, but is alsoable to physically touch the virtual ball.HITLab researcher Juli Yamashita demonstrating the “see and touch” condition. Photo thispage and next by Mary Levin.This tactile feedback is achieved byplacing a real rubber ball within theuser’s grasp at the location of thevirtual object (see photo). As the user’svirtual hand explores the illusory ballin cyberspace, his/her real handexplores the shape of the real ball. This“tactile augmentation” techniqueinvolves using input from real objectsto dramatically enhance a subject’ssense of presence in the virtual world.With a good match between what a usersees and feels in the virtual and realworld (e.g., good alignment andscaling), results demonstrate a significantincrease in presence for the “seeand touch” compared to the “see only”condition. Whether tactile augmentationcan be used to improve situationalawareness and to enhancelearning in VR, is an important topicfor future study.Post-doctoral cognitive psychologist HunterHoffman is a research scientist on the AFOSRand VRRV projects. Contact: (206) 616-1496,hunter@hitl.washington.edu14 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

HumanFactors/InterfacePhoto: George SteinmetzForeground/BackgroundManipulations Affect PresenceThere is a trade-off between widefield-of-view (FOV) and high resolutionin immersive HMDs. It isgenerally believed that a wide FOV isnecessary to stimulate a sense ofpresence, of “being in” a virtualenvironment. Since a sense ofpresence is regarded as crucial formany tasks, a difficult choice is oftenmade between increasing HMD FOVor decreasing FOV to allow for betterresolution.In a paper appearing in the 1995Human Factors and ErgonomicsSociety (HFES) Conference Proceedings,HITL researchers JerryProthero, Hunter Hoffman, DonParker, Tom Furness and Max Wellsreport on experiments which suggestit is possible to alter the level ofpresence in a virtual environment at aconstant FOV simply by manipulatinghow the scene boundary is perceived.This research resulted from the ideathat presence is an illusion of perceivedself-position and as such isclosely related to vection (the illusionof perceived self-motion caused byvisual stimuli). If presence andvection are closely related, one wouldexpect to be able to take results fromthe vection literature and apply themto manipulating levels of presence.Vection research has indicated thatone’s perceived motion is heavilyinfluenced by the relative motionbetween one’s self and what oneperceives to be the background (evenif it is the background which isactually moving). Providing a screenwith a wide FOV is one way toencourage users to interpret the sceneas background, and thus to feelvection. Another approach, at givenFOV, is to put the boundary of thescene in front of the scene content. Inthis way, the user may unconsciouslybelieve that the scene is much largerthan it is, meaning that it may beinterpreted as background (and thereforeinduce vection).In the experiments reported on in theHFES paper, it was shown that thesame trick can be used to induce ahigher sense of presence at a givenFOV, comparing a foreground occlusion(tanning goggles - see image ofProthero above) with a paper occlusiondirectly on the HMD screen.Possible applications are increasingpresence in HMDs by obscuring thescreen boundary with a foregroundocclusion, or decreasing presence(which may reduce simulator sickness)by putting the screen boundaryin the background and emphasizing it.For more information contact:Jerry Prothero, (206) 616-1470prothero@hitl.washington.eduRESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 15

SpeechRecognitionHITL researchers Jesus Savage-Carmona,Mark Billinghurst and Professor AlistairHolden are applying a combination ofartificial intelligence techniques with digitalsignal processing and statistical methods toenhance speech recognition.The team has developed a three-step hybrid system whichuses a rule-based approach to create a Conceptual Dependency(CD) representation of the spoken input. First, continuousspeech recognition using a keyword spotting system based onHidden Markov Models (HMM) is implemented. Then, therecognized keywords are used to create the CD representation.Finally, the gaps in the CD representation are used ascontextual cues for reinterpreting the speech input and thusincreasing the speech recognition accuracy.A sentence-based speech recognition system involvingMulti-Section Vector Quantization (MSVQ) techniques isalso under development. Recognized sentences are used tocreate CD representations which are combined withcontextual knowledge to reinterpret the speech input and toincrease the recognition accuracy. Using context representationreduces the recognition errors by 31%.To test their research, the team created a virtual house anda software agent, represented by a virtual robot (VIRBOT),which