91-07/VR.Consortium
From: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson)
Subject: Virtual Worlds Consortium grows
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1991 15:19:57 GMT
Organization: Human Interface Technology Lab, Seattle



Lots of people ask, "Who's really interested in virtual worlds technology
and putting some money behind it?"  Invariably we hear of small medical
groups, botanists in West Africa, and so forth.  Well, here is a list of
some firms and organizations who are making a real commitment to the field.
I hope we'll be hearing more from them directly, in the future.

This is a press release put out by the HIT Lab, via the UW College of
Engineering, this week, and is written in a journalistic tone I hope you
will take with amusement:



Contact:    Bob Jacobson, HIT Lab	    For Immediate Release
	    (206) 543-5075                       July 3, 1991
	    (206) 543-5380 fax
 
 
	       HIT LAB SIGNS UP MICROSOFT, FUJITSU, INSIGHT
 
	      AS NEWEST MEMBERS OF VIRTUAL WORLDS CONSORTIUM
 
 
	SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corporation, Fujitsu, Inc., and Insight, 
Inc., bring to 12 the number of firms that have joined the Virtual 
Worlds Consortium, an industry support group for the groundbreaking 
Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) located here.
 
	"We are thrilled to have these firms join the Virtual Worlds 
Consortium," said HIT Lab Director Thomas A. Furness III.  "They 
bring key strengths in software, telecommunications, and perceptual 
devices to our work."
 
	Microsoft, of Redmond, Washington, is the world's largest 
software production firm.  Fujitsu is a $16 billion integrated com-
pany with operations around the world; it is considered Japan's 
leading telecommunications and computer manufacturer.  Insight, 
Inc., newly moved to Woodinville, Washington, is a manufacturer of 
consumer-oriented information display systems.
 
	The HIT Lab, founded in 1989, is dedicated to the foundation of 
a new and vital "virtual interface" industry in Washington State, 
before the decade is over.  The virtual interface, known popularly as 
"virtual reality," uses computers to create "virtual worlds" which 
the computer user can "enter." Once inside,the computer user can 
peruse and manipulate computer data, which appears as three-
dimensional objects, with voice commands and gestures.  In a virtual 
world, the boundary between the computer user and the computer 
disappears.  Ultimately, by linking several computers together via a 
network, computer users in remote locations can build and inhabit 
virtual worlds together.
 
	"Microsoft, Fujitsu, and Insight have each committed to help-
ing build our industry, from the ground up," said Furness, who spent 
23 years with the Air Force building the ultimate virtual interface, 
the Super Cockpit.  "As members of our Virtual Worlds Consortium, 
these firms will be intimately involved with us in bringing virtual 
worlds technology to a market hungry for applications in medicine, 
design and manufacturing, education, and entertainment."
 
	The HIT Lab has a goal of 20 Consortium members, each of 
whom will make an annual contribution to the HIT Lab of $50,000 or 
more.  Besides the new members, other members of the Virtual 
Worlds Consortium include:
 
		* Alias Research, Inc. (Toronto)
		* The Boeing Company (Seattle)
		* Digital Equipment Corporation (Waltham, MA)
		* Franz, Inc. (Berkeley, CA)
		* Port of Seattle (Seattle)
		* Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
		* U S West Communications (Denver, CO)
		* VPL Research, Inc. (Redwood City, CA)
 
	"In the fall, we anticipate a great second Consortium meeting," 
Furness announced.  "Our members are eager to get the wheels of 
invention turning."  The first Consortium meeting, held in conjunc-
tion with the HIT Lab's Industry Symposium on Virtual Worlds 
Technology, held in February, was a complete success, according to 
Furness:  "That's where we first experienced the unique and wonder-
ful relationship we are building with and among these cutting-edge 
firms."
 
	The HIT Lab is considered one of the premier institutions for 
industrial R&D to refine and market virtual-interface applications.  
It is a unit of the Washington Technology Center (WTC), a technology 
transfer organization established by the Washington Legislature in 
1985.  The HIT Lab's growing professional staff includes one dozen 
scientists and engineers; more than 30 graduate students, post-
doctoral fellows, and industrial fellows help get the work done.  The 
HIT Lab is about to file its first three patent applications (to which 
Consortium members have first rights of review).
 
	The WTC is an umbrella organization representing over 26 
laboratories around Washington State, organized into seven centers 
(biotechnology, materials science, computers, and so forth).  The 
new WTC headquarters, Fluke Hall, is located on the campus of the 
University of Washington; it opened for business last year.  The HIT 
Lab is its first technical occupant.
 
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