1995 Survey of Virtual Reality Activity in the United Kingdom 1995 Abstract

1995 Survey of Virtual Reality Activity in the United Kingdom 1995

Prepared for the Advisory Group on Computer Graphics

The Advanced Interfaces Group T.L.J. Howard, R.J. Hubbold, A.D. Murta, A.J. West Department of Computer Science University of Manchester M13 9PL Tel: 0161 275 6274; Fax: 0161 275 6236 email: [email protected]

Abstract This report presents a summary of the ®ndings of a survey of current work on Virtual Reality in the U.K., conducted by the Advanced Interfaces Group between March and November 1995.

1 Contents

1 Introduction 3

2 The scope of the term `Virtual Reality' 3

3 Survey results: Virtual Reality activity in the U.K. 4

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3.1 Desktop and immersive VR : 4

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3.2 Type of group : 4

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3.3 Number of personnel : 4

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3.4 Backgrounds of group workers : 5

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3.5 Time group has been active : 6

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3.6 Funding : 6

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3.7 Focus and applications of VR work : 6

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3.8 Perceived bene®ts of VR : 8

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3.9 Hardware and software used : 9

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3.10 Organisations with immersive VR facilities : 11

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3.11 Importance of VR for the United Kingdom : 11

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4 Conclusions 12

5 Acknowledgments 13

A List of respondents 14

B Resources to support VR workers 15

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B.1 Conferences : 15

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B.2 Journals : 15

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B.3 Organisations : 16

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B.4 Books : 16

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C Details of each respondent 17

D References 54

E The Survey Questionnaire 55

2 1 Introduction

In 1994, the U.K.'s Advisory Group on Computer Graphics (AGOCG) commissioned the Advanced In- terfaces Group at Manchester to conduct a survey into the state of the art in virtual reality in the U.K. The ®ndings were published as an AGOCG Technical Report [1]. This year, we were asked to update the results, to provide input for an AGOCG Workshop to be held in December 1995. As before, the survey was conducted by post, email, WWW and telephone, with notices placed in newslet- ters and distributed at conferences, and with numerous followups. This year, 58 responses were received ± a small increase on the 51 in 1994. Details of the respondents can be found in Appendix C. Many of them are the same groups who replied last year, but a few have dropped out (9) and some are new (16). To provide a comparison with the previous results, we have kept the questionnaire the same as before; a copy is included as Appendix E. This has permitted us to include last year's data alongside the new information, in our summaries and analysis of the responses. Whilst every effort was taken to make this survey as representative as possible of VR work currently being undertaken in the U.K., a number of companies, research groups and individuals, known to be working with VR, did not respond to repeated requests for information. The results presented should be viewed as representative of a large cross-section of the U.K. community that feels able or willing to discuss its activities. We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to all those who responded to the questionnaire.

2 The scope of the term `Virtual Reality'

Virtual Reality is a term whose usage has become very widespread. In conducting this survey we have chosen not to limit its meaning, so that respondents are free to use it as they wish. As will be clear from the results presented later, it is a term which is used very loosely. However, in analysing the results we have felt it useful to distinguish at least the following two broad categories:

Desktop VR and Virtual Environments. These usually refer to the use of a conventional computer monitor as the output device onto which the 3D environment is rendered. In some cases, stereoscopic displays are used ± for example, stereo shutter glasses ± but at the low-end of the market this is generally not the case. Interaction is often by means of a 2D mouse, although 3D devices ± such as a dataglove, or 3D mouse ± may be used. Useful work developing underlying software can be carried out in this way.

Immersive VR. Here, some kind of immersive display and tracking equipment is employed in order to create the psychological illusion of being inside the computer-generated environment, rather than viewing it from the outside through a screen. When appropriate means of input are provided, interaction with the environment can also be directly experienced, greatly enhancing the psychological effect. There are two main ways in which this effect can be achieved: by using a head-mounted display (HMD); or by using a large-screen system, such as a video projector, which creates the illusion of immersion by ®lling the ®eld of view of the user. This is similar to the effect achieved in an IMAX or Omnimax cinema.

It is important to realise that a desktop environment is different ± both in terms of the user's psychological responses and the system's HCI requirements ± from an immersive one. There is nothing which fundamentally distinguishes desktop VR from conventional 3D graphics. It is the ability to perceive the environment from within, and to interact directly with it (direct manipulation in 3D space), which is the sig-

3 ni®cant new feature that immersive VR brings to human-computer interaction, and which distinguishes it from traditional 3D graphics, and thus from a desktop environment. In the published literature the term VR is usually synonymous with immersive VR as de®ned here. For example, if one looks at papers by academic researchers and industrial developers, it is the novel aspects of interaction within a world which are seen as the fundamentally new feature of VR interfaces, as distinct from more traditional graphical user interfaces. The engagement of human perceptual skills, and other aspects of psychology form an important part of this. Nonetheless, an informal observation is that the community is divided into two camps: those who view the immersive interface as the signi®cant innovation in VR; and those who regard the use of a 3D environment to be the signi®cant innovation to which an immersive interface can be tacked on fairly easily.

3 Survey results: Virtual Reality activity in the U.K.

In this section we present an analysis of information received from respondents. We have included the equivalent information from the 1994 survey for comparison, and in each section we draw attention to any speci®c changes or interpretations we feel are notable.

3.1 Desktop and immersive VR

Our analysis, based on equipment being used, shows that 37 (63%) of our respondents are working with desktop VR and 21 (37%) with immersive VR. These ®gures are quite close to those reported by the UK VR SIG, of whose 259 members (versus 178 in 1994) 66% were working with desktop VR, and 34% with immersive VR.

3.2 Type of group

1995 survey 1994 survey University 35 (47%) 30 (59%) Vendor/manufacturer 14 (12%) 6 (12%) Company research group 4 (12%) 6 (12%) Government agency 2 (7%) 1 (2%) Other 2 (3%) 0 (0%) End user 1 (2%) 0 (0%) Individual researcher 0 (5%) 1 (2%) The overall balance between sectors has not changed signi®cantly. University groups still predominate in the response to the survey, but there has been a small drop in these and an increase in the number of companies responding.

3.3 Number of personnel

1995 survey 1994 survey 1±5: 39 (62%) 38 (75%) 6±10: 17 (28%) 12 (24%) 11+: 7 (9%) 2 (1%) A notable feature is the increase in the number of larger groups, but in some cases students have been counted in the ®gures reported, so some caution is necessary in interpreting the responses. Unfortunately, and almost certainly because they had seen last year's report, several respondents did not state the actual

4 number of people engaged in their VR work, but instead gave the range (e.g. 5 ± 10). This is adequate for the table below, but does not allow us to compute correctly the total number of workers involved. If we use the median ®gures for ambiguous cases we get a total of 468, which is probably a reasonable estimate. However, it should be pointed out that 110 of these work for a single company, and a further 35 for a second, leaving 323 distributed over the remaining respondents.

3.4 Backgrounds of group workers

(These are raw numbers, not percentages) 1995 survey 1994 survey Computer Science 49 41 Engineering 34 23 Psychology 18 11 Mathematics 10 6 Physics 8 6 Electrical/Electronic Engineering 9 11 Human factors/Ergonomics 9 4 Graphic design/Fine art 5 9 Vision science/Opthalmology 5 1 Arti®cial Intelligence 4 1 Sales/Marketing 4 3 Image science 3 0 Simulation 3 1 Geography/GIS 2 1 Acoustic/Audio engineering 2 2 Architecture 2 2 Computer-based learning 2 1 Control engineering 2 0 Military 2 1 Philosophy 2 2 Systems Design 2 1 Aerospace 1 0 Animation 1 0 Chemistry 1 0 Communication studies 1 1 History 1 1 Linguistics 1 2 Medicine 1 1 Medical physics 1 1 Operational research 1 0 Sociology 1 1 Theatre 1 1 Other 0 2 There has been a modest increase in the reported backgrounds of workers in VR which re¯ects an overall increase in the number of people. Computer Science, Engineering and Psychology are still easily the largest groupings.

5 3.5 Time group has been active

1995 survey 1994 survey Less than 1 year 5 4 1±2 years 12 18 2±3 years 21 6 3±4 years 8 3 4±5 years 5 2 more than 5 years 10 4 Both this year's Survey and the 1994 Survey indicate that the majority of groups were formed in the period 1992±3.

3.6 Funding

1995 survey 1994 survey Company/Clients 31 21 University internal 20 17 SERC/EPSRC/MRC/ACME/ESRC 13 15 Unspeci®ed Government agency 8 4 EC/CEC/ESPRIT 4 7 Department of Trade and Industry 3 6 HEFCE/HEFCW 2 0 Defence Research Agency/Ministry of Defence 2 6 Self 1 0 Charities 0 3 Department of the Environment 0 1 Department of Health 0 1 Health and Safety Executive 0 1 IED 0 1 The overall balance of funding does not appear to have changed signi®cantly since 1994, with the notable exception of work funded by companies and their clients. This could be interpreted as a healthy increased investment by industry. Perhaps more worryingly, there seems not to be any increase in the numbers reporting other sources of support ± especially for academic work, such as Research Council or other government (national or European) funding. Given that there are still many unanswered questions about VR, and the fact that a sizeable proportion of respondents were from the academic sector, this is a notable ®nding.

3.7 Focus and applications of VR work

Respondents were asked to describe their interest and activity in VR in two categories:

The focus of their VR work, indicating whether they were concerned with hardware or software development, VR peripherals, applying VR to speci®c application areas, and so on.

Which, if any, speci®c application areas they were interested in.