attempts to locate objects within the house. Therobot is given vocal commands such as: “Robot give thenewspaper to the father,” “Robot where is the tool box,”“Robot bring it to the mother.” Aural feedback from theVIRBOT is provided by synthesized speech announcing itswhereabouts: “I found the newspaper!” Visual feedback isalso provided as the user can watch the VIRBOT movearound the house floor plan. This application may be usedto develop and test simulated robot behaviors beforeactual construction and programming.This research used the most advanced methods for speechrecognition and integrated them with semanticrepresentations and contextual representations. It has beenshown that meaning and context can considerably improvespeech recognition accuracy in a real time environment.The top window shows the graphicalrepresentation of the input sentence,“Robot, go to the kitchen.” The middlewindow shows the CD representationand the VIRBOT’s answers. The lowerleft window shows the three bestmatchings based on the VQ technique.The lower right window showsthe VR representation of the Robot inthe house.16 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

ConsortiumNew MembersWe are proud to welcome two newinternational members to the VirtualWorlds Consortium: the IndustrialTechnology Research Institute (ITRI),Taiwan; and Telecom Italia-CentroStudi San Salvador, Venice, Italy.ITRIIndustrial Technology Research Institute(ITRI) is a large nonprofit research and developmentorganization engaging in appliedresearch and technical service. The Republicof China, Ministry of Economic Affairs,founded ITRI in 1973 to serve Taiwan’sexpanding industrial base. ITRI has grownto 6,000 people and 71 laboratories, organizedin ten divisions spanning a range ofindustries (aerospace, computers and communications,materials and chemicals,electronics, etc.) ITRI’s Opto-Electronics andSystems Laboratories and their Computerand Communications Research Laboratoriesare interested in the HIT Lab’s R&D agenda.TELECOM ITALIATelecom Italia, Italy’s largest phone company,is seeking ways to enhance the company’sability to enter the most promising new areasof the worldwide telecommunications business.The company is working with the HITLabon the development of remote multi-participantvirtual reality, and the role that telecommunicationnetworks will play in providing thenecessary infrastructure to facilitate the use ofremote VR for many applications.The Centro Studi San Salvador (San SalvadorStudy Center), housed in a magnificent 16thcentury monastery in the heart of Venice, isthe company’s headquarters for carrying outthis research. Being very proud of their historicaland artistic heritage, Telecom Italiainitiated the idea of simulating an historicalsection of their home city in a demonstrationof this technology. As a result, the HITLab,the UW College of Architecture and UrbanPlanning, and the Istituto Universitario diArchitettura di Venezia (IUAV), are collaboratingon the creation of a digital model of theArsenale in the city of Venice (see page 4).FUJITSUFujitsu Research Institute, Japan,continues to work closely with the Labon the next phase of the GreenSpaceproject—a scalable, distributed, multiparticipantvirtual environment. Institutedirector, Dr. Masahiro Kawahata,reports the first GreenSpace demonstrationattracted significant presscoverage and generated great publicinterest in Japan. Fujitsu receivednumerous inquiries from the Japaneseacademic community as well as fromPacific Rim companies involved inpublishing, computing, telecommunications,and automobile manufacturing.Fujitsu expects GreenSpace will launcha new era in distributed, 3D softwareplatform applications and Dr. Kawahataand the HITLab research team arelooking forward to contributing to thatfuture.MICRO VISIONBecause development of the VRDtechnology has progressed so rapidly(see page 11), Micro Vision, Inc.,Seattle, is preparing to staff upaggressively over the next year. Thecompany reports it has made substantialprogress in a second round offinancing, aimed at raising $9 millionto support this expansion.Micro Vision plans to introduce theVRD technology over the next 12-18months in early prototypes and productswhich may include full textdisplay for wireless communicationsNewsdevices including cellular phones,pagers and wireless fax, low-visionenhancement for military, lawenforcement,industrial and medicalapplications. In these applications, theprimary requirement is for a compactform and a minimal power draw with abright, medium/high resolution image.Micro Vision is creating a small handheldprototype aimed at demonstratingthe effectiveness of the VRD for avariety of applications. This prototypewill be used in conjunction with fullydeveloped product concepts andappearance models and presented to codevelopmentpartners to demonstratethe market-readiness of the technology.The company continues to holddiscussions with important prospectivestrategic partners. Micro Vision ex-Fujitsu logopects to forge two or more codevelopmentpartnerships in 1995with the expectation that the combinationof complementary technologywith marketing and distribution resourceswill accelerate the VRDtoward its goal of becoming theultimate personal display for bothcommercial and consumer applications.For information on Micro Vision callRick Rutkowski (206) 224-7499.RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 17

STRATOSStratos Product Development Group,Inc., Seattle, continues to expand itsclient base and services with designcontracts for the development of handheld devices for personal and corporatecommunication, unique devicesand systems for the medical field, andautomotive industry advancements inthe next century.Air travelers will soon benefit fromtwo Stratos projects: a hand held digitalphone and communications deviceto be installed at every plane seat anda next generation in-flight entertainmentsystem. Innovative remotecontrols with advanced features willfacilitate air to ground communicationand the integration of new displaytechnologies will enhance movieviewing at cloud-cruising altitudes.Medical device development continueswith components and systems rangingfrom life support and diagnosticequipment concepts to biocompatibleand bioabsorbable implant devices.Implementation of solid modelingcapabilities, stereolithographic prototypingand direct data set developmentfor tooling further shorten the criticaltime-to-market requirements of ourclients.Industrial design, mechanical andelectrical design, application specificintegrated circuit and software designhelp Stratos customers stay on theleading edge of their respective industries.These talents are even beingutilized by a customer to assist in envisioningthe future of the automobileand in particular the interior of vehiclesfor the year 2004 and beyond.For more information contact GaryBang (206) 448-1388 or send email togaryb@spdg.comKOPIN CORPKopin announced it has increased itsequity investment in Forte Technologies,Inc. to 50 percent. Forte is anindustry leader in developing virtualreality head mounted systems andperipherals for the personal computerand entertainment markets. Kopin hasalso announced a major product distributionagreement with Forte andMarubeni Australia Ltd. to marketForte’s VFX1 HEADGEAR VirtualReality System in the Far East andPacific Rim regions. Marubeni, one ofthe world’s largest and most prestigioustrading companies, expects topurchase 21,000 VFX1 units fromForte over the next 12 months for distributionto countries includingAustralia, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan,and Singapore, among others.Together with another recently announceddistribution agreement withPearl Agency of Germany, this bringsthe total number of VFX1 units tomore than 40,000 in the next year.For additional information, contactKopin Corp. (508) 824-6696.VIRTUAL VISIONVirtual Vision emerged from Chapter11 filed on July 28, 1995, as a newVirtual Vision corporation, a subsidiaryof Telxon Corporation of Akron,Ohio. Telxon Corp. is a world leaderin portable tele-transaction systemsand wireless data communications.The company integrates advancedPortable Tele-Transaction Computerswith wireless and network communicationtechnology, a wide array ofperipherals and application-specificsoftware for its customers in morethan 50 countries around the world.Virtual Vision is currently focusing itsmarketing activities away from theconsumer arena into the emergingDigital Head Mounted Systems OEMmarketplace. The company is currentlyinvolved in a joint AdvancedResearch Projects Agency (ARPA)development initiative with CarnegieMellon University, Boeing, and Honeywellto provide a hands-freeinspection system.Virtual Vision will remain in thegreater Seattle area with George Coneas president. For additional information(206) 882-7878.DIVISIONDivision continues to expand its customerbase and applications capabilities.At the Electronic Data Systems (EDS)Detroit Virtual Reality Center, theworld’s only commercial VR businesscenter, Division products take centerstage.One EDS demonstration allows theBechtel Corporation (the internationalarchitecture, engineering and constructionfirm) to visualize complexwind-flow patterns in proposed newbuilding designs and to study largemodels to determine design scale andresolve human interaction issues.Bechtel plans to move further into collaborativeworking environments thatinvolve professionals from differentdisciplines and remote locations.Division’s dVS 3.0 multi-user networkingcapabilities will provide thesoftware infrastructure to launch thesecollaborative links.Another demonstration developed atthe EDS Center is an immersive shoppingexperience—a virtual applianceshowroom for Electrolux. Demonstrationparticipants don a lightweightHMD and enter a virtual, 3D kitchenoutfitted with Electrolux products.Users can open the dishwasher, checkout the refrigerator, turn on the washingmachine, move bottles on a tableand open a window above the sink.They can select different models andcolors of appliances from an electroniccatalog by using a 3D mouseand clicking on icons in the virtualspace. Electrolux debuted the Division-runsystem at an exhibition inCologne Germany in May. One attendeesaid, “This is the future ofretailing!”Division continues to assist GDESystems and the U.S. Army ArmamentResearch Development and EngineeringCenter to meet the Departmentof Defense’s mandate for efficient andcost-effective weapons system design.Virtual prototypes of weapons arebased on 3D CAD/CAM modelsintegrated into virtual environments18 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

SpecialThanksKudos to Rick Rutkowski and MicroVision, Inc. for sponsoring recentVirtual Worlds Consortium receptions.Special thanks to Jeff Raikes andTom Cohen of Microsoft Corp. forgenerously providing a video crewand editing facilities to documentseveral HITL research projects.Tremendous thanks to Jim Elias andU S WEST Communications for alsoproviding video editing facilities tothe VRRV team.What is the Virtual WorldsConsortium?Organized in September 1990, the VWCserves as a nexus for the investigationand commercialization of advancedhuman interface technology in theglobal virtual reality market and as aneducational and professional re-sourcefor participating company representatives.The VWC is theprimary mechanism through whichstrategic projects and partnerships areformed between the Human InterfaceTechnology Laboratory, industry,government and academia. Annualmembership in the Consortium is$50,000 per year.For further information contactConsortium manager Art Kerr: (206)616-1477, adkerr@hitl.washington.eduusing Division’s authoring software.The simulated battlefields developed byGDE Systems provide an extra dose ofreality since they utilize satelliteimagery of actual terrain mapped intothe virtual environment.The key to the success of each of theseapplications is Division’s user-friendlydVISE Virtual Design Environment.Using new and innovative 3D VRdesign techniques accessible to nonprogrammers,dVISE allows engineersto work with their earliest computerbaseddesign models as if they werealready real, long before prototypes arenormally built. Engineering designscan be verified for suitability, placed insimulated test, operated in realisticsituations, and fully explored early andoften in the design process. Because,dVISE allows this easy and realisticvirtual prototyping with crash detection,assembly playback, etc., engineeringdesign cycles are shortened,products or higher quality are producedand overall design costs can be reduced.For more information on Divisioncontact: Doug Schiff(919) 968-7797,schiffd@division.comINSIGHTInsight Corp. recently paid a dividendto its stockholders. The company’sunique eyewear display technologypatent is paying off. Insight is alsocontinuing to bring new technologyproducts to market. This September anew helmet mounted race car productwill debut at the Vancouver MolsonIndy Car Race via a licensee calledMotion Research. This product, oncefully tested, holds great promise as amotor cycle helmet. Along with eyeweardisplays, Insight is working on aunique input device for touch and forvirtual keyboards.For more information, contact PeterPurdy (360) 379-5740.HUGHESHughes Electronics has ongoingefforts related to virtual environmentsin several business units and at HughesResearch Labs. At Hughes TrainingInc. (HTI), researchers are demonstratingthe application of ActiveMatrix LCDs (AMLCD) in a HMDapplication. The Advanced VisionicsSystem Program design fits into astandard helmet. It uses a Xenon arclamp source with light carried through afiber optic cable. The image source is astack of three Kopin 1024x1280 transmissiveAMLCDs with subtractivecolor filters and microlens between theAMLCDs to limit diffraction losses.HTI is also investigating the integrationof many image sources into HMDapplications. The goal is to reduceHMD size and weight.HTI’s Arlington headquarters recentlyopened a new Technology DevelopmentCenter to support R&D initiatives.This multimedia and computerlaboratory will be used to evaluatetechnologies for their use in futureproducts, and as a testbed environmentfor human factors research.Traditionally, automated systems usershave had to adapt to a predeterminedhuman-machine interface, based on thebelief that a standardized environmentis easier to train and provides a stable,predictable interaction between the systemand the user. This approach maymake a trainer’s job easier, but itfrequently leads to a less than desirableuser environment. HTI’s solution involvesapplying concurrent engineeringprocesses to the rapid prototypingand iterative refinement of advancedhuman-machine designs. These processesare adaptive to the preferences ofeach unique user, and even dynamicallyaccommodating to changes in userperformance or observable behavior asthe system is used.HTI’s goal is to develop enhanced performanceof modular automated toolsfor training and time-critical decisionsupport systems. This will be especiallycritical to HTI’s goal to become a worldleader in the development and deliveryof economical, effective, and efficientsystems designed to provide bothtraditional classroom systems and interactivedistance learning on demand.For information contact Mike Daily,mike@aic.hrl.hac.comRESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 19

New PersonnelRose Yu, Director of Development andEducational Outreach. Rose joined the HITLab in April 1995 to help increase financialsupport for the Lab through private andpublic sources. She is also responsible formanaging the K-12 educational outreachefforts, including the U S WEST VirtualReality Roving Vehicles project. Rose hasa bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineeringfrom the University of Virginia andan MBA from Stanford University. Mostrecently, Rose lead the turnaround of asmall, educational nonprofit organizationcalled Economics-America, WashingtonCouncil on Economic Education. Her businessexperience also includes marketingBoeing airplanes in Europe and Honeywellcontrol products in Asia. Rose worked asan engineer for ARINC Research Corporationon FAA and NASA contracts prior toattending business school.Konrad Schroder, Systems Administrator.Konrad graduated in May 1995 fromthe University of Washington with abachelor’s degree in mathematics andLatin. He has spent the past two summersworking for the UW Academic ComputerCenter as a Unix/NeXT specialist.Erik Viirre, Research Scientist. Dr. ErikViirre is working on vision applications forthe Virtual Retinal Display and on the effectsof VR on the inner ear balancesystem. Prior to his appointment with theHITLab, Eric was a visiting assistantprofessor at UCLA in the department ofneurology and at the Jules Stein Eye Institute,where he was studying disorders ofthe inner ear balance system. His medicalspecialty is vestibular neurotology, abranch of otolaryngology, neurology andophthalmology. Before UCLA he was in amedical practice where he deliveredprimary eye care and he was a fellow inthe Imaging Research Group at theRobarts Research Institute in London,Canada. He received his M.D. at theUniversity of Western Ontario in London,Canada in 1988 and his Ph.D. (physiology)at the same institution in 1987. HisPh.D. was his first degree. Dr. Viirre is acertified amphibious aircraftpilot and has had many connections tomanned space flight programs includingbeing a semifinalist candidate for the CanadianAstronaut Program in 1992.Clarence Smith, Jr., Student Aid. Clarencecurrently works as the system administratorfor the Knowledge Baseproject handling programming as well asmaintaining the technical side of theLab’s World Wide Web site. Clarence alsoworks as the manager of informationsystems for a law firm in downtown Seattleproviding hardware and softwareconsulting and configuration. Clarence ispursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociologyand plans to attend law school aftergraduation. He spends his free time withhis fiancée, or enjoying sports such ascycling and basketball.Wayne Taylor, VRRV Intern. Waynegraduated from Indiana University with amaster’s in instructional technology. Heis currently pursuing his Ph.D. in educationaltechnology from the UW. Waynehas held various positions in the electronicmedia field (e.g. producer, manager,instructional designer) for institutionssuch as: College of William & Mary, EvergreenState College, and University ofNevada-Reno. Most recently, Wayneworked with Microsoft as a training specialist.Wayne joins HITL’s VRRV team.Austin Dahl, Software Engineer. Austinreceived his bachelor’s degree in mathematicsfrom Carleton College in Northfield,Minnesota and a master’s in computerscience from the UW in 1992. Priorto joining the Lab, Austin worked with ESCACorporation developing software to monitorand control the generation and distributionof power for electric utility companies.In his spare time Austin enjoys cooking, volleyballand ultimate frisbee.NoteworthyToni Emerson, HITLab director of informationservices, received the 1995 VR Worldmagazine’s Industry Award for TheoryBuilding. Toni was lauded for her exceptionalwork in developing and moderatingthe USENET newsgroup sci.virtual-worlds.Toni has played a pioneering role in expandingthe presence and scholarly focusof this virtual reality newsgroup. Toni wasalso a featured guest on the InternetRoadside Cafe, a newly launched Universityof Washington TV series.CEDeS project researcher and UW architecturestudent Dace Campbell wasawarded first prize in an international designcompetition: “Virtual Habitat… AReality for Humanity” sponsored byGraphisoft U.S., Inc. and the AmericanInstitute of Architects Student Chapter inpartnership with Habitat for Humanity.Dace also received the UW College ofArchitecture’s highest accolade, theHenry Adams Medal, for outstandingscholastic achievement and “generalexcellence in architecture.” The award isprovided through The American Instituteof Architects.HITL alumni Marc Cygnus and AndyMacDonald are headed to Chicago to joinanother HITL graduate, Max Minkoff, atVictorMaxx. We’re not privy to the project,but the Midwest now has some ofSeattle’s best. Good luck!HIT Lab director of development Rose Yuand her husband Stephen Brown welcomedtheir first child, baby boy AsherBrown, on June 16th.HITLab collaborative researcher and electricalengineering associate professorBlake Hannaford is a new dad. AlecHannaford was born May 7th.HITLab associate director Max Wells andhis wife Amy are expecting a new additionin the Spring… Congratulations to all!20 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

FarewellPaul Danset, the HITLab’s founding project manager forGreenSpace, is moving on after five years with the Lab.Paul oversaw the successful development and completionof the Lab’s first GreenSpace demonstration funded byFujitsu Research Institute. This work resulted in the firsttranspacific testbed of a networked virtual reality “common”involving four participants, two in Seattle and two inTokyo. Paul was an outstanding researcher and an admiredproject leader and colleague. He will be greatly missed.Fulbright scholar, and the HITLab’s first Ph.D. graduate,Jesus Savage-Carmona is headed back home to MexicoCity after five years with the Lab. Jesus accepted a professorialposition in the electrical engineering departmentof the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).He will continue his research in speech recognition, digitalsignal processing and artificial intelligence. Jesus willalways be part of HITLab’s extended family and we lookforward to collaborating on publications and projects withhim in the months to come. ¡Te extrañaremos muchoChucho! His new email: savage@servidor.dgsca.unam.mxJon Howell, HITLab system administrator, is off to NewHampshire to Dartmouth College to pursue a Ph.D. in computerscience. While with the Lab, Jon was invaluable inproviding tools and designing systems which increased thereliability of the Lab’s computing infrastructure. Jon wasalso a part of the GreenSpace group—designing and prototypingthe network transport and basic distributeddatabase mechanics layer of the software.Don Theophilus swapped a husky for a wolverine andaccepted a plum position at the University of Michigan inAnn Arbor as the Associate Director of Corporate andFoundation Relations for the UM College of Engineering.Don was instrumental in attracting funding to the Lab,most notably for the VRRV project. Don “burned themidnight oil” on many grants and proposals and his dedicationand hard work will be missed. In addition, the boardof the Virtual Worlds Society salutes Don for hispro-bono legal assistance.Congratulations to HITLab master’s graduates and AFOSRresearchers Gina Crvarich and Glenna Satalich. Gina isnow in California working with General Magic. Glenna iscloser to home doing contract usability testing forMicrosoft Corp.assistance with HITLab systems administration needs this summer.Cavendish returns to Brigham Young this fall to pursue adegree in physics.Joris Groen, a student at Leiden University, Netherlands, completeda six month practicum at the Lab as a part of his courseof study specializing in human computer interaction. The AFOSRteam thanks Joris for his contributions to their research in situationawareness and presence in virtual environments.Jens Dauner, a HITLab visiting scholar from the University of AppliedScience in Esslingen, Germany, is now back home andworking with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering(IAO). During his six months at the Lab, Jens worked to integratethe IAO distributed virtual environment with the GreenSpace virtualenvironment. We look forward to the fruits of his master’s thesisand a future Stuttgart-Seattle-Tokyo linkup.After four years in and around the HITLab, Aaron Kaleva Pulkkahas moved to California to work as a show designer and programmerat the Walt Disney Imagineering VR Studio. While at the Lab,Aaron authored a FAQ for and helped co-moderate the sci.virtualworldsnewsgroup. Aaron also collaborated with the computerscience and engineering department’s “Softbot” project to createa graphical user interface for their intelligent agent; and broughtdynamic interactions into the first GreenSpace demonstration.Aaron will return briefly to the UW to defend his thesis entitled“Spatial Culling of Interpersonal Communication within LargescaleMulti-user Virtual Environments,” which describes hisexploration into providing intuitive and efficient communication forthe GreenSpace system.Tremendous thanks to founding VRRV team members SharonKirkbride (graduation congratulations), Bruce Selleg, Nancy Bevers,Georg Etzel, Lisa Amaral, Jon Jancola (weddingcongratulations), and Karen Bolt for their herculean contributionsof time, heart and soul to this exceptional project.Ivan Poupyrev, Visiting Scholar. The Lab was happy to hostvisiting scholar Ivan Poupyrev during the months of July and August.Ivan is a Russian doctoral student in computer science atthe Information Systems Laboratory at the University of Hiroshima(Japan). While at the HITLab, Ivan developed a metaphor andbasic software tools for building 3D user interfaces, based on anabstraction of the desktop WIMP interface. Ivan will be continuingthis work, both at the HITLab and at his home department, as partof his dissertation research over the next two years.Thanks to Jay Kapur for his work on the Knowledge Baseproject and good luck with your studies.All our best to Archie Gonzalez–enjoy your work in PuertoRico…hope to see you back in the Lab soon!Great appreciation to Cavendish McKay, for his expertRESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 21

KnowledgeBaseThis has been a “moving” pastfew months for the KnowledgeBase team. We are excited tobe in our newly configuredlibrary digs. No longer do ourintrepid customers have to do a“turn to the side and suck inyour abdomen” maneuver toreach a text. We have repositionedand built-in a few otherKnowledge Base resources aswell. Read on!scivw@hitl.washington.eduWe have moved sci.virtual-worlds to its new home on an official“HITLab” machine. Those of you still posting to scivw@u.washington.edushould now send your postings to scivw@hitl.washington.edu.Please note the later address has actually been the “official” address forabout three years. However, now it is the only address.New FTP SiteWe have a new HITLab ftp site at ftp.hitl.washington.edu, in the “pub”directory. Technical reports, theses and bibliographies available in postscript(.ps), text (.txt) and rich text format (.rtf). This site is for those ofyou who can’t access the documents using our WWW site at http://www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/ or those of you want to actuallyprint out HITLab publications.Just the FAQsSci.virtual-worlds has a new series of Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs). There are actually seven in the works, but three are finished andwill be posted on sci.virtual-worlds on the 13th of every month.The Introduction FAQThis administrative FAQ is meant to assist the new user in posting tosci.virtual-worlds. Basic questions such as how to post, rejection policy,and how to subscribe and unsubscribe from virtu-l (the mailing list mirror)is covered.The Reference FAQThis “starting points” FAQ is meant to assist the VR newbie in finding informationon virtual reality. VR books, magazines, on-line resources andeducational opportunities are covered.The Education and Research Center FAQ:This education and research FAQ is meant to assist the VR person in findinginformation on educational resources in virtual reality. Research centers,directories and bibliographies, and educational opportunities are listed.The other FAQs are works-in-progress. They are devoted to supplier listingswith a section of relevant citations particular to that subject. For instance,our current “Glove FAQ” lists suppliers of hand input devices aswell as relevant researchers, citations, online resources (WWW and ftp),and patents.For further information contact: Toni Emerson, director information services,(206) 616-1423, diderot@hitl.washington.edu22 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

Knowledge Base Order FormThe following Knowledge Base reference publications are available electronicallyvia anonymous ftp or for sale in hard copy format for fees listed below.These compilations are the result of over four years of dedicated scholarlyresearch in the virtual environments field. They are the most up-to-the-minuteand comprehensive documents available. Price includes tax and postage.Money orders and checks accepted in U.S. dollars from U.S. bank only. Makepayable to: HIT Lab. Sorry, no credit cards. All sales final. All prices arefor single publication—no subscription service offered at this time. Pleaseallow two-four weeks for delivery.Titles:Virtual Reality Update (VRU)$5- U.S., $8 - Canada, $12 Europe/Japan, $15 OtherInformation Resources on the Net (IRN)$5 - U.S., $8 - Canada, $12 Europe/Japan, $15 OtherInformation Resources on Virtual Reality (IRVR)$10 - U.S., $13 - Canada, $17 Europe/Japan, $20 OtherAudio Bibliography$5 - U.S., $8 - Canada, $12 Europe/Japan, $15 OtherMedicine and VR: A Guide to the Literature (MedVR)$46 - U.S., $50 - Canada, $55 Europe/Japan, $60 OtherVirtual Interface Technology Bibliography (VITB)$25 - U.S., $28 - Canada, $32 Europe/Japan, $35 OtherName ________________________________________________________Company Name ______________________________________________Address _____________________________________________________City/State/Zip_______________________________________________Phone _______________________________________________________Virtual Worlds SocietyThe Virtual Worlds Society is in the process offorming a Virtual Reality Trade Association,for vendors who are involved in thisbusiness—hardware, software, or services.“The emerging VR industry has reached apoint in its development at which a tradeassociation would help both vendors andusers,” said Joel Orr, president of the VirtualWorlds Society.“Issues such as standards, monitoring oflegislation, and industry statistics areimportant, and have no forum in whichvendors can address them today. This tradeassociation will provide that forum, alongwith other benefits.”For information, please contact:Joel OrrExecutive DirectorVirtual Worlds Society261 Marsh Island DriveChesapeake, VA 23320(800) 897-7711Country ______________________________________________________REVIEW Subscription FormPLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:MMThis is a new subscription. I have not been on the mailing list before.This is an address change.Name _____________________________________________________________ Phone _______________________________Company Name __________________________________________________________________________________________Address ________________________________________________________________________________________________City ______________________________________________________________ State ________________Zip ____________Mail to: HITLab, Attn: Review UW Box 352142, Seattle, WA 98195–2142 or send same info via email to: alden@hitl.washington.edu

Call for Students & InternsThe HITLab has positions availablefor graduate students for 1996. TheHITLab is a technology transfer branchof the WTC and is affiliated with allacademic departments at the UW andother universities throughout the state.The Lab’s mission is to empowerhumans by creating better ways ofinteracting with advanced computers.Graduate ProgramLab faculty teach three VR courses perquarter as part of the course offerings inindustrial engineering. Students wishingto pursue graduate studies in the field ofVR and virtual interface design must firstobtain admission to the UW and to anacademic department in the College ofEngineering (e.g. electrical engineering,mechanical engineering, bioengineering,computer science and engineering,technical communication, industrialengineering); the College of Arts andSciences (e.g. psychology, art, communications,physics); or the College ofEducation. Students can then apply to theHITLab for graduate project work and foreconomic support. A limited number ofmaster’s level graduate researchassistantships are available withinindustrial engineering for fall 1996.Funded support is highly competitive.Summer InternsSuitably qualified students are invited tosubmit a resume, cover letter andexamples of work for consideration asHITLab summer interns. Early applicantswill receive priority consideration.Please submit a letter of interestand a resume to:Mary McGoughHITLabUniversity of WashingtonBox 352142Seattle, WA 98195–2142Or via email to:position@hitl.washington.eduWTCThe Human Interface Technology Laboratory is a part ofThe Washington Technology CenterThe HITLab is a joint research unit of theWashington Technology Center and theUniversity of Washington. The WTC is astate-funded enterprise that supportscommercially-promising research andtechnology development of directbenefit to the economic vitality ofWashington state.WTC research is accomplished throughHUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORYUniversity of WashingtonBox 352142Seattle, WA 98195–2142Address Correction RequestedThird ClassU.S. PostagePaidSeattle, WAPermit No. 62collaborative industry-university projectsconducted in response to thecommercial needs of the state’s industrialbase. WTC research capabilitiescapitalize on high technology resourcesavailable through the state’s researchuniversity system.65-6344*A656344-000*The WTC supports technology developmentin five areas:• Advanced Materials and Manufacturing• Biotechnology• Computer Systems and Software• Human Interface Technology• MicroelectronicsFor more information see WTC’s Website:http://www.wtc.washington.eduor call (206) 685-1920.24 RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY