Subject: glove stuff

From: Dave Stampe-Psy+Eng <dstamp@watserv1>
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 92 22:11:39 -0400

How much trouble have you all been having with the powergloves in terms
of position glitching and finger-position drift?  I've never managed
to make mine entirely glitch-free, and am wondering if it's just my
setup or if this is general.  THis will influence the way selection
etc. with the glove is done.

I've just finished some of the work on the next release, and it's
finally coming together.  We now have world files (all sorts of
definitions, setup, etc) and splits-- static BSP trees.  These get 
rid of the worst visibility errors: just add one in the world file 
for each major wall or floor.  When objects are moved, they are 
re-propagated in the split tree (not very expensive) and are NOT
broken up.  Bernie's also working (with the networked VR group)
on the idea of using the splits to define areas, wall bounds, etc.

You can now have multiple representations of an object, selected by 
their size on the screen.  THis will make big, fast worlds possible
(just like video games).  I've been experimenting with scaling of
motion speed with render time, which seems to be transparent enough
and really makes navigation easy.  Horizons have been added, and
an optional "axis compass" can be drawn (really simple, but neat).

The current stage is concentrating on a glove with joystick.  The 
joystick is like a motorized "wheelchair" so you can move forward
and back, and turn.  Pressing the button changed to tilt and sideways motion.
The glove is always "in front" of you, so you can drive up to something
and manipulate it.  This works quite well, but I haven't got the
glove selection going yet.

The Sega glasses work fine with this system, and the presence effect is 
very strong.  Of course, you've either got to tolerate a small window
on the world, or set the stereo parameters to minaturize the world.
Moving closer to the screen doesn't work too well with the Segas.
But right now we've got a 6-room house, and I can drive around in
it at high speeds, going through walls, etc.  Now if it just had a
few more furnishings..  (If you're offering then, keep the poly count
low, and scale them for 1 unit = 1 mm).

- Dave Stampe