Reported areas of focus were:

6 1995 survey 1994 survey Applications development 39 18 Human factors/HCI 14 8 Software architectures 9 3 VR peripherals development 8 4 Perception/action/cognitive aspects in virtual environments 7 2 Data visualization 3 0 VRML 3 0 Algorithms research 2 0 Education/Training 2 2 Integrated manufacturing 2 1 Socio-cognitive issues 2 1 Speech 2 0 CSCW 1 0 Parallel architectures 1 2 Simulation 1 0 Social issues of VR 1 1 Stereoscopic display systems 1 1 Other 0 9 The range of applications and activities covered remains broad. There has been a substantial increase in applications development, possibly re¯ecting the increase in industrially-funded work. A number of new topics have appeared, including data visualization and VRML.

7 There was a wide range of speci®c application areas reported, including: 1995 survey 1994 survey Education and training 11 3 Information visualization 10 6 Construction planning and scheduling 9 2 Driving/¯ight simulation 7 1 CAD/CAM 6 4 Medical simulation/training 6 5 Virtual retailing/Marketing 5 0 Industrial simulation 4 2 Information systems/Databases 4 0 Installation/maintenance planning 4 0 Architecture 3 3 CSCW/Teleconferencing 3 1 Entertainment 3 4 Spatial skills 3 1 VRML 3 0 Arti®cial intelligence 2 0 Cognitive aspects of virtual worlds 2 1 Disabled user applications 2 0 Evacuation and safety 2 1 Fluid dynamics 2 1 Modelling 2 1 Robotics 2 1 Art 1 0 Discrete-event simulation 1 0 Ergonomics 1 0 Military simulation 1 2 Animation 1 0 Other 0 10

3.8 Perceived bene®ts of VR

Respondents were asked what they saw as the speci®c bene®ts VR brought to their work, and replied as follows: 1995 survey 1994 survey Increased and improved human-computer interaction 30 13 Better visualization of information 24 8 A sense of `presence' in a virtual environment 11 7 More rapid prototyping 10 4 Improved simulation 9 3 Cooperative working in virtual environments 6 2 Improved education and training methods 5 2 Quicker decision making 1 1 Study of perception/action 1 0 Applying cognitive skills 0 1 Substantially more people are reporting greater perceived bene®ts of VR. The extent to which this remains an expectation rather than a proven bene®t remains unclear.

8 3.9 Hardware and software used

By far the biggest increase in hardware is the doubling in reported use of Silicon Graphics machines. PC usage has increased only marginally. At this rate, SG will probably have overtaken PCs by the time this report appears. Superscape remains the most popular software package, with dVISE/dVS in second place. The other striking thing is the broad range of software in use. Much of this cannot be classed by any stretch of the imagination as VR software, suggesting that many groups are still developing their own solutions to problems using underlying graphics systems. As in last year's report this may imply quite a large degree of duplication of effort.

9 1995 survey 1994 survey Hardware PC 32 29 Silicon Graphics 31 15 Division 5 6 Sun 4 4 Apple 3 5 HP/Apollo 2 1 Interaction Methods HMD (commercial) 21 13 Magnetic/ultrasonic tracker 19 10 Stereo glasses 14 8 3D mouse 13 10 Joystick 10 0 Spaceball 10 6 Glove/EXOS 7 11 Tactile devices 5 0 Sound 4 6 Eye tracker 3 0 Boom/arm 2 0 Large-screen projection 2 0 Motion hardware 2 0 HMD (home-made) 1 2 Glove (home-made) 1 0 Private Eye 1 0 Touchscreen 1 2 Voice input 0 1 Software Superscape VRT 17 13 dVISE/dVS 10 3 GL/OGL/Performer/Inventor 7 2 3D studio 6 3 VRML/Webspace 5 0 World Toolkit/Sense8 6 7 JACK 3 0 Renderware 3 6 MultiGen 2 0 PHIGS 2 0 Rend386 2 3 Worldview 2 0 AudioLab 1 1 Avril 1 0 AVS/Explorer 1 0 DIVE 1 2 Quicktime VR 1 0 Vista Pro 1 0 Vroom 1 0 Wavefront 1 0 MR Toolkit 0 2 Swoop VR 0 1

10 3.10 Organisations with immersive VR facilities

There are nine new entries in the list of organisations using or supporting immersive VR this year (an asterisk against an organisation's name indicates a new entry since the 1994 survey): BAe Bristol Human factors * CADCentre CAD applications Division Supplier DRA Human factors * GMS Supplier/human modelling * RAF Innsworth Training systems * RAL Interactive systems Virtuality Entertainment Virtual Presence Supplier whilst university groups were: Belfast Robotics * Brunel Simulation * City University, London Human interaction Edinburgh Communications interface research; Psychology/human factors * Essex Teleconferencing/VR applications Heriot-Watt Mechanical/chemical engineering * Loughbrough VR research and applications

Manchester VR software systems and applications Nottingham Communications research/CSCW QMW, London Physiology Southampton Human factors * UCL Virtual environments * University of Wales Human factors

3.11 Importance of VR for the United Kingdom

The feeling most commonly reported was that the U.K. has so far conducted research of excellent quality in the ®eld of VR and its applications, and that it is ideally placed to become the world leader, if suf®cient government funding and support is forthcoming. Some quotes from respondents:

Research is vital for sustaining the present UK world lead in commercial VR systems.

VR is a crucial technology and will genuinely transform the world.

The UK can be a world leader.

If the UK is not at the front in VR, it is nowhere.

The UK has always been a tremendous source of innovation, and VR is no exception.

3.12 Promoting VR activity in the U.K.

Many respondents speci®cally requested increased and targeted funding for academic/industrial collaborations, such as a special EPSRC programme. This funding should be medium/long term, and not be

11 aimed at short-term `quick' projects. Some quotes from respondents:

Organise a `Community Club' along the lines of the Alvey Vision Club.

Extend the activities of the UK VR SIG and Virtual Reality Society.

Funding bodies must decide in whose court the VR ball falls.

Research Council funding of `Blue Skies' research.

Selection and focus on real industrial requirements.

Encouragement/backing from industry to UK academic research groups.

Greater collaboration and information exchange between active VR groups.

Stable, long-term funding that is free from the immediate supposed needs of the market, and desire that everything must immediately make a pro®t for someone or else be considered useless.

Coordination of VR activities across research councils.

Funding for industry-led R & D programmes.

Wider use of British-made VR products in training and simulation systems.

It is critically important that research be coordinated and multidisciplinary.

Establishment and encouragement of `champions of industry'.

Partnerships between industry and government-funded research organisations.

Targeted research programmes.

Speci®c funds available for conferences.

Broader range research groups.

The development of standards.

More applied R & D sponsored by the Government.

Incentives for industry to participate but not dictate (i.e., avoid just product development).

More partnering between groups and industry.

Subsidised work experience for university students.

4 Conclusions

Conducting this Survey for the second year has indicated that VR research and commerce in the UK is certainly growing. However, it is notable that the call for increased and more targeted funding strategies has not abated. The information acquired during the survey is included in the appendices of this report so that interested readers are not disadvantaged in distilling their own conclusions.

12 5 Acknowledgments

As well as the respondents, to whom we express our thanks for their cooperation, we would like to thank Robin Hollands of the U.K. VR SIG for generously making his membership database available to us.

13 A List of respondents

Aerobel Defence Technology Ltd BNR Europe Limited (VR Lab) British Aerospace (Display Interaction, Human Factors Department) Brunel University (Centre for Applied Simulation Modelling) Building Research Establishment CADCentre Ltd City University (Centre for HCI Design) Colt Virtual Reality Criterion Software Ltd. De Montfort University (Dept. of Computing and Information Sciences) Denne Developments Ltd Division Limited DRA Centre for Human Sciences Equipe Electronics GMS Ltd Heriot-Watt University (Manufacturing Systems Research Group) Imperial College (Department of Chemistry) Interactive Europe Ltd Liverpool John Moores University (IT Centre) Manchester Metropolitan University (Department of Computing) Middlesex University (School of Geography and Environmental Management) Mott MacDonald (Computational Fluid Dynamics Group) Pearson Interface Primary Image Ltd Queen Mary and West®eld College/FIVE RAF Innsworth (VR Lab) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Advanced Interactive Systems Division) Shef®eld Hallam University (Communication Information Research Group) Transformation Software Ltd Twentyman Limited UMIST (Time Lab) University College London (Virtual Environments Research Group) University of Bath (Media Technology Research Centre) University of Bath (CASA School of Architecture and C.E.) University of Belfast (Control Engineering Research Group) University of East Anglia (Computational Geometry Project) University of Edinburgh (Centre for Communication Interface Research) University of Edinburgh (Perception in Action Laboratories) University of Essex (Virtual Reality Laboratory) University of Hull (Virtual Environment Research Centre, VEGA) University of Leeds (Virtual Working Environment Group) University of Leicester (Virtual Reality Research Group) University of Loughborough (Multi-sensory Virtual Environment Integration Laboratory) University of London (Dept. of Social Policy and Social Science) University of Manchester (Advanced Interfaces Group) University of Nottingham (AIMS Research Unit) University of Nottingham (Communications Research Group) University of Nottingham (VIRART)

14 University of Shef®eld (Virtual Reality in Engineering Research Group) University of Shef®eld (Virtual Reality in Medicine and Biology Group) University of Southampton (Human Factors Research Unit) University of Strathclyde (Virtual Construction Simulation Research Group) University of Wales College of Cardiff (Human Factors Research Group/Cardiff Virtual Environment Laboratory) University of Wolverhampton (School of Computing and Information Technology) Virtuality Group Plc Virtual Presence Ltd Virtual Studios Ltd Vivax Ltd/Swansea Institute of Higher Education Westland System Assessment Limited (VR Systems)

B Resources to support VR workers

This section lists the various resources which the survey respondents reported as their main sources of VR-related information.

B.1 Conferences

AIAS IAsPA ARVO IEE Colloqium ATEI IEEE R&A AVA IEEE VRAIS Advanced Visual Interfaces Workshop ITEC BCS VR Applications events Imagina BIT VR Live 93 CeBIT Meckler VR shows worldwide CHI SIGGRAPH CIM SPIE Computer Graphics Expo UIST ECVP VR Expo (Meckler) Eurographics U.K. VR User Show Eurographics VRST GGE VR World (US)

B.2 Journals

ACM Transactions on Graphics Cyberedge Journal AI Expert The Edge Electronics News Aviation HCI BIT Human Factors and Ergonomics Society CGW IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications Communications of the ACM IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man and Cybernetics Computer Graphics Forum International Journal of Man-Machine Studies Computer Graphics World Military Simulation and Training Computers and Graphics

15 PC Magazine VR User PC World VR World Piz-Elation (VRASP) VRS Journal (forthcoming) Presence Virtual Reality Expert Real-time Graphics Virtual Reality Report SIGCHI Virtual Reality World SIGGRAPH Virtual (Italy) Space and Environmental Medicine Visual Computer SPIE Wired VR News

B.3 Organisations

Shef®eld Virtual Reality Academic Group ([email protected]) Superscape Users Group VR Society VR SIG ([email protected] VRASP (U.S.A.)

B.4 Books

Aukstakalnis S and Blatner D, Silicon Mirage: The Art and Science of Virtual Reality, Peachpit Press, 1992. Burdea, G and Coiffret, P, Virtual Reality Technology, John Wiley, 1994. Durlach N and Mavor AS (Eds), Virtual Reality: Scienti®c and Technological Challenges, National Academy Press, Washington DC, USA. R.A. Earnshaw, M.A. Gigante, H. Jones (Eds.), Virtual Reality Systems, Academic Press, 1993,0-12- 227748-1. Ellis (ed), Pictorial Communication in Virtual and Real Environments. Heim M, The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality, OUP, 1993. Helsel SK and Roth JP (Eds), Virtual Reality: Theory, Practice and Promise, Meckler, 1991. Helsel SK, Beyond the Vision: the Technology, Research and Business of Virtual Reality, Meckler, 1991. Helsel SK and Jacobson J (Eds), Virtual Reality Market Place 1994, Meckler, 1994. Jaconson L, Garage Virtual Reality, Sams, 1994. Kalawsky, R, The Science of Virtual Reality and Virtual Environments, Addison-Wesley, 1994. Kreuger M, Arti®cial Reality II, Addison-Wesley, 1991. Larijani C, The VR primer, McGraw-Hill, 0-07-036416-8. Lavzoff, VR Playhouse, Waite Group Press, 1992. Loef¯er CE and Anderson T, VR Casebook, Wiley, 1994. MacDonald L and Vince J (Eds), Interacting with Virtual Environments, Wiley, 1994. Magnenat Thalmann & Thalmann, Virtual Worlds and Multimedia, Wiley, 0-471-93972-2. Magnenat Thalmann & Thalmann, Arti®cial Life and Virtual Reality, Wiley, 1994. Pimentel & Teixeira, VR Through the New Looking Glass, McGraw-Hill, 0-8306-4064-9. Rheingold H, Virtual Reality, Mandarin, 0-7493-0889-3. Rheingold H, The Virtual Community, Secker & Warburg, 1994. Stampe et al., Virtual Creations Tufte, Envisioning Information. Vince J, Virtual Reality Systems, Addison-Wesley, 1995. Wexelblat, VR Applications and Explanations, Academic Press, 0-12-745045-9.

16 Wodaski R, Virtual Reality Madness, Sams, 0-672-30391-4. Wooley B, Virtual Worlds, Penguin. Sherman & Judkins, Glimpses of Heaven, Visions of Hell, Coronet, 0-340-60155-8. VR Intelligence Report ± VR Centre

B.5 The Net alt.lang.vrml sci.virtual-worlds.apps alt.3d sgi.* alt.uu.virtual-worlds.misc homebrew-vr comp.graphics glove-list comp.graphics.visualization rend386-list comp.graphics.research [email protected] comp.robotics [email protected] sci.virtual-worlds

C Details of each respondent

Name of group: Aerobel Defence Technology Ltd

Contact name: Nicholas Wrobel Address: PO Box 90D, 356 West Barnes Lane, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 6JG Email: [email protected] Tel: 0181 336 1733 Fax: 0181 942 8909 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Company research group..Software vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: 4 Backgrounds of group members: Engineering Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1990 Sources of funding: Company, Government, Industry Major focus of VR work: Application development using commercial off-the-shelf equipment. Application areas: Design, MMI, impact on environment, training. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Coryphaeus Software, Inc. (California), software vendor. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Silicon Graphics computers (networked), Coryphaeus Software suite of realtime software tools, own software add-ons to above, peripherals/controllers etc. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Joystick (3 axis), mouse and touchscreen, sound (3D spatialised sources)

17 Name of group: BNR Europe (VR Lab)

Contact name: Tony Plant Address: BNR Europe Limited, London Road, Harlow, Essex, CM17 9NA. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0279 402109 Fax: 0279 402047 WWW: Yes, but not accessible outside BNR network

Type of organisation: Company research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Telecomms Engineering, Human Factors. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Company. Major focus of VR work: Application development: telecoms equipment installation planning, telecoms network planning, design and presentation, software architecture/design visualisation, CATV service user interfaces, Marketing Presentations. Application areas: Installation layout and con®guration planning, Software Visualisation, Network Vi- sualisation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: VR Solutions Ltd/University of Salford (through VRS initiative), Imperial College. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 486 PC, Pentium PC, Notebook PC, Spaceball, Superscape VRT, SGI Onyx, Sense8, dVISE/dVS. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Desktop now. Stereo projection planned. HMDs possible.

18 Name of group: British Aerospace (Display Interaction, Human Factors Department)

Contact name: Karen Carr Address: British Aerospace (Ops.) Ltd., Sowerby Research Centre, FPC 267, PO Box 5, Filton, Bristol, BS12 7QW Email: [email protected] Tel: 0272 366259 Fax: 0272 363733 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Company research group Number of personnel in VR group: 7 Backgrounds of group members: Psychology, Computer Science, Ophthalmology, Human Factors, Vi- sion Science, Audiology Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1987 Sources of funding: Company Major focus of VR work: 1. Analysis and solution of visual, auditory and tactual feedback requirements. 2. Effects of technology characteristics (hardware and software) and human perception and cognition. Application areas: See above. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: University of Cardiff (Psychology and Optome- try), UCL (Psychology), University of Durham (Psychology), University of West of England (Computer Science), Interface Technology Research Ltd (Bristol). VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Various experimental rigs for studying speci®c components of VR, eg. variable con®guration head-mounted display; optical rigs for stereo studies and accommodation studies also Division VPX, various HMDs, LCD shuttering goggles for desktop stereo, Ball graphics engine (ex-Megatek 944), Real World graphics cards, data glove, Exos Dextrous Hand- master, Private Eye, opthalmic equipment, auditory DSP workstation with large selection of HRTFs, eye movement and focus measuring equipment, various 3D magnetic trackers, psychological tests, various tactile feedback devices, physiological monitoring equipment (EEGs, galvanic skin response) etc. Also equipment testing facilities, e.g., telespectroradiometers, sound level meters etc. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Direct manual

19 Name of group: Brunel University (Centre for Applied Simulation Modelling)

Contact name: Dr Robert Macredie/Prof Ray J. Paul Address: Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH Email: [email protected] Tel: 01895 274000 ext 2328 Fax: 01895 251686 WWW: http://http1.brunel.ac.uk:8080/depts/cs

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 16 (including external PhD students) ± not all are looking at/interested in VR; the focus is simulation generally Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science; Psychology; Human Factors; Simulation Mod- elling; Information Systems; Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since the mid 1980's the group has been involved in visual sim- ulations. VR is emerging as a label for some of the simulation interests of the group. Sources of funding: Mainly by industry and, although we have EPSRC sponsored students and submit proposals to major funding bodies as a central part of our programme (a number are currently under review). Major focus of VR work: Simulation applications; visualisation of complex real-world problems as a way to understand and solve them. Application areas: Simulation (notably discrete event). Collaborations with other groups or organisations: We collaborate widely with UK, European and International research groups and industries; including AT&T Istel Ltd, Rapid Data Ltd, CACI Products Division, Georgia Tech., University, Zagreb University, Lancaster University, Strathclyde University, Warwick University, University of Athens; University of Hull (VERC). VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Mainly PC based, although collaborative work also uses SG kit and a range of peripherals. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Immersive and non-immersive.

20 Name of group: Building Research Establishment

Contact name: Mr Michael Spearpoint Address: Fire Research Station, Building Research Establishment, Bucknalls Lane, Garston, Watford, WD2 7JR Email: [email protected] Tel: 01923 664954 Fax: 01923 664910 WWW: http://www.bre.co.uk

Type of organisation: Government research institution Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Physics, Engineering, Mathematics Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Government Agency Major focus of VR work: Familiarisation, Visualisation, Application development Application areas: Ability to interactively visualise buildings and ®res. It's not easy going into a real building that is on ®re! Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Other groups within BRE ± Engineers VR-related hardware and software facilities used: P90 Pentium PC, Spaceball, Superscape VR toolkit Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Non-immersive visualisation

Name of group: CADCentre Ltd.

Contact name: Paul Elton Address: High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HB Email: - Tel: 0223 314848 Fax: 0223 65737 WWW: -

Type of organisation: CADCentre is a software vendor providing engineering products to the process plant industry. Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Engineering and Computer Science Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: Company/customer Major focus of VR work: Developing a VR application for the walkthrough of process plants (oil rigs, power plants etc.) Application areas: Our application area is producing software for the design of process plant. Our main product is PDMS (Plant Design Management System) which is the world's leading application for plant design. REVIEW is our plant visualization system to which we are adding a VR capability. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: University of Manchester, Silicon Graphics Ltd., Fakespace Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: We currently have a SGI Onyx Reality Engine graphics computer with stereo goggles. We have been using a Fakespace BOOM VR device Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: stereo viewing, Fakespace BOOM, Silicon Graphics Reality Centre (CAVE).

21 Name of group: City University (Centre for HCI Design)

Contact name: Kulwinder Karr, Ivor Benjamin Address: School of Informatics, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0PB Email: [email protected] Tel: 0171 477 8000 x4033 Fax: 0171 477 8859 WWW: http://web.cs.city.ac.uk/hcid/index.html

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: More than 10 Backgrounds of group members: Systems Analysis, Computer Science, Theatre, Cognitive Science, Information Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992. Sources of funding: University internal SERC / EPSRC / EC Major focus of VR work: Design methodology and HCI, human interactions in VR. Application areas: VR interaction as drama; VR interaction design and development; VR systems design heuristics Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Pentiums, Space Mouse, Position Tracker, HMD, Sense8 WTK, Superscape VRT Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse, Space Mouse (joystick and motion tracker).

Name of group: Colt Virtual Reality

Contact name: Dr Mike Grif®n Address: New Lane, Havant, PO9 2LY. Email: [email protected] Tel: 01705 491460 Fax: 01705 491319 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Software vendor/manufacturer, end user Number of personnel in VR group: 7 Backgrounds of group members: Manufacturing Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Mechani- cal Engineering, Industrial Controls Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Company and various grants/collaboration. Major focus of VR work: Development of software products for the construction industry. Application areas: Simulated people management, ¯uid dynamics and CAD, command task simulation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Cham Ltd, Fire Service College VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Superscape VRT3 running on Pentium PC's, Ex- plorer on SGI Iris, OpenGL based renderers on NT, VRML. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Spaceball, point and click interface.

22 Name of group: Criterion Software Ltd.

Contact name: Mike King Address: Criterion Software Ltd., 20, Alan Turing Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 5YF Email: [email protected] Tel: 01483 448800 Fax: 01483 574360 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Software vendor/manufacturer, end user Number of personnel in VR group: 10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: Company research group.. Major focus of VR work: Software multi-media tools (3D Rendering). Application areas: Interactive 3D rendering. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: ± Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

Name of group: De Montfort University (Department of Computing and Information Sciences)

Contact name: Mr Robert Noble Address: De Montfort University, Hammerwood Gate, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes MK7 6HP. Email: [email protected] Tel: 01908 695511 x4145 Fax: 01908 834948 WWW: http://www.mk.dmu.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Mathematics, Computer Graphics. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: University Internal Major focus of VR work: Interactive modelling and animation. Application areas: Flexible object animation and synthetic human animation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Imaging Centre, De Montfort University Leices- ter VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Silicon Graphics Indigo Extreme, Crystal Eyes stereo attachment, SpaceBall. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Non-immersive stereo with 6 DOF controller.

23 Name of group: Denne Developments Ltd

Contact name: Phillip Denne Address: D.D.L., Unit 4, Cedar Trade Park, Ferndown Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7GB. Email: - Tel: 0202 861661 Fax: 0202 861233 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Equipment vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: 6 Backgrounds of group members: Physics, Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, electronics, industrial control, Mathematics, Simulation Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1988 (Simulation since 1985) Sources of funding: Customers. Major focus of VR work: Virtual motion systems. Application areas: Active and passive simulator motion bases, human-movement interactive control of experiences. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: 150 clients worldwide. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Motion hardware. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Our motion systems have the unique intrinsic ability to sense body movement at the same time as applying motion forces. Hence `virtual sur®ng' etc.

Name of group: Division Limited

Contact name: Pierre duPont, Marketing Director Address: 19 Apex Court, Woodlands, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4JT Email: [email protected] Tel: 01454 615554 Fax: 01454 615532 WWW: http://www.division.co.uk

Type of organisation: Software vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: Approx. 35. Backgrounds of group members: Mostly Computer Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1989. Sources of funding: Public Limited Company. Major focus of VR work: Development of tools for VR; VR hardware and VR software development. Application areas: Almost every one. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Many, either as customers, or as joint recipients of a DTI or EC project. Examples include Glaxo Group Research, the University of York, Queen Mary West®eld, Thorn EMI, Reading University, Nottingham University, Salford University, Coventry Uni- versity, etc. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: SGI Onyx and Indigo; HP 700, dVS; dVISE. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Immersive, and also ¯at-screen, in stereo or mono. Most HMDs are supported.

24 Name of group: DRA Centre for Human Sciences

Contact name: Mrs E C Regan Address: DRA Centre for Human Sciences, F131, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6TD Email: [email protected] Tel: 01252 394729 Fax: 01252 392122 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Government Research Institution. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 Backgrounds of group members: Psychology (2), computer science (1). Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Government agency. Major focus of VR work: Establishing human factors standards for virtual reality equipment; health and safety aspects of VR. Some application development. Application areas: Battle®eld simulation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: University of Nottingham. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Division Provision 200 and Provision 100 systems. Virtual Research ¯ight helmet, and N-vision high resolution CRT-based helmet, both ®tted with Polhe- mus trackers. Division 3D mouse (also Polhemus tracker). Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

Name of group: Equipe Electronics

Contact name: Mr Kevin Jarvis Address: 13 Liverpool Gardens, Worthing, W.Sussex, BN11 1RY Email: [email protected] Tel: 01903 216622 Fax: 01903 216633 WWW: http://mistral.co.uk/equipe

Type of organisation: Company research group Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: ± Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1995 Sources of funding: Company Major focus of VR work: 1. VR model data formats and exchange methods; 2. Psychology related studies (MMI). Application areas: Flight Simulation Visual Cues & Virtual Cockpits. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Sussex University ± 3D Data Structures. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Indigo Impact + Pentium PCs. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Not willing to disclose at this time.

25 Name of group: GMS Ltd

Contact name: Bob Goodwin (MD), Gareth Williams, Arthur Pro Address: Marcus House, 75±79 Wheelock Street, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 9AE Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1606 836093 Fax: +44 (0)1606 835643 WWW: Under construction

Type of organisation: Equipment vendor/manufacturer, Software vendor/manufacturer, End user (for demo/consultancy). Number of personnel in VR group: 3/4 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Mathematics, Computer Graphics, Mechanical Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since September 1993 Sources of funding: Company. Major focus of VR work: Will sell complete solutions with human simulation. Development of Jack software (device drivers and new functionality); Development of a turnkey VR solution using VR peripherals from a variety of sources, Application areas: Ergonomic simulation, digital mockups, assembly and maintenance simulation ± all with virtual humans conducting tasks. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Center for Human Modelling and Simulation, University of Pennsylvania (main developers of Jack software), Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Leeds University, Keyworth Institute. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Software: Jack; Hardware: Contact for details. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

Name of group: Heriot-Watt University (Manufacturing Systems Research Group)

Contact name: Mr James Ritchie Address: Dept of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS Email: [email protected] Tel: 0131 449 5111 x4364 Fax: 0131 451 3129 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 6 Backgrounds of group members: Engineering, mathematics Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: University, EPSRC, Industrial. Major focus of VR work: Collision detection, Assembly planning and knowledge elicitation. Application areas: Collision detection for VR. VR mechanical assembly planning and knowledge elicitation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Division, AT&T (formerly NCR), Dundee. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Division products. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Immersive and non-immersive.

26 Name of group: Imperial College (Department of Chemistry)

Contact name: Dr Henry Rzepa Address: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AY Email: [email protected] Tel: 0171 594 5774 Fax: ± WWW: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa

Type of organisation: University research group Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Chemistry Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: University internal. Major focus of VR work: Chemistry. Application areas: VRML, SuperJanet. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: SGI + Webspace + Webspace Author + Locally written software (EyeChem and EyeVRML). Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Software + 3D Pointing device (6 degrees of freedom).

Name of group: Interactive Europe Ltd

Contact name: Mr Ged Fitzgibbon Address: 8 Cedar Close, Wokingham, Berks RG40 1EA Email: [email protected] Tel: ± Fax: ± WWW: http://www.meditech.co.uk

Type of organisation: End user. Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1995 Sources of funding: Company Major focus of VR work: Application development Application areas: Medical communication Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Superscape PLC VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Desktop in PC platform with Superscape and stereo CrystalEyes glasses. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Presentation and game format with joystick control

27 Name of group: Liverpool John Moores University (IT Centre)

Contact name: Simon Whiteley Address: Liverpool John Moores University, IT Centre, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5UZ Email: [email protected] Tel: 0151 231 3145 Fax: 0151 231 3433 WWW: http://livjm.ac.uk

Type of organisation: Individual research project Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Computer science Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: University internal Major focus of VR work: VRML software development Application areas: The use of VRML for learning on the WWW Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Manchester Metropolitan University VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Pentium PC. Apple MAC. Quicktime VR. Caligari VRML browser. 3D studio. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse, keyboard.

Name of group: Manchester Metropolitan University (Department of Computing)

Contact name: Dr William Mitchell Address: Department of Computing, Manchester Metropolitan University, John Dalton Building, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD Email: [email protected] Tel: 0161 247 1493 Fax: 0161 247 1483 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 2 lecturers Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Internal funding. Major focus of VR work: VR application development. Application areas: 1. Use of VR as a teaching and communication system for severely disabled chil- dren; 2. Simulation of physiological processes for HE (just starting) Collaborations with other groups or organisations: 1: ACE/ACCESS Centre, Oldham. 2: Depart- ment of Biological Sciences, MMU. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 486 PCs (66 MHz) REND-386, WorldToolkit for Windows. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Due to resource limitiations using desktop VR with mouse/joystick.

28 Name of group: Middlesex University (School of Geography and Environmental Management)

Contact name: Mr Ifan D H Shepherd Address: Middlesex University, Queensway, En®eld, Middlesex EN3 4SF Email: [email protected] Tel: 0181 362 5388 Fax: 0181 805 0702 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 Backgrounds of group members: Geography, Geographical Information Systems, Remote Sensing, Data Visualization. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993. Sources of funding: HEFCE. Major focus of VR work: Adaptation for geographical data visualization. Application areas: Data visualization, particularly the use of dynamic symbols to represent spatial data. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: SuperScape, Pentium (P90) PC. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse, joystick, (considering DataGlove).

Name of group: Mott MacDonald (Computational Fluid Dynamics Group)

Contact name: Dr Norman Rhodes Address: St Anne House, 20±26 Wellesley Road, Croydon CR9 2UL. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0181 686 5041 Fax: 0181 681 5706 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Engineering consultants. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 Backgrounds of group members: Mechanical Engineering, computer animation. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: Clients. Major focus of VR work: Application development. Application areas: Evacuation and safety. Fire and smoke research, emergency response management, transportation planning. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 486 PC with graphics card, SuperScape, spaceball, joystick. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Response to environment via spaceball/joystick.

29 Name of group: Pearson Interface

Contact name: Mr Brian Pearson Address: Suite 33, 10 Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, London, W4 4PH Email: [email protected] Tel: ± Fax: ± WWW: http://www.demon.co.uk/pearson/index.html

Type of organisation: Software vendor/manufacturer Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Mechanical Engineering and Software Engineering Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: Internal and external private funds Major focus of VR work: Software development. Primarily PCs. Application areas: CAD visualization, World building, user interface research. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Other VR software companies in the UK. 3 different ones to date. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PCs and coloured glasses. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse navigation and object manipulation

Name of group: Primary Image Ltd

Contact name: Alastair McLeod, Marketing Manager Address: Millbank House, Ewell Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6AP Email: [email protected] Tel: 0181 339 9669 Fax: 0181 339 9091 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Equipment vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: 20 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, electronic imaging, with experience of medical imaging and custom-developed image processing systems. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1989. Sources of funding: Internal. Major focus of VR work: Development of scalable PC-based image generator hardware systems, and software toolkit packages, aimed at simulation, training, VR and leisure applications. Application areas: Application and integration of new processor and memory systems, hardware design techniques, methods for development of simulation and training systems. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Own P10 image generator cards, own model databases (terrain and objects) plus associated development tools and software. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Joystick/keyboard control, with control links to 6-axis motion platforms (available via 3rd party), aiming devices and position trackers.

30 Name of group: Queen Mary and West®eld College/FIVE

Contact name: Dr Malcolm George Address: Dept or Physiology, St Bart's and Royal London HMS, QMW, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS Email: [email protected] Tel: 0171 982 6375 Fax: 0181 983 0467 WWW: http://www.qmw.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research Group (EEC funded project) Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer sciences, psychology and medical sciences Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: University internal Internal funding, Grant funding, EEC funding Major focus of VR work: The FIVE group has a wide remit but central work at QMW is Presence in VR environments and medical/psychological aspects of VR as well as some technological development Application areas: Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Prof Mel Slater (UCL) Co-ordinating director of Five plus members of Five in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and UK VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PC based Superscape facilities plus access to Sil- icon graphics based hardware facilities in Dept Comp Sci plus Division software and hardware Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: 3-D mouse and headsets

Name of group: RAF Innsworth (VR Lab)

Contact name: Ms Carol Mason Address: CSSB (via Plans), HQPTC, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester GL3 1E2 Email: - Tel: 01452 712612 x5534 Fax: 01452 510823 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Small group of scientists in RAF command Number of personnel in VR group: 2/3 Backgrounds of group members: Psychology, Ergonomics, Computer Science Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: RAF Major focus of VR work: Training applications; Learning/training innovative research. Application areas: Aircraft maintenance; ®re safety/prevention and escape procedures; control room layouts; ergonomics layouts. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 6 VR computers (PCs), 5 VRT development packages, headsets, stereo glasses, lots of 3D mice and spaceballs. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Cost-effective classroom devices, such as 3D mice and spaceball for input. Use lots of on-line help and `innovative' help procedures.

31 Name of group: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Advanced Interactive Systems Division)

Contact name: Dr D.R.S. Boyd Address: Computing and Information Systems Department, Atlas Centre, Rutherford Appleton Labo- ratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX Email: [email protected] Tel: 01235 446167 Fax: 01235 445945 WWW: http://www.cis.rl.ac.uk/people/drsb/contact.html

Type of organisation: Government research institution. Number of personnel in VR group: 5 Backgrounds of group members: Physics, engineering, computer graphics, video, computing, electronics, mathematics, intelligent systems Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1995 Sources of funding: Various Major focus of VR work: Application development Application areas: Engineering Design, Scienti®c Visualization, Architectural Modelling Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Fraunhofer Institut FurÈ Graphische, Darmstadt, Germany; GMD, St Augustin, Bonn VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Hardware: SGI Onyx Reality Engine II and MCO Polhemus fastrak, VR4 HMD, Division 3D mouse, Crystal Eyes, Stereo projectors; Software: dVS and dVISE 3.0, SGI Performer, IGD VE-II. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Immersive: headset; Non-immersive: stereo projectors (2 polarized sources), stereo shuttered glasses.

Name of group: Shef®eld Hallam University (Communication Information Research Group)

Contact name: Jonathan Grove Address: Mundella House, Collegiate Crescent, Shef®eld Hallam University, Shef®eld, S10 2BP. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0114 2532236 Fax: ± WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 2 Backgrounds of group members: Linguistics, Communication studies. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992. Sources of funding: University. Major focus of VR work: Application development. Application areas: Educational VR. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Superscape VRT 3.60 running on a PC DX266. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed:

32 Name of group: Transformation Software Ltd

Contact name: Ian Lazenby Address: Thame Park Road, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 3UQ Email: [email protected] Tel: 01884 261456 Fax: 01884 260056 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Software distributor and hardware value-added retailer. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Royal Naval Warfare Of®cer, management, mathematics, engineering and robotics design. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: Company Major focus of VR work: Selling to VR companies. Application areas: Silicon Graphics based VR, simulators, 3D visualization and modelling, inter-site communication. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Intelligent Systems Solutions Ltd (INSYS), mem- ber of Virtual Reality and Simulation Initiative, PERA (Engineering consultancy), Silicon Graphics Ltd. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Multigen, Modelgen, Gamegen: 3D modelling software from MiltiGen Inc., Vega and AudioWorks image generation software and 3D sound software from Paradigm Simulation Inc., Silicon Graphics Indigo II and Indy computers. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

33 Name of group: Twentyman Limited

Contact name: Richard Hennah Address: Aspen House, 67 Wembdon Road, Bridgwater, Somerset Email: - Tel: 01278 447004 Fax: 01278 447005 WWW: -

Type of organisation: VR and other intelligent graphics system development company Number of personnel in VR group: 5 Backgrounds of group members: Software development, operational analysis (defence related), civil engineering, computer graphics art. Time actively involved in VR work: Since March 1993 Sources of funding: We work directly to client needs. We are funded entirely by the commercial success of that which we produce for external organisations. Major focus of VR work: Applications development Application areas: Space planning, sales and marketing, training, engineering design. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Vega (software and training systems consultancy), ICL, CompuAdd (hardware manufacturers) VR-related hardware and software facilities used: In-house facilities are all PC: P90 + P133 based. Scanners, a great deal of graphics manipulation software, space mice, joysticks, standard PC screens, video converters and monitors. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Open to customer requirements; mainly mouse, joystick, space mouse + system speci®c devices (e.g., real system controllers).

34 Name of group: UMIST (Time Lab)

Contact name: Mr Vangelis Pappas-Katsiafas Address: K18, MSS building, Department of Computation, UMIST. Sackville Street, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD Email: [email protected] Tel: 0161 200 3748 Fax: 0161 200 3324

WWW: http://www.co.umist.ac.uk/ vangpk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 1±5 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Engineering Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: University internal Major focus of VR work: Mainly Software architectures, (3D Computer Graphics), but we investigate various hardware platforms, and VR peripherals. Application areas: Information Systems, Databases, speci®cally Temporal Databases and interfacing to them. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Lloyds Bank, Imperial College London, Neu- roware Ltd (Greece), computer applications VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Hardware: Suns and PC's; Software: SunPHIGS 3.0, Worldview 0.8 VRML viewer, Various shareware 3D modelers, 3D ®le converters. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

Name of group: University College London (Virtual Environments Research Group)

Contact name: Prof Mel Slater Address: Dept of Computer Science, University College London, Gower Street, London Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)171 419 3709 Fax: +44 (0)171 387 1397 WWW: http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/M.Slater

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992 Sources of funding: SERC/EPSRC/DTI. Major focus of VR work: Computer Graphics, human-computer interaction ± understanding of people's responses to `VR' and constructing interfaces based on this understanding. Building applications. Exploitation of parallel architectures. Application areas: Architectural walk-through, geometrical modeling, collaborative environments. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Psychology, and medical sciences. Division PLC. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: ProVision 200, ProVision 100 VX Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: We have developed a paradigm called `body centred interaction'. The idea of this is that presence is maximised when there is a match between proprioceptive feedback and sensory data.

35 Name of group: University of Bath (Media Technology Research Centre)

Contact name: Professor Phil Willis Address: Computing Group, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1225 826964 Fax: +44 (0) 1225 826492 WWW: http://www.bath.ac.uk/Centres/MEDIA

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 2 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992 Sources of funding: EPSRC/ACME. Major focus of VR work: Applications to integrated manufacturing systems. Application areas: CAD/CAM. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Silicon Graphics Reality Engine and Indigo computers, stereo spectacles, own software built on Open Inventor. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Traditional workstation methods.

Name of group: University of Bath (CASA School of Architecture and C.E.)

Contact name: Vassilis Bourdakis Address: CASA, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY Email: [email protected] Tel: 01225 826475 Fax: 01225 826475 WWW: http://fos.bath.ac.uk, http://www.bath.ac.uk/Centres/CASA

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 Backgrounds of group members: Architects (2), Building engineer (1) Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: Company, SERC/EPSRC Major focus of VR work: Working on VRML, Inventor and a Canadian landscape design program called Polytrim. Application areas: Architecture, visualising future proposals and planning applications, historical rep- resentations (model of Bath city), interactive database development (London city centre) Collaborations with other groups or organisations: British Telecom (research dept.), University of Toronto, University of Bath Mechanical Engineering Virtual Manufacturing Group VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Hardware platforms: SG and PCs (running NT); Software: Inventor and VRML mainly on SG machines. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: 3D mouse (just started Nov 95); tried 3D glasses but not really sure we want them yet; not planning on going immersive soon (too expensive)

36 Name of group: University of Belfast (Control Engineering Research Group)

Contact name: Dr G Dodds Address: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5AH. Email: [email protected] Tel: 01232 2245133 x4086 Fax: 01232 667023 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 4 Backgrounds of group members: Electronic Engineering Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992 Sources of funding: EPSRC grant and Northern Ireland Regional Technology Unit funding. Major focus of VR work: Hardware for sensing and interfacing. Software for multi-arm robotic applications. Entertainment and disabled user aid. Compression for real-time transmission of 3D stereo data (3D MPEG) from server to client, CADCAM aids and interfaces, major control plant interfacing. Application areas: See above. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Mechanical Engineering (QUB) for visualization. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Silicon Graphics Maximum Impact, 3D mouse, Acoustatron 3D Stereo, Silicon Graphics Indy RD4600, dVise software, Liquid Image HMD, Crys- talEyes stereoscopic glasses interfaced to PC, in-house force sensing, Polhemus motion detection, 3Ball mouse, rend386, workspace 3.0 and avril. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: VR interaction ± image, force, head motions, sound, position sensing and mouse.

Name of group: University of East Anglia (Computational Geometry Project)

Contact name: Professor A R Forrest Address: University of East Anglia, School of Information Systems, Norwich NR4 7TJ.A Email: [email protected] Tel: 01603 592605 Fax: 01603 507720 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 8 Backgrounds of group members: Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991. Sources of funding: EPSRC studentships, University, Apple U.K. and U.S. Major focus of VR work: Peripherals, application developments, non-immersive VR, visualization. Application areas: Visualization, design, human interfaces. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Apple Quadra 950 x2, Silicon Graphics Indy x2, Korg synthesiser. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Non-immersive VR exploiting sound and touch.

37 Name of group: University of Edinburgh (Centre for Communication Interface Research)

Contact name: Mr Liam Parker Address: University of Edinburgh 80 South Bridge Edinburgh EH1 1HN Email: [email protected] Tel: 0131 650 8230 Fax: 0131 650 2784 WWW: http://www.ccir.ed.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Engineering, Computer Science, Arti®cial Intelligence, Cognitive Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: Company, EC, Government Agency. Major focus of VR work: Application development, Multi-modal interaction, Speech in VR worlds, HCI design Application areas: VR home shopping, interactive data entry, intelligent virtual persona. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Silicon Graphics Indys and Impacts. OpenGL, In- ventor, Performer. Pentium PCs. OpenGL, RenderWare, SuperScape, 3D Studio. 3D mice, LCD shutter glasses, Head Mounted Display. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Window on world. HMD Immersive. Agent media- tion. Material visualisation.

38 Name of group: University of Edinburgh (Perception in Action Laboratories)

Contact name: Rycharde Hawkes Address: Virtual Environment Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ Email: [email protected] Tel: 0131 650 3426 Fax: 0131 650 6534 WWW: http://haggis.psy.ed.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Psychology, Vision Science and Movement Stud- ies. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992 Sources of funding: SERC/EPSRC, MRC Major focus of VR work: Perception and action in natural and virtual environments. Application areas: Driving simulation, distributed virtual environment systems Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Computer Science Department, University of Ed- inburgh, Glasgow Caledonian University, Vision Sciences, Virtual Research, Virtuality, Astlee Ainsley Hospital, Edinburgh, Real World Simulation. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Network of 3-4 Pentium/486 PCs, Super Reality II Image Generator, Reality3 Image Generator, Isotrak, Fastrak, Flock of Bird(s), Mice, joysticks, spaceball, instrumented car, instrumented bike, force-feedback steering wheel, Ober/2 eye-tracker, glove. Pro- jection screens and BARCO projector, monitors, stereo monitor, VPL Eyephone LX (and occassional loans), QNX distributed real-time operating system, compilers etc., 3D Studio, misc. image processing software and home-grown VE support software. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Non-immersive through the use of mono & stereo monitors, projection systems and immersive using HMDs. A variety of movement control devices have been tried including spaceball, mice, joysticks, instrumented car, instrumented bike.

39 Name of group: University of Essex (Virtual Reality Laboratory)

Contact name: Dr Adrian F Clark Address: Dept. Electronic Systems Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhow Park, Colchester, Es- sex CO4 3SQ Email: [email protected] Tel: 01206 872432 Fax: 01206 872900 WWW: http://peipa.essex.ac.uk/vr

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Physics, Psychology. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: University internal. Major focus of VR work: We have two major threads: VR in computer and communication networks; applications of low-cost VR. This involves both hardware and software development. Application areas: Virtual presence teleconferencing, gesture recognition, medical endoscopy. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 1. 100MHz PCs with Virtual i/o's `I-glasses!' and 5DT gloves currently running under Avril; we plan to move over to a more complete software environment in the near future; 2. SGI and Sun workstations for our vision-based work. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: HMD tracker; glove input for gesture recognition; vision-based head tracking for our teleconferencing work.

40 Name of group: University of Leeds (Virtual Working Environment Group)

Contact name: Terrence Fernando Address: University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT Email: [email protected] Tel: 01532 335767 Fax: 01532 335468 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 12 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991. Sources of funding: University, Keyworth Institute, EPSRC. Major focus of VR work: Application Development. Application areas: Interactive Constraint-based Assembly Modelling, Virtual Environment for Mainte- nance Simulation, Distributed Virtual Environment for Concurrent Engineering, Driving Simulator, Vi- sion Based Hand Tracking, VRML Browsers Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Keyworth Institute of Manufacturing and Infor- mation Systems Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds. Transport Studies. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 3 SGI R4000 machines, 3 Indy machines, 1 Indig2, Reality Engine, Spaceball Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Use constraint-based 3D interaction techniques for interacting with assembly models; Use a car within the driving simulator

Name of group: University of Leicester (Virtual Reality Research Group)

Contact name: Dr Nigel Foreman/ Dr Paul Wilson Address: Department of Psychology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH. Email: [email protected]/[email protected] Tel: 01533 522169/522158 Fax: 01533 522067 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 8 Backgrounds of group members: Psychology (sometimes have computing and engineering graduates). Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992. Sources of funding: Charity (Action Research), BT, European funds. Major focus of VR work: Development of applications in Behavioural Sciences. Application areas: Spatial research, spatial skills in man, perception. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Loose cooperation with various people, mutual interests with BT, and foreign groups in France and Russia. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 486 PCs mainly, enhanced for speed and graphics quality, SuperScape software, WorldToolKit for Windows, Renderware, dataglove, 3D spectacles; Also have access to head-immersion (liquid image headset, Polhemus. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Desk-top keyboard, joystick, spaceball inputs plus devices produced in Russia to interface kids with handicaps, also access to head-immersion system.

41 Name of group: University of London (Dept. of Social Policy and Social Science)

Contact name: Mr Ralph Schroeder Address: Department of Social Policy and Social Science, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX Email: - Tel: 01789 434455 x3471 Fax: 01789 434 375 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Individual researcher Number of personnel in VR group: 1 Backgrounds of group members: Philosphy and History, Political Philosophy, Sociology Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992 Sources of funding: University Internal Major focus of VR work: Social issues Application areas: ± Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Research laboratories and end-users VR-related hardware and software facilities used: ± Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

42 Name of group: University of Loughborough (Multi-sensory Virtual Environment Integration Laboratory)

Contact name: Prof Roy Kalawsky Address: Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU Email: [email protected] Tel: 01509 223047 Fax: 01509 610724 WWW: http://info.lut.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: More than 10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer science Electronic engineering, Psychology, Civil engineering, Aerospace, Human factors, Vision science, Opthalmology, Cognitive science, Simulation Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1990 Sources of funding: Company, University internal, EPSRC, Industrial consortia. Major focus of VR work: Research to assist academic and industrial sectors covering: Systems integration, Human factors, Performance optimisation of peripheral technologies, Creation of high ®delity virtual environments, Virtual design environments, Medical applications, Multi-sensory interaction, Sin- gle and shared environments, Fully immersive - Partial Immersion solutions. Application areas: See above. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: We provide technical support to many organisations/groups developing applications that require a VR interface. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Full range of Silicon Graphics computers; Indy - Maximum Impact - Onyx; Fully loaded Division ProVision 100 system; Range of high performance spatial trackers; Special test equipment (VR performance assessment - technology and human performance); Low, Medium and High resolution HMDs; Range of Image Projection systems; 3D studio; Full implementation of MultiGen; Performer; dVS and DVISE (runtime and developer options); Range of CAD translators; Man rated motion base Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Keyboard; Voice; Eye; Glove; 3D joystick;

43 Name of group: University of Manchester (Advanced Interfaces Group)

Contact name: Dr Roger Hubbold Address: Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Email: [email protected] Tel: 0161 275 6158 Fax: 0161 275 6236 WWW: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 4 academic staff, approximately 12 postgraduate and 10 undergraduate students. Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: University, EPSRC/ACME Major focus of VR work: Research into the use of advanced human-computer interfaces such as Virtual Reality and stereo displays, for the solution of real-world problems. Application areas: Visualisation of volume data, especially 3D medical images (in conjunction with the University Medical School and local teaching hospitals); The development of a VR interface for a large CAD system (in a collaborative project with CADCentre, Cambridge); Generation of high resolution 3D images (in a collaborative project with Sharp Research Laboratories, Oxford); A variety of undergraduate and postgraduate projects ranging from playing virtual musical instruments to VR interfaces for computer animation. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: See above. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: High-performance Silicon Graphics workstations, a pair of Sharp large screen video projectors for stereoscopic projection, a head-mounted display, 3D mice based on Polhemus magnetic trackers, and a stereo sound system using a MIDI interface. The Sil- icon Graphics screens also support stereo display using LCD shutter glasses. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Immersive, using a HMD, 3D interaction using magnetic trackers and 3D mice, stereo glasses and large-screen displays.

44 Name of group: University of Nottingham (AIMS Research Unit)

Contact name: Dr Damian Scho®eld Address: Dept. of Mineral Resources Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Not- tingham NG7 2RD Email: [email protected] Tel: 0115 9514094 Fax: 0115 9678494

WWW: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ enzaims/Aimshome.html

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 8 PhD students, 1 Post Doc, 1 Academic. Staff in the AIMS Unit: 1 full-time PhD student on VR, 2 others work part-time on the projects. Backgrounds of group members: Most have engineering backgrounds. Recently taken on a mathe- matician and a computer scientist. Time actively involved in VR work: Since October 1994 Sources of funding: University funded, plus UK grants and industrial consulting/contacts. Major focus of VR work: Application development in Minerals industry. Application areas: Minerals industry, risk assessment in underground and opencast situations, opencast visualization and planning, oli rig abandonment scenarios. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: JDS Drilling Services (consultancy), British Coal (Group Headquarters), IMCL (Consultants), Tarmac (Quarry Op.). VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PC equipment: fast, large monitors and graphics cards, Superscape VRT V3.5, World Tool Kit, and Renderware. Silicon Graphics Indigo 2 Extreme (using general C++ libraries at the moment, hope to port most of our C++ code to this machine). Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Large screens, joysticks and mice, SoundBlaster and speakers.

45 Name of group: University of Nottingham (Communications Research Group)

Contact name: Dr Steve Benford Address: Dept or Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD Email: [email protected] Tel: 0115 951 4203 Fax: 0115 951 4254 WWW: http://www.crg.cs.nott.ac.uk

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, engineering and computing. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: Company SERC/EPSRC, DTI, Industry, EC. Major focus of VR work: Software architectures, applications, metaphors of interaction, collaboration. Application areas: VR Conferencing, Information Visualisation, CSCW Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Lancaster University (Computing, Sociology, CSCW Centre), Manchester University (Psychology), Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Univer- sity of Nottingham (Psychology, Geography), Nottingham Trent University (Design), Division Ltd, GPT, GEC-Hirst, British Gas. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Hardware: Silicon Graphics Indy (x3) & Indigo 2 Extreme, Sun Sparc 10/51 ZX, Eyegen 3 Headset, Spaceball, 486DX2/66 with graphics accelerator; (The University computing centre has recently bought an Onyx RE2). (We anticipate purchasing an In- digo2 High Impact shortly also). Software: Dive, dVS, WorldToolKit, Renderware, Superscape Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Desktop and immersive. We are investigating the provision of a projection interface.

46 Name of group: University of Nottingham (VIRART)

Contact name: Professor John Wilson Address: Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management, University of Not- tingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0115 9514070/9514004 Fax: 0115 9514000 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10. Backgrounds of group members: Psychology, Ergonomics, Manufacturing Engineering, Computer Science, Theoretical Mechanics, Physics, Electronics. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992. Sources of funding: SERC/EPSRC/company. Major focus of VR work: Applications research, development and testing. Usability/utility evaluations, health and safety research ± effects of VR on users. Application areas: Training and education (mainstream and special needs), manufacturing ± varied ac- cording to user requirements. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Department of Learning Disabilities (Queens Medical Centre, University Hospital, Nottingham), and Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Com- munication (Charing Cross Hospital, London), Loughborough University. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: 3 486 PCs, Superscape VRT, 1 Apple macintosh Quadra, Virtus, Crystal Eyes, Syberscope. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Glove, spaceball, joystick, mouse.

47 Name of group: University of Shef®eld (Virtual Reality in Engineering Research Group)

Contact name: Dr Neil Mort Address: Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering, University of Shef®eld, PO Box 600, Mappin Street, Shef®eld, S1 3JD. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0114 2825559 Fax: 0114 2731729 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10. Backgrounds of group members: Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991. Sources of funding: University internal Major focus of VR work: Application research. Application areas: Industrial simulation, educational simulators, robotic visualization, tactile feedback. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: VR in medicine and biology, University of Shef®eld. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PCs, Superscape VRT, VROOM, AVRIL, 3D- Ware, i-glasses, 2 * CyberMaxx, Powerglove, Cyberman, various homebrew devices: HMDs, trackers, gloves. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mostly desktop VR interaction via 2D peripherals. Some voice input.

48 Name of group: University of Shef®eld (Virtual Reality in Medicine and Biology Group)

Contact name: Dr Robin Hollands Address: Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering, University of Shef®eld, PO Box 600, Mappin Street, Shef®eld, S1 3JD. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0114 2825186 Fax: 0114 2731729

WWW: http://www.shef.ac.uk/ vrmbg

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: More than 10. Backgrounds of group members: Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Computer Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991 Sources of funding: University internal, SERC/EPSRC Major focus of VR work: Medical application development, some hardware development. Application areas: Medical applications ± surgical trainers/simulators, visualisation tools, education packages Collaborations with other groups or organisations: VR and Engineering group, University of Shef®eld; Robotics Research Group, University of Shef®eld; Smith & Nephew (medical instrumenta- tion); Virtual Presence Ltd (equipment suppliers); various medical organisations VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PCs, graphics accelerator boards, SGI, JACK, Su- perscape VRT, WTK for DOS, VROOM, AVRIL, 3D-Ware, Polhemus 3Draw + aux receiver, Polhemus Fasttrak with 3 receivers, i-glasses!, 2*CyberMaxx, Powerglove, Cyberman, various homebrew devices: HMDs, trackers, gloves, prototype high-end medical instrumented glove. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mostly desktop ± various input devices: gloves, dummy surgical instruments plus usual mouse + joystick

49 Name of group: University of Southampton (Human Factors Research Unit)

Contact name: Prof. M.J. Grif®n (Head), Dr C.H. Lewis, Richard So (Research staff) Address: Human Factors Research Unit, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ. Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1703 592277 Fax: +44 (0)1703 592927 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 9 in group (4 working on research relevant to VR. Backgrounds of group members: Ergonomics, Engineering. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1978 (early work on HMD reading performance under vibration. Sources of funding: Government agency (so far). Major focus of VR work: Human factors research. Application areas: Motion/Simulator sickness; Head aiming/tracking; Effects of vibration; Effects of system lags. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Defence Research Agency, United States Air Force. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: A 17x17 degree see-through monocular CRT HMD; 50 diameter see-through binocular CRT HMD; 2 magnetic head trackers, Silicon Graphics 4D- 50G workstation. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Head-coupled immersive.

Name of group: University of Strathclyde (Virtual Construction Simulation Research Group)

Contact name: Dr A Retik Address: Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG Email: [email protected] Tel: 0141 552 4400 x3420 Fax: 0141 553 2066 WWW: http://www.strath.ac.uk/Departments/Civeng/conman/cm.html

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Civil Computer Science, Information Science. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: University internal + small grant from TEGGS Major focus of VR work: Application development. Application areas: Construction planning and scheduling, design coordination. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: `Virtual Construction Team' from Dept. of Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Lancaster University, Salford, Reading. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PC 486/50 MHz, 20 Mb RAM, joystick, Super- Scape VRT 3-50, 3D studio. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Non-immersive desktop and projection.

50 Name of group: University of Wales College of Cardiff (Human Factors Research Group/Cardiff Virtual Environment Laboratory)

Contact name: Mr Roy Ruddle Address: School of Psychology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, PO Box 901, Cardiff, CF1 3YG Email: [email protected] Tel: 01222 874000 x5030 Fax: 01222 874858 WWW: -

Type of organisation: University research group. Number of personnel in VR group: 5±10 Backgrounds of group members: Psychology, Computing, Engineering, HCI, human learning Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1993 Sources of funding: DRA, University of Wales (Cardiff), HEFCW Major focus of VR work: Large-scale VEs, MMIs, VEs as experimental platforms. Application areas: Cognition is large-scale VEs (e.g., navigation and orientation), multi-model and multi-task workload studies Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Contact Roy Ruddle for details. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Two SGI REs, HMD, Polhemus trackers, Audio lab, PC-HMD system. Software: in house expertise + SGI OGL + Performer, Jack Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse/keyboard, 3D sensor

Name of group: University of Wolverhampton (School of Computing and Information Technol- ogy)

Contact name: Dr. J. Crellin Address: School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SB Email: [email protected] Tel: 01902 322203 Fax: 01902 322680 WWW: -

Type of organisation: PhD Supervision in a related area. Number of personnel in VR group: 3 people interested in this area. Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science * 2, Psychology * 1. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: Company funded research project. Major focus of VR work: Interface metaphors for representation of 3D CAD objects. Application areas: CAD. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Work primarily on `desktop' VR. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Mouse and command, line, spaceball, 3D glasses.

51 Name of group: Virtuality Group Plc

Contact name: T W Rowley Address: Virtuality House, 3 Oswin Road, Brailsford Industrial Park, Braunstone, Leicester LE3 1HR. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0116 2337000 Fax: 0116 2471855 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Equipment/software vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: 110 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Graphics Design. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1984. Sources of funding: Sales of VR products. Major focus of VR work: Hardware and software architectures, special purpose peripherals, man/machine interfaces, VR worlds, applications. Application areas: Entertainment, medical, promotion. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: IBM: manufacture and sale of VR products, Sega: development of entertainment environments, Atari: consumer product development. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Several sorts of VR systems are manufactured, giving complete coverage of the range of facilities. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Gloves, space joysticks, V-Flexors, head and hand trackers.

Name of group: Virtual Presence Ltd

Contact name: Mr John Hough Address: 6 New Concordia Wharf, Mill Street, London SE1 2BB Email: [email protected] Tel: 0171 252 2922 Fax: 0171 237 1360 WWW: http://www.demon.co.uk/presence

Type of organisation: Equipment vendor/manufacturer/developer. Number of personnel in VR group: 12 Backgrounds of group members: Computer Science, Engineering, Marketing. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1991. Sources of funding: Private company. Major focus of VR work: Systems integration, applications development. Application areas: Industrial simulation, engineering, space simulation, underwater simulation, ergonomics, training, transport and logistics, CAD, art, data visualization Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Full VR Lab containing: trackers, HMDs, workstations, toolkit software. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Magnetic, ultrasonic gloves and joysticks, 3D mice and spaceballs.

52 Name of group: Virtual Studios Ltd

Contact name: Ian Capon Address: `The Limes', 123 Mortlake High Street, Barnes, London SW14 8SN. Email: - Tel: 0181 391 9000 Fax: 0181 392 2424 WWW: http://vrworlds.com

Type of organisation: Software vendor/manufacturer. Number of personnel in VR group: 1±12 Backgrounds of group members: Sales and marketing, Audio Engineering, Fine Art, Computer Soft- ware. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1990. Sources of funding: Company. Major focus of VR work: Creating applications. Application areas: Consumer games, sales and marketing, new products, visualization. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Manufacturers. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PCs, Apple Macintoshes, Division workstations. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Joystick/3D mouse + control pad

Name of group: Vivax Ltd/Swansea Institute of Higher Education

Contact name: Mr Martin Capey Address: c/o Faculty of Applied Design and Electronic Engineering, Swansea Institute of Higher Edu- cation, Mount Pleasant, Swansea SA1 6ED. Email: [email protected] Tel: 01792 842351/0589 219711 Fax: 01792 842351 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Company Research Group, based within the Faculty of Electronic Engineering. Number of personnel in VR group: 4 Backgrounds of group members: Optolectronics, systems engineer, product design, ®ne art/management/data management. Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1994 Sources of funding: DTI. Major focus of VR work: VR peripherals, particularly visual displays. Application areas: Head-mounted displays, retinal scanning. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: ± VR-related hardware and software facilities used: Apollo 715 workstations, PC platforms, SDRC `I- DEAS' software, wavefront personal visualizer software, SGI Indy Extreme. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: ±

53 Name of group: Westland System Assessment Limited (VR Systems)

Contact name: Anthony Elliot-Square Address: Telec House, Goldcroft, Yeovil, Somerset BA21 4DQ. Email: - Tel: 01935 33856 Fax: 01935 411051 WWW: -

Type of organisation: Company business area Number of personnel in VR group: 10 Backgrounds of group members: Operational research, mathematical modelling, trainign system analysis, design and development, computer programming Time actively involved in VR work: Since 1992. Sources of funding: Business. Major focus of VR work: Application development to meet customers' requirements. Application areas: Training, space planning, promotion, data visualization. Collaborations with other groups or organisations: Superscape VR Plc. VR-related hardware and software facilities used: PC-based system up to Pentium 130; Superscape VR development software, Autodesk 3D studio software. Styles of VR interaction techniques employed: Desktop PC.

D References

References

[1] T.L.J. Howard, R.J. Hubbold, A.D. Murta, and A.J. West. Survey of virtual reality activity in the united kingdom. Technical Report 27, Advisory Group on Computer Graphics, January 1995.

54 E The Survey Questionnaire

1995 SURVEY OF VIRTUAL REALITY ACTIVITY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

on behalf of the Advisory Group on Computer Graphics (AGOCG)

The Advanced Interfaces Group at the University of Manchester has been commissioned by the Advisory Group on Computer Graphics (AGOCG) to update its 1994 survey of current activity in the ®eld of Virtual Reality in the United Kingdom. The 1994 survey is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.agocg.ac.uk:8080/agocg/PrevPj/VRinUK/report.html, or please write to us for a paper copy. (We are trying to contact as many VR workers as possible, so please forgive us if you have received than one copy of this announcement, from different sources.)

The 1995 VR Survey

The aim of the 1995 VR survey is to build upon the 1994 survey to obtain an accurate pro®le of who is doing what in the ®eld in the UK, including, but not restricted to:

Groups conducting research into VR, its applications, and related ®elds.

Vendors of commercial VR hardware and software products.

End-users of VR hardware and software.

Anyone else with opinions on VR and its future.

The results of the survey will contribute to AGOCG's advisory activity in this area, and will be widely disseminated, published as an AGOCG Technical Report in January 1996, also on the World Wide Web, and will be available to all UK academic and industrial VR workers. This is an excellent opportunity for workers in the ®eld to ®nd out exactly who's doing what, where. Please note: we have tried to make this questionnaire as concise as possible, because we know your time is valuable. Where the questions (and suggested types of answer) are not directly appropriate to your group, please feel free to answer in whatever way you feel is most appropriate. If you do wish to make any detailed responses, these will be appreciated, and carefully attended to. Please return the completed questionnaire, by post or fax, and address any queries you may have, to:

Toby Howard (UK VR Survey 1995) Advanced Interfaces Group, Department of Computer Science University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Email: [email protected] Tel:+44 61-275-6274, Fax:+44 61-275-6236 World Wide Web: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/aig.html

Alternatively, please use the Web page form at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/vrsurvey/index.html. We thank you for your cooperation in this survey, and we look forward to being able to share the results with you.

55 The Questionnaire

This questionnaire is also available:

as an interactive form on the World Wide Web, at: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/vrsurvey/index.html

as a PostScript document, on anonymous ftp site ftp.cs.man.ac.uk, in /pub/toby/vrsurvey/q95.ps. Log in as user `anonymous', giving your full email address as password.

A. ABOUT YOUR GROUP

1. Name of your group:

Contact name:

Address:

Email:

Tel: Fax:

World Wide Web:

2. Type of organisation: [ ] University research group [ ] Company research group [ ] Equipment vendor/manufacturer [ ] Software vendor/manufacturer [ ] End user [ ] Government research institution [ ] Other (please specify)

56 3. How many people work in your VR group?

4. Please list the backgrounds of the members of your group (e.g., Computer Science, Psychology, En- gineering, etc.)

5. When did your active involvement in VR work begin?

6. How is your work funded? (e.g., EC, EPSRC, Company, Government agency, etc.)

7. What is the major focus of your work on VR? (e.g., hardware or software architectures, VR peripherals, application development, etc.)

8. Please list any other groups or organisations (and their disciplines) with whom you collaborate.

57 9. What application areas are you actively involved in?

10. What are the main bene®ts of VR, which you consider important?

11. Please list your publications in the area of VR. It would also be very helpful to us if we could receive copies of these.

(Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary)

58 12. If your project is concerned with constructing a working VR system, please answer the next three questions: 12a. How well developed is your work in terms of demonstrable systems?

12b. What level of functionality are you aiming at for the system?

12c. How long do you think it will be before your work would come to fruition as a marketable product?

B. VR TECHNOLOGY

13. Please describe the VR-related facilities you possess (hardware and software).

59 14. What styles of VR interaction techniques do you employ?

15. How do you expect VR technology to progress in the future?

16. On what assumptions for future VR technology are you basing your work?

C. FURTHERING VR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK

17. What do you consider the importance and signi®cance of research in VR in the U.K.?

60 18. How do you think work on VR in the U.K. can best be assisted? For example, what speci®c initiatives or activities do you think would be helpful?

D. KEEPING INFORMED

19. How do you keep up to date with developments in VR? [ ] Conferences (please specify)

[ ] Journals (please specify)

[ ] Books (please specify)

61 [ ] Internet lists (please specify)

[ ] USENET newsgroups (please specify)

[ ] Local VR Special Interest Groups (please specify)

[ ] UK VR Special Interest Group [ ] The VR Society [ ] Other (please specify)

E. THIS SECTION IS FOR SUPPLIERS ONLY

20. How many people does your company employ in VR-related activity?

21. What is the size of your market for VR-related products?

62 22. What end-user areas have you sold equipment into (e.g., CAD, medical, games, etc.)?

23. We would be grateful to receive information and product literature on any VR-related products you supply.

63 FURTHER INFORMATION OR COMMENTS

Please use this space to provide any additional information, or make any comments about your work, VR in general, activity in the UK, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey, and good luck with your work in VR. Please return the completed questionnaire, and address any queries you may have, to: